I squatted in a single room when I started business –Tokunbo Modupe, TPT boss

Tokunbo Modupe is the arrowhead of tpt International, one of the front-line public relations companies in Nigeria, tells  how he has managed to take the business through the competitive environment in which it operates.

You are reputed to be a humorous person. Have you ever considered comedy as a possible line of business?

Not really. I think we all have our individual idiosyncrasies. With the kind of environment we operate in, if you don’t have a sense of humour, you have to develop it. That is particularly necessary if you live in Lagos where everything around you may perpetually upset you. You have to develop a strategy for making yourself and other people happy.

Does it strike you that you can make money from humour?
Well, no. It is not something I have considered, because I am very happy with what I am doing. Humour for me is just an added talent.


Why didn’t you go into journalism instead of Public Relations?

We all have our areas of passion. Again, I would say that journalism is deeply involved in what I am doing. I am a publisher too.

Did you just stumble on PR?

Well, I would say I stumbled on it just as many Nigerians stumbled on what they are doing today. Nigeria is not an environment where you read Economics and become an economist. When you are looking for a job, whatever comes your way is what you do. But what you now do after that is another thing. Some people start out as lawyers and end up as journalists. That is the way it is. You just discover your passion and develop yourself in that area; that is the case with me.



So, did you set out to get a PR job?

In Nigeria, a great number of people don’t even know what they are going to do. They need a job and develop themselves on whatever job they get.


Was it after you got your first job that you discovered yourself?

I have always had a talent for creative thinking. I could analyse situations and proffer solutions in very creative ways. But it was not until I came into PR that I fully discovered that I could make some lasting impact with my ideas.

A typical Nigerian would want to cling to his paid job rather than risk being on his own. When did you start thinking of being on your own?

I am a very restless person. I am very rebellious in my thinking. If you are moving at a speed of bicycle, I am thinking at the speed of a jet. Naturally, I started thinking of how to run things on my own and the opportunity presented itself in 1994, when Nigeria was grinding to a halt. You remember the strike and the crisis of the 1993 election. I was without a job at that time and I said well, let me start something on my own. I started a communication company and ran it for three years. In 1998, I set up tpt International. Ten years on, we thank God.

How was it possible for a jobless young man to start a company?

For me, the crisis then was an opportunity. I knew a lot of young men were thinking of running out of the country, but for me, it was a kind of opportunity. I knew I had ideas and I believed in myself. I had the confidence. What I sell is idea. I knew that the idea was good; it didn’t matter whether I had money or not. What was important to me was the opportunity that presented itself for me to go out and start selling. I knew that one day, things would change and the ideas would sell. And before the end of that year, things started looking good. I was able to open an office on Allen Avenue (Lagos); a three-bedroom flat. Allen was one of the most expensive areas then, even though I was squatting in a room with my cousin. So, from the start, we started thinking big. We operated for about three years and then felt that it was time to start thinking of something bigger. I felt that I should be more focused and PR was my passion. In my former company, we were doing so many things together–advertising, PR, events mangement. I realised that the work that I gave more time was PR. It is my passion, so we set up tpt International.

You were squatting in a room while you had a three-bedroom flat on Allen Avenue; didn’t that amount to leading a fake life?

That is even a more original lifestyle, because what people do most of the time is that they start a business and as soon as they make some money, they start buying cars and live bigger than the company. They live in a big house while the business remains small. Sooner or later, the business crashes. So I believe that whatever money you make from business should substantially go back to that business. Your lifestyle should be a reflection of the benefits from that business, not the other way round. That is what I call stealing your own money. You steal your own money when you live above your means. Such business will die naturally. You have to structure your lifestyle in such a way that if your business has a turnover of N10m, you may not even afford to live a life of N1m. You have to look at the percentage of your income and as the business grows, there must be a growth structure and you must follow it religiously. You must be disciplined, you must remain focused on what you want to do so that by the time the business grows, you end up not being a burden to the business.

Did you buy your first car when you started your first business?

I was not out to impress anybody, so I did not give priority to such things. I did not even have a girlfriend which might even be a big distraction. If I had a girlfriend then, she would have her own ideas, which might constitute a distraction to my own ideas and goals. I knew all the things that could distract me and I cut them off. I didn’t buy a car until about two years into the business, and it was not only necessary but important to buy one. I needed a car to move around and service my clients.

How were you able to resist the urge to have a girlfriend or have a good time?

To succeed, you have to be disciplined. There are certain things you cannot afford. If you force yourself to get them, you will regret it. Not having a girlfriend was part of some decisions I took at that time in order to remain focused.

What was your background like?

I grew up in the village. While growing up, I was very rascally. At some points, my mum couldn’t tolerate my rascally behaviour, so I had to move in with my grandmother. You know grandmums tolerate children more. I was very rebellious, making trouble here and there, beating people up and coming to report them and so on.


How would you describe the first major PR account you won?

It was very exciting. In fact, my first major account was from a company from France called Ballex Group in Isolo. I was doing small jobs of N5,000, N10,000 for them until they wanted to give a major job out to an agency. I asked the corporate affairs department to list my name but unfortunately, I was not considered an agency. But the corporate affairs department asked me to come and hang around in case their partner failed to show up. I was the first to arrive and I did not get to meet them until around 3 pm. So at a time, one of the expatriates came out to have a talk with the corporate affairs manager and I asked the corporate affairs manager to put in a word for me. He then introduced me as a young man who had been doing some small jobs for the company. The expartriate asked what I could do for them. He then said I should come inside. He explained what they wanted to do and asked me what I could do. I told him what they needed to do if they wanted to get into the market. He immediately said I should go and put it into writing. I went back, wrote it and took it to a business centre to have it typed. I went back the following morning and the man said, “This is the person we have been looking for!” We did it very well and they were very impressed. They gave me other jobs and then we started getting referrals.

Would you attribute your experience to luck?

Well, you know when God takes His own decision, it is not subject to anybody’s questioning or contribution. I honestly may not be able to explain what luck is, because when God is with you, it will appear that you know what you are doing. I believe it was God that was working, and I think we should give the credit to God rather than luck. If I had not made an effort that day, sat at home and accepted defeat because they had invited big agencies, it would not go the way it went. I believe that God crowned my doggedness.

Does one have to go to school to practise PR?

You don’t need to go to school to read PR specifically, like people in the media who have diverse backgrounds. But once you are in it, you need to develop yourself. That is very important.


How did you come about Brandfaces?

Well, I discovered that there was a gap to fill from my experiences in different countries I visited. I realised that in every country that I visited, there is a marketing journal. I visited the UK and I saw Marketing Week, and there was nothing on Africa and Africans in those publications. They concentrated on their markets, their people and so on. When I visited South Africa, I saw Marketing Mix which focuses on South African market and businesses. When I came back, I started Brandfaces which focuses on our own market and businesses. Since then, new publications have sprung up


What was your first outing like?

Oh, the reception was fantastic. It was like something people had been waiting for. It is a premium publication and that is why it is strictly by subscription.

In tpt office, the offices are labeled variously as Mad Room, Cooks, etc. Your office is labeled Rebel Leader…

We challenge the status quo. We challenge the conventional way of doing things. We are creative people here. Yes, I am the rebel leader here and I take responsibility for whatever comes out of the team. When we capture a territory in business, I take responsibility. When we miss, I take responsibility for it as well.

You shunned women while struggling, how was it like trying to settle down with someone?

There was no problem. There is time for everything, including a time to build a family. In fact, for anything one does in life, you have to consider the benefits. You don’t have to wait for too long before doing certain things.

But because of the kind of job you do, you were bound to be under pressure when you wanted to choose a lady…

How can I be under pressure? You will only be under pressure when you want to do something and you are not doing it. For me there was no pressure at all.


They say you are a car freak. Is that your weakness?

Well, I don’t know if it is a weakness but there are ways many things are exciting to people. I won’t deny the fact that I love good automobiles. Some people love the boat, others love flying. As for me, I love automobiles and dressing well.

Would you consider a teaching job to impact PR to young people?

I am already doing that. I give lectures, I get invited and I give speech in universities and other places where I talk about my experience.