Everybody can become a successful entrepreneur, but it all depends on what he or she is ready to do to achieve their goal. Today, we will be talking about a young Cameroonian, whose story can drive a sense of purpose to many young Cameroonians, thereby motivating them to become successful entrepreneurs in the future. Genesis st. James Amahnui, is the C.E.O and co-founder of PRAIZ SYSTEMS, formerly Panda designs (re-branded on April 1st, 2019).
The 25 years old, software developer and brand strategist, hails from Bambili in the North West region of Cameroon. He attended CCAST Bambili and the university of Bamenda, where he studied petroleum engineering.
Today, James basically designs systems, which people use from just anywhere, and for similar reasons, people are able to get to him from any part of the world. He runs two companies, Praiz systems which is all about software development, and Vagaly, which deals with data mining and branding, since 2017. As a start-up in Cameroon, it’s not been easy, as he says, most of his clients are out of the country because they have accepted to adopt the digital system, and its benefits, so pricing is not a problem to them, unlike in Cameroon, where the people are still resistant to technological evolution and thus, pricing is a major problem because they cannot wrap their heads around the fact that good software isn’t cheap.
According to James, he is working on a strategy to bring Cameroonians closer to digitization as his slogan “let’s go digital” says. It is important to note that James started small and he’s growing gradually, as he says, when he started, he worked from home, but now he’s moved to his own office. When asked what his advice for the youths is, he said and I quote “Legends are not born, but rather they’re made… Just keep working, growing and learning, these are the steps to become a Legend” end of quote. Building personal relationships with clients is also an important part of James’ life. He is also involved in other businesses like timber and importation.
Like James, do not limit yourself to what you studied in school, be dynamic, be flexible, work hard, believe in yourself, don’t give up, and you will make it to the top.
Write-up Credit to Monie Emma.