James Baldwin said: “Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” The profound and incisive summation is indicative of how Mike Oludoyi, entrepreneur and founder of Mo.autos got his knack for business.
Mo Autos, a licensed company operating in Texas and Maryland, deals in the sales of cars online and its services are available and accessible to Nigerians who desire to buy cars from the United States of America. It is a unique automobile company, as many who engage in the trade mostly run physical outlets. But the managing director decided to do something different from the norm, in order to simplify the process of acquiring cars from the US where he is based.
Though Mo Autos officially took off in 2016, the owner had been in the business of selling cars for 13 years. Oludoyi revealed that a number of factors contributed to the birth of his company, but the most inspirational was growing up to watch his enterprising mother juggle businesses. This left an enduring impression on the US citizen.
Born into a disciplined Christian family of six from Mopa area of Kogi State, the businessman and third child of his parents, attended St. Peter Nursery/Primary School in Mopa, and Harmony Secondary School, Lokoja, before bagging a degree at Salem University in Lokoja.
“I’m a from a business oriented christian family of six, My parents, Myself and 3 siblings. I was born in Mopa, Kogi state, Nigeria. I’m the third child. A key value my parents taught me is diligence and hardwork, I grew up watching my mum and dad juggle business, career and a passion for serving the people and philanthropy. I spent a lot of time in my hometown growing up, I’d completed my nursery and primary school education in my hometown of Mopa”, Mike Oludoyi explained in a recent interview.
“First, my business role model is my mum, I believe I got my business acumen from her. And also Elon Musk, for his innovative ideas in business.
“I’ve always had a passion for cars from a young age. I remember back in my secondary school days. I’ll sit with friends in the Evening looking at the road from the campus and identifying every car that drives by, Naming the brand and models. It was a little game I enjoyed so much. And I always win in the game, because I know a lot about cars.
“I even grew up with the dream of being an automobile engineer and work in car production fields. Cars has always been natural for me. This passion grew into an ability to spot excellent cars and making proper judgements of its condition, a major skill that has helped me to make sure we always deliver top quality cars to our customers”, added the Mo Autos CEO.
According to him, he conceived the idea of Mo Autos after a personal experience. The Salem University alumni declared that after buying a new car, he was able to sell the old one under 24 hours for a profit, adding that the scenario encouraged him to go into the business and going fully digital.
“Mo Autos was founded to bridge the divide and simplify the process of buying cars directly from the USA from any part of Nigeria. I have basically been in business generally for over 13 years; but I founded and started Mo Autos back in 2016. It started with me trying to sell my older car when I got a new one and I was able to sell it within 24hours for a profit. That encouraged me to do it more”, he said.
The Mo Autos chief executive disclosed that people had initial doubt dealing with an online company, but after enjoying top-notch services without any hassle, the same clients referred other customers to the company.
“One of the initial challenges we faced is that some people were reluctant to do business with us because we are an online business, but we’ve proven our integrity and diligence over the years and many of this type of people who were reluctant before, have reached out to us and purchased cars from us and even refer friends and associate’s because of the quality of our service, quality of the cars we deliver and the unbeatable deals and prices ours customers get”, stated Mike Oludoyi.
Providing invaluable advice to young entrepreneurs, he pointed out that patience is the greatest virtue, emphasising that it played a major in the growth of Mo Autos.
