Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
A training institute known as Mapemond Business Academy (MBA) has stormed Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, to transform entrepreneurs and boost job creation in the state and other South-south states.
The institute, a training wing of Mapemond Limited, a brand consulting firm, is designed to heal enterprises, heal ailing businesses, and transform entrepreneurs into world class business entities.
Speaking with journalists at the opening ceremony in Port Harcourt, the founder, Mr. Maple Dappa, a renowned branding expert, described the training institute as a business clinic.
Dappa stated: “You come in here with your business challenge and you leave with a healthy company after you have passed through business surgeons, architects, engineers, etc. Once you enter this room, you cannot leave the same way.”
Dappa continued: “Our vision as an organisation at Mapemond Limited is to provide solutions that empower businesses to become profitable, sustainable and reputable brands.
“One of the many ways we have positioned ourselves to achieve this is through the setup of the Mapemond Business Academy and our mission with this is to equip business owners to do business better. That is the refrain: Do business better. So, no matter how things are, we want to ensure that you stand a good chance of running a successful business.”
Dappa further stated that Mapemond Business Academy offers streetwise, practical, and quick courses just like a fast-food restaurant considering that the target business owners cannot afford to leave their ventures for a prolonged period of time to attend the traditional business schools.
He said; “Another dimension to this is, he went on, is that a lot of people, for lack of other credible options, turn to the more renowned learning centres in Lagos and even in Port Harcourt but that then, they continue to struggle with specific challenges.
“The truth is that in building a business, you must continue to seek and get knowledge because what you know is never really enough.”
Dappa highlighted that the academy is not just about awarding certificates an degrees but is focused on impacting street-wise intelligence and practical skills needed for business owners and businesses to survive out there in the real world of business.
He added that Mapemond Business Academy, has onsite classes, also offers online learning options for executives and operators that can’t make it physically.
Dapa explained: “You will do your assignments online. Immediately you are done, a certificate will be issued to you, too. When online, you can take the class at your own pace. You can pause it and return to it or ponder over what you just heard. You can repeat the lesson over and over. The cost for the online learning is lesser.”
He also highlighted some advantages of the of physical classes like meeting and networking with others, real business interactions, practical class illustrations, deep and insightful conversations, others.”
The founder observed through research and experience in the oil region that most entrepreneurs in the south-south are what he called “accidental entrepreneurs.”
