MARKETING AFRICA ISSUE 12/16 | Page 67

really seek to prevent him from operating. The Nigerians also changed the rules when we sought to penetrate the market there. They formed an association which sought to keep everyone else out of the market. We don’t have such rules here where we seek to keep everyone else out of the APA. So the psychology of the particular country is also key to our misadventure there. There’s a lot of protectionism and the overall political environment there is inclined towards protection of their industries and encourages local domination. Frank: Who do you take counsel from? Who inspires you? Bharat: My biggest sounding board is my wife. She’s very straight with a non-emotional answer. When I ask her for some advice about whatever is troubling me she’ll tell me to go about it a certain way which may be contrary to how I think I should pursue it and I’ve come to realize her way of looking at things is the best advice I can practically get on numerous issues. Frank: What must we do and what should we avoid if we want to succeed? Bharat: If you’re not willing to roll up your sleeves and get the job done yourself if it needs to happen then you’ll never succeed. If you’re passionate, doing things the right way, focused and can roll up your sleeves there’s no reason why you shouldn’t succeed and replicate what I and indeed many others have done. There’s nothing special in what I’ve done, it’s definitely possible and it’s not rocket science. Just be committed, be focused and get to work. You’ll be a big success. Frank: We have all picked up the lessons, inspiration, advice and we are grateful and appreciate you for the humility and sacrifice of your precious time to be hosted at this Fire Side Chat. Thank you.