Meet Entrepreneur, Richard Chilee, Founder Of Richard & Malcolm Consulting, A Business Development And Management Company

Business development consultant, Richard Chilee is the founder of
Richard & Malcolm Consulting, a business development and management company that focuses on giving clients strategic ideas to enhance their operational activities through providing consulting and training interventions. He speaks to Elorasblog in this interview.

Please tell us a little bit about your background?

My name is Richard Chilee, a business development consultant and a Nigerian. I attended the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, where I graduated as a Metallurgical Engineer in 2007. I live in Port Harcourt with my amazing family.

While we were younger, we had dreams and aspirations, have you fulfilled any?

Sure, as a little boy, I had immense dreams and aspirations. Once, I had the dream of becoming a pilot. I was fascinated with aeroplanes. I think it was because of the predominant movies we were exposed to at the time. As time went on, I switched to becoming a medical doctor. But then, because I couldn’t stand the sight of blood I switched again. Engineering was completely not within my line of consideration. I guess I studied Engineering because my parents wanted me to. When I was in university, I became passionate about entrepreneurship. Deep down, I knew I wouldn’t spend my life working for anyone. The dream was to go into an organization, get organizational experiences, learn their working strategies and get out on the road of entrepreneurship. Today, that dream is fulfilled.

What motivated you to start up your Company, Richard & Malcolm Consulting?

Richard & Malcolm came as a result of my passion for business development. Also, working for people was never my long term plan. While working in an Oil & Gas servicing company as a business development and contracts manager, I realized that I was passionate about business. I also noticed that many of the business growth strategies and ideas came naturally to me. I pursued ideas that tremendously helped the company grow. I also developed many documents that are still in use up till today. But the greatest motivation was helping many of our vendors put their business documentation in place. I realized that when they do business with us, they lack the basic idea of how they should go about it. I also love sharing ideas through training others. I figured that I could help other entrepreneurs in their businesses. In 2017, Richard & Malcolm was founded out of these motivations. Since then, I haven’t looked back.

Can you share with me the services that Richard & Malcolm Consulting provides?

Richard & Malcolm Consulting is basically a business development and management company. We focus on giving our clients strategic ideas to enhance their operational activities through providing consulting and training interventions. Our cardinal points are the organization, the entrepreneur, the employees and the customers.

We provide:

Business ideation services
Business Plan services
Business registration services
Business development services

We also offer training like:

Employee Development training
Customer Service Training
Human Resources Training
Leadership Development Training, etc.

Photos of Richard & Malcolm Consulting

Why did you choose the name Richard & Malcolm Consulting Company?

Our brand name was gotten from the combination of my name and my son’s name. Richard is me, while Malcolm is my son. I like the fusion of both names because it gives us an international appeal. People don’t have a problem identifying, aligning and embracing the brand because they can easily relate to the name. Once, while attending a course in Lagos Business School, the lecturer saw our name, read it aloud and told me that she loved it because everyone both Nigerians and foreigners will not have problems appreciating it.

Did you attend any form of training before setting up this business?

Yes. As a business development consultant, you must be exposed to a lot of training. You must also find a niche that you can explore. I started my training with the Nigerian Institute of Management, NIM. I also attended Lagos Business School, LBS. I have also attended other training that gives allows me to effectively practice.

Richard & Malcolm Consulting Company, consults for Organizations and implements growth strategy, how can companies build their trust in your services?

Well, over the years, our symbol of trust has been our client base. Companies build trust in our services by experiencing our services. Most of our clients come through referrals. And you know, this is the strongest basis of trust. If people don’t trust or delight in your services, they will never refer you to others. Also, we are big on building great relationships with our clients. This experience and referrals are our strongest basis of trust.

Can you share with me the setbacks and challenges you’ve encountered in this business?

The setbacks and challenges in the consulting industry are huge. One major one is that Nigerians don’t often appreciate the services our industry offer. As you know, our business is serviced based, not product based. And many Nigerians are used to products. It is often difficult to convince entrepreneurs that you can help them start up their businesses or train them and their employees.
Another problem is the problem of illiteracy. Many Nigerians are not educated and exposed. And the consulting industry is a literate industry. We often come down to speak the language of our clients before they understand what we are saying. This is challenging.
Another is intellectual property theft. Your ideas are stolen without recourse. Once, I realized that someone used our training materials to teach some people online. It was a sad experience.

How much do you charge for your training?

Our training is affordable. As the best consulting company in the area of Customer Relationship Management, this course goes for N155,000. You also have materials when you enrol. Other training ranges between N120,000 – N150,000.

Your company has trained over 10, 000 Employees and Entrepreneurs, what are the best remarks you’ve ever received?

One of the best remarks we have gotten was from women who attended our Employee Development training. After the training, she got her promotion within 3 months. According to her, she has been asking for a promotion without success. But when she attended our training and did what we trained them to do, she got her promotion. This was a huge win for us. This is one of our highest remarks.

Where do you see Richard & Malcolm Consulting Company in 5 years?

In 5 years, we should have made impact and imprints around major organizations in Nigeria and other African countries. We should have also developed our own Customer Relationship Management Institute in Nigeria. This institute will train and develop people who are passionate with Customer Relationship Management and outsource them to major organizations who need this core competence to improve their businesses.

Email: elora.akpotosevbe@yahoo.com