Arowolo Daniel is a technopreneur with his own tech company, Intech Management Limited, located in the Odogunyan community of Ikorodu.
For many years, the company has served as a hub for educating youth in the community and surrounding areas about technology.
In this interview with Efosa Taiwo, Daniel tells us more.
Excerpts
Let’s chronicle Intech Management Limited, how you started and what you are about.
Innovative technology is the backbone of Intech Mangament Limited. Driving back, Intech started as Daniel Cyber World, which is my name. And that was as early as 2013.
However, I was not really running it as a company but as a self-brand. From Daniel Cyber World, around 2015, I partnered with a friend and founded Daniel Cyberwar BHL. The BHL comes from the way we meet.
Then, during our separation, I realized I needed something more focused on tech. I brainstormed, met with a couple of students and friends, and Intech came up and sounded more related to the tech industry without having to explain much of what we are into.
What services do you offer through Intech?
We started as web developers, technically. We develop websites, software, and mobile applications for clients. As time went on, before the pandemic, we were scaling through our cloud hosting services.
We offer cloud hosting services. Then, after the pandemic, we named it Intech Cloud Hosting Services. We offer domain registration and cloud hosting for websites. For example, if you are trying to create a website, you need two things, if not three. You need a domain name, which is the name of the website, and hosting, which will make the website live. Then sometimes, after the coronavirus period, we knew we wanted more, and we noticed a lot of bloggers and content creators on our platforms. And most of them were newbies. And looking through their channel of income and monetization, we saw a lot of difficulty in AdSense. So we came up with our sophisticated ad network.
I guess it must have taken a lot of guts from you to choose Ikorodu, so why Ikorodu?
To some, Ikorodu may appear to be a rural area. I was not even brought up here. I came to Ikorodu five years ago. I would say love brought me to Ikorodu. I came to Ikorodu wanting to be very close to the person that I was dating then, but unfortunately, things didn’t work out as planned. I was actually born in Bariga, and grew up in the Iyana-Ipaja axis.
So, settling in here was tough as I was not really familiar with the whole area. So when I moved to Ikorodu and the purpose was not working out again, I realized I needed to do other things. Then, the most important thing was that I saw the students in Laspotech and felt I needed to do something for them. And whenever I want to do something, I am the kind of person that likes to start from scratch. And to answer your question categorically, why did I choose Ikorodu? Unlike other areas like Yaba, the Island, and competing with the brands there, Ikorodu, for me, was an environment to offer something unique, an apt environment to start from scratch. I always believe that there is a difference between people who want to solve problems and people who want the fantasy of doing so.
So for me, it was not a fantasy; it was the solution, the impact. And for me, technology has no barrier.
What was the perception of the Ikorodu people when you started out?
The first thing is that I run my company in a very private way. And the most important thing is that I wanted to grow in my talents and skills.
So when we started, I got people with passion. Not just because I want to be in the tech world. So it was more or less like we grew together.
Tell us about your background. education and work experience prior to Intech.
I have a National Diploma in Computer Science from Ogun State University. In the past, I have been able to work with some companies that were not tech-related. For instance, I worked for a real estate company, but one thing I realized is that wherever I worked, I always had this drive to bring tech in.
What stands your company out?
We are not distracted. Whatever service we are rendering, we do it from scratch. Our customers love us for our customer service. Anything that satisfies our clients, we go all out for it. We are more of a company with a passion. So our passion to serve our clients stands us out.
You mentioned getting people of like-mind and growing together. Let’s talk about this.
Yeah! We are more into building skills. People from Laspotech and people from the community. We knew getting the best hands in this community would be tough, so we sought to groom talent. I used to tell my HR that we had to build the best for ourselves from here. So for those who have an interest and the same passion as us, we share our knowledge with them. That’s what we do.
Basically, we share knowledge. We groom the skills. And it has been very impactful on the people around here.
What’s the most surprising thing about doing business in Ikorodu?
What I will say is that in Ikorodu, there are no tech companies. You only see cybercafés. So when we started, people were curious as to what we were into.
People who need tech services were surprised that the same thing they have been pursuing outside Ikorodu is within Ikorodu. We are being praised and appreciated for what we do.
What challenges have you had to face in doing the tech business in Ikorodu?
(Smiles)Security has been it (laughs). In less than four months since we started here, we were robbed. We were not in the office anyway. The thieves moved some of our stuff. And you know, security has been the bane of Ikorodu. Others might complain about the distance or bad roads, but for me, security.
What should the people of Ikorodu expect from you in the next few years?
We are currently working on our lab. We are trying to have a lab that will contain at least 20 computers. We are planning on having two labs, so we are estimating at least 40 computers for training and ICT. We are looking at driving a technology-based community. I personally believe that the best way to promote technology and ICT is from the rural community and not from the urban areas, where people already have access to technology through their own PCs. We want to be the source of that gathering in Ikorodu.
