Dolapo Amusat is the founder of WeTalkSound & WTXtra and is invested in the Nigerian creative space. He has an engineering background and has worked with several multinational companies across industries while building his businesses by the side. 

His ultimate goal is to consolidate his activities in tech, music, and media, and build communities & products that’ll create long-lasting impact. We had a chat with him on Twitter. 

Please tell us a bit about your journey, how and why did you start? 

I’d been exploring the creative space since university, but I started what would become WeTalkSound/WTXtra in 2016. I enjoyed music like everyone around me, and I thought to create a community around it. Time passed, the community grew & here we are now. 

That’s great. ‘Started from the ground now we are here” 

When you started, did you get a lot of support? From family, friends, what was the dynamic like?

Friends, definitely were into it for the most part. The family didn’t exactly understand the thing, but they didn’t dissuade me. Ultimately, I got significant support from the people around me.

Amazing! For most creatives, support doesn’t always come at the beginning because like you said, most people don’t get it, they catch up later, then the support comes. So, let’s talk business

Owning/running a business in Nigeria is largely a herculean task, let alone the creative industry, how is that like for you? What peculiar challenges did/do you face?

Well, firstly, I hardly consider what we do as a conventional business. Because of how we started & the kind of work we do, it has a business component to it, but a lot of it is just wanting to do cool stuff. 

Challenges: 

– Expectation of free/cheap work especially in the beginning

– How to price intangible/creative services 

– Structuring the team.

Kindly tell us about your companies.

WeTalkSound is a creative community focused on providing support, fostering collaborations & educating creatives. WTXtra is a creative agency. A business.

Creative communities are important for growth, positioning, for partnerships. Well-done. Moving on, now we talked about challenges. 

How did you hack pricing as a creative? How did you learn to charge what you’re worth? Creatives want to pay, but do not know how to charge

I’ve not hacked pricing yet. I still suspect that we’re grossly undercharging. 

A few tips, I’d say: 

– Research; find out what people charge,

– Ask colleagues and people in the industry

– Ask the client to drop their budget first 

– You’ll get better with experience.

Thank you Dolapo for your honesty. How do you keep your clients loyal so they keep coming back? In this industry, as much as new clients/customers are great, we want the already familiar ones to keep coming back, how do you do this?

Add value to them even after the original engagement.

– Look at your relationship with them as long-term, as opposed to one-offs. 

– Bring them into the community so they feel closer. 

– Stay cool and keep doing the best work so they’ll have nowhere else to go

Love it. Thank you so much. As we round this chat up, please tell us three key lessons you have learned so far and what the next three years looks like in scaling for your business

Key lessons:

– Do free stuff in the beginning if you can afford to, but know when to draw the line. 

– Create structure internally 

– Enjoy the process.

For the next three years: 

– More money 

– More impact 

– More fun.

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