Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Olalah Njenga, CEO of YellowWood Group, LLC., located in Raleigh, NC, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I work with driven, future-centric business leaders who want to transform ideas into objectives and objectives into outcomes. As a strategy consulting and development company, YellowWood Group, LLC, designs strategic frameworks to help private sector business leaders identify, capture and pursue ambitious strategic imperatives. Our sister company, Management, LLC, provides fractional, c-level management to help steer internal efforts in realizing objectives and achieving milestones.

Tell us about yourself
I got laid off about 20+ years ago from a global company that recruited me out of another global company. I relocated my family from The Windy City to something called "The Triangle." At the Outplacement Center, the director evaluated my assessments and excitedly told me, "Based on your profiles, there's no job for you." She continued, "I think you should be an entrepreneur." I remember exactly what I was thinking. They include an assortment of potty-mouth words likely not appropriate for all audiences. As it turns out, that director was right. What started out at my dining room table as one project for one client evolved into a 20-year journey of life, leadership, and legacy. In losing my job, I gained more than I could have ever dreamed.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment as a business owner is in seeing our clients through historical periods of uncertainty. From a crippling recession to a global pandemic to a notable insurrection and unprecedented inflation, clients look to me to be a steady hand at the wheel in safeguarding their strategic endeavors. It is equal parts privilege and pressure, but it is what I've done for more than twenty years now, and it is deeply rewarding work.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
One of the hardest things about being a business owner is that it can be incredibly lonely, even isolating, at times. Even with a great team to support you, at the end of the day, you call the shots, you make the decisions, and you feel the weight of it all. As the owner, you cannot just walk away or hand in two weeks' notice. You have responsibilities, obligations, regulations, and guidelines that often dictate how your business operates. While there is a lot that you can control as the owner, there are many elements that you cannot.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
My top tip for anyone looking to start a business is to make sure your product or service solves a problem that people will pay for a solution to, preferably at a premium. For running a business, my top tip is if you don't make working on your business a priority, then you will end up working in your business by necessity. My top tip for growing a business is to hire people who can help you solve tomorrow's problems today.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://yellowwoodgroup.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/olalah
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olalah/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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