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Motivez, Muizz Almaroof
Motivez, an events platform created by LSBU alumni to inspire productivity, helps give young people all they need to create their own future pathwaysAlong with co-founder George Imafidon, third year Civil Engineering student Muizz Almaroof set up Motivez, an events platform to inspire productivity among young people, in 2014. During his first year at LSBU, Muizz was also accepted onto the University’s Spark programme, a six-month programme for students who want to turn their ideas into a business while they study. Motivez continues to use the space at the Clarence Centre.
Searching for the right path
“The idea of Motivez came to me years ago during my gap year after sixth form college, as I didn’t know what I wanted to study or do for the rest of my life,” reveals Muizz. “I knew I was interested in media and creativity but didn’t have any direct path towards this. The initial idea was then developed with my co-founder George, so we started Motivez. The idea is to connect young people to the right information they need to enable them to create their own pathway to their career. We intend to do these through providing information about events around London directly to young people aged between 16-and 24 years old.”
These events are based on education, networks or seminars and any other form of useful information young people might need to help make their pathway towards their career goal smoother. Motivez is a mobile application and website service, with bespoke workshops organised on specific interests to educate young people, while school visits also take place to advise teachers how they can work more closely with young people who are having difficulties with the educational system.
Building a successful community
With the concept going from strength to strength, Muizz has clear plans for his business and hopes for it to be more than simply a standalone venture: “We intend to build a successful Motivez community, which offers a variety of services. We want to provide events to the relevant customers, run workshops for young people to help prepare them for adult life and give them the social skills they will need to excel within their chosen career field,” he explains. “With Motivez we hope to prove to the world that you really can create your own pathway to success despite your beginnings and that you don’t need to follow the current system as it is. You need to add your way to create your own path by having what we call the Motivez mindset and applying it to your everyday life!”
Enjoying the shared journey
Enjoying the shared journey working with a wonderful team is what drives Muizz, something he says allows him to love the exciting journey he’s on even more, “as we all share the same vision for Motivez. I enjoy the planning process with the team where we Skype to organise our workshops and marketing ideas to push the business forwards. It’s also the uncertainties and the risk that really drives me, as we have not reached our destination yet, meaning the only way remaining is to go forward, which definitely motivates me to keep going.”
The challenge of combining work with study
As a current student at LSBU, how does Muizz find combining both full-time study and developing a fast-growing enterprise? “The journey is quite challenging at first but then you get used to it and start to develop very useful skills that you will need to find the right balance between your business and university work. Planning well ahead, working smarter and not spending too much time on activities than you need to complete. The challenges come when tight university course deadlines approach and I believe this is where you will always need to outline your priorities as an individual, focusing on what’s important at that moment until you get through that period. However, always have your end goal in mind.”
The benefits of a professional programme
Muizz reveals that he saw LSBU’s Spark programme as an opportunity to really get to know himself and to further develop Motivez on a much more professional level. “The programme really helped us fill in the missing pieces of information that we needed to know about starting up a business. The benefits of this are huge, from gaining some great networks to working with great people who truly believe in the vision and learning and taking on some new ideas to help establish our business successfully.
“To my mind, enterprise is essential to a university no matter what subject you’re doing. It helps to unlock the creative side of individuals, forces you to think outside the box and allows you to really question yourself on what legacy you’re going to leave behind in the professional and personal world. This is important to students, as it stimulates the mind and enables you to have a similar approach towards your studies and final year projects.”
A place to call a base
With Motivez continuing to use LSU’s Clarence Centre as office space, how beneficial does Muizz think it is to be able to access space such as this and other support/facilities at LSBU?
“This has been a major key in helping us be organised and operate on a more professional level. We have space where we can run our regular meetings, work in a decent environment and use a strictly business area where we can receive our business-related correspondence. It’s a great space to have, and we appreciate being able to use it.”