When people see a business growing, they assume the founder always had everything figured out.
But the truth is different.
Behind every product, every model, every “big idea,” there are quiet moments of doubt, long nights of thinking, and decisions you’re never fully sure about until much later.
PowerNow PayLater is no different.
And today, I want to share what the journey looked like from the inside.
Not the polished version.
The real version.
The Moment We Realized Nigerians Needed More Than Just Solar
Before PowerNow, most conversations in the market sounded the same:
“How much is the full system?”
“I can’t afford it right now.”
“Let me manage generator for now.”
People wanted solar — that was clear.
What wasn’t clear was how to make it accessible without compromising quality or sustainability.
That was the first moment we knew:
Solar alone isn’t the product.
Accessibility is the product.
And that changed the direction of everything.
The Doubts That Came With Introducing a New Model
Launching Powernow came with questions, and not small ones:
Will people trust this?
Will they misunderstand it?
What if customers think it’s leasing?
What if this doesn’t work in certain regions?
What if we’re building something too early for the market?
As a founder, you’re always balancing logic and instinct.
You see the potential, but you also see the risks.
But sometimes, growth comes from stepping into a space where the path is not clear — yet necessary.
The First Sign That We Were Onto Something
Our early customers didn’t just buy the product.
They believed in the idea.
They said things like:
“I’ve wanted solar for years. This is finally something I can start with.”
“So I can pay gradually and own my system? That makes sense.”
“This is the first time I feel solar is actually for people like us.”
That’s when it clicked:
People weren’t rejecting solar.
They were rejecting the distance between it and their reality.
All we needed to do was bridge that gap.
The Growth We Didn’t Expect
We expected interest.
What we didn’t expect was how quickly communities would embrace it.
One customer in a neighborhood would install.
Their neighbor would ask questions.
Their next neighbor would call.
Another person would request a plan.
And just like that, Powernow started spreading organically.
Because trust spreads.
Real value spreads.
And people talk when something finally makes sense.
The Challenges That Forced Us to Improve Fast
Growth doesn’t come without friction.
We had to:
Simplify onboarding
Educate customers clearly
Dispel myths about “leasing”
Improve communication
Strengthen after-sales support
Align customers’ expectations with solar capacity
Each challenge forced us to build better systems.
Each misunderstanding pushed us to refine our message.
Each question reminded us that innovation is not complete until people understand it.
What This Journey Taught Me as a Founder
If I could summarize the behind-the-scenes experience in a few lessons, they would be:
Lesson 1:
Growth comes from solving the real problem, not the obvious one.
People didn’t want cheaper solar.
They wanted solar that fits into their real life.
Lesson 2:
Doubt is part of the process.
If you’re building something new, uncertainty isn’t a warning sign — it’s a companion.
Lesson 3:
People follow clarity.
When they understand, they adopt.
When they adopt, the market grows.
Final Thought
PowerNow PayLater didn’t start as a perfect idea.
It started as a bold attempt to fix a real problem.
Along the way, we doubted, adjusted, learned, and grew.
And today, when I see homes enjoying clean, silent, reliable energy — families sleeping through the night without generator noise — I’m reminded that building something new is never easy…
…but it’s always worth it.
This is the behind-the-scenes story.
And it’s still being written.
