VISA SPOTLIGHT SERIES ON SKINCARE ENTHUSIAST: TERRYANNE CHEBET – FOUNDER, KEYARA ORGANICS
When Terryanne’s eldest daughter was little, she struggled with a dry skin condition called Eczema. Terryanne searched for a natural skincare solution that would heal her daughter’s skin but could hardly find any in Kenya. Based on a doctor’s recommendation, she tried shea butter and it worked. Terryanne soon realised that some mothers in her circle were also searching for natural solutions to their children’s eczema. This spurred her to start Keyara Organics- a leading home-grown skincare brand in Kenya. Terryanne Chebet is a Media and Communications professional with more than 15 years of experience in Media practice, Media leadership and Management. She is also the founder of Africa’s Leading Ladies, an online group for African women to connect, learn and share experiences. She started Keyara Organics from her kitchen and it has flourished because of her expertise and passion. This piece is about Terryanne’s journey with Keyara Organics and the lessons you can take away from her experience. What is the intention behind Keyara Organics? The intention behind Keyara organics has always been to provide a skincare solution for the whole family using as many natural ingredients as we can. We aim to make products available for the man in the house, the woman in the house, the child, the toddler- we want everyone to be catered to. What inspired your decision to leave journalism to start Keyara organics? There were so many things that I needed to do with my life and I would not have been able to do them while working as a journalist. It would not have been fair to the job. It would take too much of my time and waste their time as well. So I decided to focus on what I needed to do to be able to get to where I wanted to go. I am 41 years old right now and I have been telling my friends that “this is possibly my highest productive decade so you may not see me much, you may not hang out with me a lot.”When I am 50, 60, 70, I can relax and enjoy life a lot more. I also left because I needed to be home more. As a journalist, I could count the number of times I was actually home before 10 PM for the 10 or 12 years of my career. Has your experience as a journalist helped in running Keyara? My journalistic background has helped me immensely. Being in the public eye has helped me put my brand in a place where I can reach many people. It has helped in building a better brand and getting visibility from media houses. Also, the confidence I have today may not be there if I had not been a journalist before this. What are some of the challenges you have experienced and how have you dealt with them? One of the biggest problems is the packaging and I believe this is an African problem. Many of us in the skincare space has had a problem getting quality local packaging. So we end up having to import packaging. That affects the margin because we are paying for freight and a higher grade of plastic. All this eventually affects the pricing of our products. We have thought of different ways to solve this problem and one of them involves buying a moulding machine to make our own plastics but it is very expensive. However, one of us in the skincare space decided to fill the gap by shipping in containers in bulk and then we buy from her. Sourcing products has also been quite a challenge. For instance, shea butter comes from West Africa and shipping it into Kenya is very expensive. Luckily for us, we found out that shea butter is also available in Northern Uganda and South Sudan and they are neighbouring countries. So now we source from Northern Uganda. In running your business, you interact a lot with local communities and business. In your opinion, how important do you think local communities are to the businesses they choose to support? They are absolutely important. I think that it is a thing of pride to be able to invest in our own and contribute to these little economies. I am pretty big on working with what we have locally and patronising small businesses in our communities. For us at Keyara, we source raw materials like aloe vera from local farmers in Kenya that harvest those items. Supporting local businesses will never stop being a priority for us. In a couple of years, we have seen the skincare industry in Africa grow- brands are consistently popping up in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and we are effectively creating an economy of our own through our patronage. By supporting local businesses, we also create gainful employment. Whether it is a full-time person or a consultant, the people who are working on packaging, the people who print out labels- the whole value chain gets impacted and enriched. The more we push for our African brands to grow and support them, the more we grow our economies. What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a business of their own? This might sound cliche but just start. Start where you are, start with what you have. Just start. I started Keyara organics with about 60,000 shillings which is 600 dollars which I took out of my salary. I bought some shea butter and some containers and began producing in my kitchen. Looking back, had I thought that let me wait for big money to come in, let me wait for a million shillings, I would not have started it. So my advice is start where you are, start with what you have and start on something that you are passionate about. Nothing beats creativity. There is a lot of copycatting in the small business space and I understand that because it is a lot cheaper and easier to start out copying someone
VISA SPOTLIGHT SERIES ON THE FOOTWEAR GENIUS: EVE MAINA – FOUNDER, SHOE SPACE AFRICA
After Eve quit her much-loved job because of unwanted sexual advances from male colleagues, she was left with almost nothing in her bank account and desperately had to figure out how to make money. Eve’s family have always traded in shoes. So for her, the shoe business is not uncharted territory. So Eve began selling shoes to make some money pending when she could get another office job. When the business began to show fruits of success, she decided to go into it full-time. Today, Eve owns Shoe Space Africa – one of the fastest-growing shoe businesses in Africa. This piece is about Eve’s journey with Shoe Space and how she has been able to grow her business from almost nothing to the phenomenal brand it is today. What is the story behind Shoe Space Africa? Starting Shoe Space was not intentional at first. I quit my job in 2016 and I was wondering what to do next. The only other thing I knew how to do asides my corporate job was shoes because I grew up in a family where my mum used to make shoes, my cousin used to sell shoes so it was an easy fall back plan for me. I did not know if it would work because I always liked the corporate life. Shoe Space started in January 2017. At the time, I had no savings so I started Shoe Space from zero. I talked to a friend in the business and she gave me some of her shoes. I posted them online and made some money from it. My capital was gotten from the money I made off those sales. I thought I was going to sell shoes for a short time and then go back to working a corporate job. However, when I started seeing headway, I decided to do it full-time. What are some of the challenges you have faced in the course of running Shoe Space Africa, what did you learn from it? I would not necessarily call this a challenge but this time last year, I experienced a tragic accident for the first time in my life. I was travelling to Kampala, Uganda by bus to consult on some shoes. At the bus station, I met a good friend of mine and because we wanted to sit together, I swapped seats with another passenger on the bus. The person that sat on the seat I was supposed to occupy passed on in that accident. My friend who had a safety belt on was thrown out of the bus and even though I didn’t have a safety belt on, nothing happened to me. I remained seated. This moment changed my life forever. After the accident, the way I thought and approached things in my life changed, my heart changed. Up until this day, when I think about that moment, I am stunned. Seeing someone else pass away on your behalf changes something in you. Many times in our life, we take things for granted. You look at your life and see all that you have achieved and you think you did it all by yourself. You forget that it is God that has brought you this far. With regards to the lockdown, the major challenge we have faced has been sales. What has helped us cope is the fact that we have an online presence. I also gave my clients offers and discounts that made my items more affordable for them. Being online worked to my advantage because most people were at home doing nothing except scrolling through their feed. Most shoe lovers are people that will purchase whatever catches their eye even if it is the last money that they have. What is your big vision for Shoe Space Africa? I want Shoe space to be a household name for quality shoes sold at affordable prices. More importantly, though, I want to leave a lasting legacy through Shoe Space. Right now, I am working on establishing a foundation that will provide Kenyan kids with quality shoes. So when you buy a shoe from She Space, you are donating a pair of shoes to someone else that needs them. So my big vision is to make sure African children that need shoes have quality shoes. What advice do you have for someone who wants to start a small business? Having a relationship with Jesus. I know not everyone believes in Jesus but Jesus us the one I give all the credit to. There is a certain kind of wisdom and clarity that you can only get from God. When you start a business, you may not be sure of what you are doing or where to go next but if you have Jesus, He will help you out with that. When you pray about something and ask for help, if He says no, if He keeps quiet or if He says yes, you know what to do and where to go as opposed to just doing things blindly and on your limited understanding. Discipline is so important. Even if you don’t feel motivated, discipline keeps you going. There are days you will not want to wake up but the discipline you have gets you awake. I call myself the 4 AM boss because I wake up at four am in the morning and I have been doing that since primary school. After I wake up I pray and get ready and then I am usually at Shoe Space at 6 am. That discipline has to be cultivated and maintained. If you want to take your business to the next level and meet more customers online, Visa is your plug! Visit their Small Business Hub to get the support you need. First 100 businesses to sign up get $200 worth of online advertising, so hurry now! This spotlight feature on Yomi Odutola is powered by Visa. Visa’s ‘Where you Shop Matters’ initiative aims to champion entrepreneurs
VISA SPOTLIGHT SERIES ON THE BOSS LADY OF LEATHER CRAFTS: YOMI ODUTOLA – FOUNDER, JOELA LEATHER
When Yomi’s daughter was a small child, finding the right shoes for her was a struggle because of the size of her feet. So Yomi decided to make a pair of shoes for her daughter. She designed the shoes on cardboard, went to the market at Mushin, Lagos, to source shoemaking items and created a pair of sandals for her daughter. Doing this filled her with so much joy so Yomi took it a step further and enrolled in a shoemaking and pattern cutting course in the UK. That desire to cater to her daughter’s shoe needs inspired what is known today as Joela Leather – a premium leatherworks store in Lagos, Nigeria. The name Joela is coined from one of her daughter’s names and what solidified Yomi’s choice is the Hebrew meaning – “The Lord is God”. This article is about Yomi’s inspiring journey with Joela Leather and lessons you can take away from her well of experience. You used to work in the corporate world, what made you decide to switch that for entrepreneurship? When my daughter was born, I wanted to be present. I had a very strong support system but I wanted to be there for her while she was growing up so I stopped working. Once I left the corporate world, I thought of all the possible businesses I could start. Growing up, my daughter had big feet and I could hardly find her size in shoes. At some point, I thought, it can’t be that difficult to make children’s shoes. So I started cutting cardboard and paper and putting them together to look like a pair of sandals. After that, I asked for where I could find shoemaking items on a budget in Lagos and everyone was like, “Go to Mushin.” So I went to Mushin with about 5,000 Naira. I came back from Mushin that day with a pair of sandals and a pair of slippers and my husband was stunned. That experience taught me that when you are moved to do something, you should do it immediately. You do not need anyone’s permission. Why did you decide to centre Joela around making ladies’ handbags? Like I said, I have always been in the leather industry. I simply moved from making children’s shoes to making ladies’ handbags. My knowledge of the leatherworks industry just made it easy for me to transition from one section to another. Joela itself started from requests. I had a leather shoe shop and we would make shoes and bags for little girls and then the moms would come and request me to make bags for them as well. They started putting in orders for bags and sometime after that I had to close my shops. I had three shops in Lagos and after I closed them all, the next thought was “what business can I do?” Since the request for ladies handbags was still coming in, I decided to give it a try. Once I put out my first set of handbags and the feedback and responses were really great. What do you think makes Joela stand out as a brand? The philosophy behind Joela is to make classy bags affordable and readily available. We are consistently crafting beautiful, well-made handbags. I want people to see our customers carrying Joela bags and say, “wow, where is that bag from?” I have had that reaction a couple of times and it brings me immense satisfaction. Most importantly, we do not want to burn a hole in your pocket. Joela partners with Footfarm– a charity that gives free school shoes to children in underprivileged communities. Joela also teams up with HR professionals for Work Wear Edit, an outreach program that provides women with employability skills such as HR/interview tips as well as coordinated outfits to gear them up for success. What is your big vision for Joela? My vision is to see African women carry beautiful and affordable bags. I am particular about the African woman because we go through a lot and we need beautiful things that will constantly bring us joy. When you carry a great bag and you are well dressed, nobody can talk to you anyhow. For me, it is not just about carrying a bag, it is about making us feel beautiful and confident. When women feel beautiful and confident, we get a lot done and positively impact the people around us. What advice will you give to someone who wants to start a business? You need structure. Structure and discipline go hand in hand. Don’t think because you are the one running the business, you can do it from your bed. While you can work from bed, have working hours, have structure, have guidance otherwise you will not be productive. Have a to-do list otherwise, your day will pass you by because you will not achieve anything. How can you help? What can you do to solve a problem? When you actually solve problems, the money will come. Fish and pepper sellers solve the problem of making food items available. We need to eat and we need to get the fish out of the sea, we need to get the peppers as closeby as we can. So look around you, look at the problems that around you and see how you can use your skills to solve them You need to be patient. Many of us are in a hurry to make money and this mindset can be costly. If you have structure and you are solving a problem, the money will come. If you want to take your business to the next level and meet more customers online, Visa is your plug! Visit their Small Business Hub to get the support you need. First 100 businesses to sign up get $200 worth of online advertising, so hurry now! This spotlight feature on Yomi Odutola is powered by Visa. Visa’s ‘Where you Shop Matters’ initiative aims to champion entrepreneurs across
VISA SPOTLIGHT SERIES ON WELLNESS EXPERT: LINDA GIESKES MWAMBA – FOUNDER, SUKI SUKI NATURALS
When Linda was newly natural, she could hardly find hair products that her hair liked and responded well to. This discontent led her to start making her natural hair products and soon enough, her friends and family encouraged her to turn it into a business. At the time, Linda was a practising lawyer in New York but her passion for beauty and wellness led her to leave Law and establish Suki Suki Naturals– a premium beauty company that sells organic hair and skin care products. This article is about Linda’s fascinating journey and how she turned her discontent into a sustainable business. How did Suki Suki Naturals begin? Suki Suki Naturals started as a haircare brand. Suki means hair in Lingala. I am actually from the Congo. So my passion started with haircare and then three years after I launched, I decided to go into skincare. So the haircare was because I went natural back in 2010 and I was struggling with my hair. At the time there was hardly anything on the market and the products you could find were mostly available in Canada and the US. Bringing products into the country was too expensive. I was like “I have to find a way to make this work for myself here in South Africa.” So I started mixing things and using herbs, clays, oils and powders. I eventually started sharing them with my family and friends because they were seeing that my hair was growing well and they wanted to know what I was doing. Did you ever see yourself starting a brand like Suki Suki Naturals? From the age of four, I was already playing with beauty products and as I grew up it just got worse and worse and worse and I had to be banned from my mom’s bathroom. Today when my aunties look at me and they see that I have a beauty brand, they are not at all surprised despite my being a lawyer. They are like, “we could see that happening.” Sometimes you have to think back on your childhood and ask, “what was that thing that made me so excited?” How do you keep Suki Suki Naturals authentic? I have had my moments of, “let me take on this partnership even if they do not align with my brand. Let me check if it is going to work out” and that is where lack of authenticity can start to creep in because you think you have to make certain sacrifices to see success. The problem with going with things that are not authentic to you is that you may end up doing business with people that don’t reflect your brand image. They are not the right custodian of your brand not because they are actively trying to bring down your image but just because you are not aligned. It is important to work with people that are aligned with you. I have had to learn to say no to opportunities that are not right for me. After all, Suki Suki Naturals is here for the long run, we are not here for just short wins. Did you face any major challenges as a result of the lockdown? I have been blessed during this time because my area of expertise is one where people were willing to spend simply because you are spending more time at home. Wellness and beauty are very important to people and most of them are like, “ah, I can’t go to the beauty salon, let me take care of my skin, let me take care of my hair.” I have seen a lot of amazing stories of women who have invested in their wellness. You know when you are constantly out, you have to go put your best look forward and sometimes, that comes at the expense of actually taking care of yourself- the makeup, the weave, straightening your hair all the time- but when you are at home, you can be yourself and that forces you to cultivate what you have. So skincare has boomed and I am super lucky that skincare and wellness have boomed because that is my sector and I have been blessed with the fact that my business has been good during this time. How did you keep the communication going with your customers during the lockdown? Social media has always been instrumental to my brand. It has always been great at aiding communication but it has shown its power this time. What I love about social media from a business point of view is that it gives you the power to define what your voice is. You can define what your business is about, to speak to your customer directly and that simplifies the marketing process. It helps to facilitate clear communication between you and your customers. You run a brand that is committed to helping people take care of themselves, How do you make sure you prioritise self-care in your own life? I try to disconnect on the weekends because my weekends are mine alone. As much as I don’t have a lot of family with me here in South Africa, I try to keep in touch with them. I disconnect by literally keeping my laptop in the office. On the weekends I don’t even want to open my laptop and my laptop hardly ever sees my bedroom. Also, I am not a fan of answering emails on my phone, for some reason, I just don’t like it. I try to keep that balance by maintaining opening and closing times and the people and companies I work with respect that. What advice would you give to someone who wants to start a business? Start today. Don’t worry about starting small. I started small. You don’t have to have it all figured out but get started. Operate from a place of authenticity and know your “why.” Why are you doing what you are doing? Don’t follow trends, don’t follow what others
VISA SPOTLIGHT SERIES ON PLUS SIZE FASHIONPRENEUR: OUMA TEMA – FOUNDER, PLUS FAB
Ouma Tema decided that finding beautiful clothes would stop being a cause of frustration for her simply because she was plus-size. This tenacious mindset inspired her to start making her clothes and posting them on social media. Soon enough, friends who admired her style began asking where her clothes were from so Ouma started Plus Fab – a South African fashion brand that caters specifically to plus size women. Although Ouma started her business from the boot of her car, today she produces her clothes in top-notch factories and they are distributed in the fastest growing retail chain in South Africa. This article is about Ouma Tema’s incredible journey and how she has been able to turn her frustration into a thriving business. What was your life like before you started Plus Fab? Before I started Plus Fab, I was working for the government. I had a good time there because I learnt a great deal of professionalism. That was the foundation that helped me grow as a professional. I loved my job when I was there but I got tired of it. Also, I knew that this was not where I was supposed to be so while I was there, I began working towards my exit. Did you ever know you were ever going to start a brand like Plus Fab? As I was struggling to get clothes for myself, I was like, I need to do something to solve the problem of there not being stylish clothes for plus size women. It wasn’t something like, “oh I really would like to have a fashion brand.” I was not inspired to start my business, I was propelled by the problem at hand. So Plus Fab is a product made out of frustration. What do you think makes Plus Fab stand out as a brand? I always say that anybody can make a dress, anybody can do a jumpsuit but not everyone can instil confidence in people. We want women to go out in the world and be badasses. No black queen should lose her energy because she has nothing nice to wear. We do not want people to miss their graduation ceremony. We do not want clothes to be a barrier to that amazing life that you want to have. So we stay true to our promise. We do not sell something just because of the size. We also sell you the fashion, the fabulosity, the amazingness and the comfort. You can wear our dresses 10 years to come and you will still be popping. How were you able to keep Plus Fab running during the lockdown? What was nice about this whole thing is that people could buy online. At Plus Fab, we are proud of the fact that we produce all our clothes so as soon as facial masks could be worn in public, we were ready and pumped to produce scarf masks. It was challenging but making those scarf masks helped us push through. How did you communicate with your customers during the lockdown? We kept on communicating with our customers on social media letting them know that the frustration was mutual. Some customers lost their jobs but still came to buy their last dresses from us. They were like, “I do not know when I will get my next job but this is the last item I am buying from you guys for now.” How important do you think local communities are for small businesses? They are incredibly important. I always say buy local. It is the utmost act of patriotism because you are affirming that jobs must be created, sustained and there must be no poverty in your country and your community. In Africa, the biggest enemy is poverty so it is incredibly important for us to support our local communities. You make prom dresses available for young plus-size girls. Can you speak about that? I did not go to prom because I did not have a dress to wear. So I started this because I did not want young plus-sized girls to miss out to prom simply because they could not find the right dress to wear. I do not want dresses to be a haggle simply because of their size. What is your big vision for Plus Fab? Plus Fab is a fabulous movement. We cannot wait to start trading across Africa and then the world. I want Plus Fab to be a household name. I want it to be known from Cape Town to Cairo, Morocco to Madagascar, New York, Ghana, Nigeria, Lesotho and all around the world. So global domination is the idea. What advice would you give to people who want to start sustainable businesses? What problem are you solving and at what price are you solving it? I think the most important question you have to ask an entrepreneur is what problem are you solving? If you know, you will do the right business. Look at your community and see what they need and how you can provide value. Ultimately, entrepreneurs are problem solvers. If you are honest about that, the money will come. Know your customers: Some of our customers who love and support us got salary cuts and as much as they would love to buy from us, we understood that we were not a priority at the moment. We kept communicating with them and that’s why I can sit here and tell you today that we know where our customers are at. Some say, “I want to buy a dress but we are on lockdown. We can’t be seen in public, we can’t go to parties, We can’t go to weddings, so where am I going?” If you want to take your business to the next level and meet more customers online, Visa is your plug! Visit their Small Business Hub to get the support you need. First 100 businesses to sign up get $200 worth of online advertising, so hurry now! This
VISA SPOTLIGHT SERIES ON HEALTHY EATING GURU: CLAIRE DU PREEZ – FOUNDER HONEST FOOD
In high school, Claire du Preez found her passion for food in a Home Economics class. Though she did not pursue it immediately, the longing to feed people in a healthy and honest way drew Claire from the corporate world and back to her passion. So Claire du Preez established Honest Food– a cosy restaurant in Johannesburg, South Africa that serves mouth-watering vegan and vegetarian dishes. Claire is dedicated to building a genuine brand and ensuring that Honest Food is a welcoming and healthy environment for customers and employees alike. As she says, “I am incredibly passionate about food and the challenges that come with convincing people to lead a healthy lifestyle. So my goal is to make food affordable, attainable and delicious.” This piece covers Claire’s refreshing business story and valuable lessons from her experience with Honest Food. How did Honest Food begin? I started a juice bar when I was about 24 years old and I would set up juice bars at farmers’ markets. On Saturdays and Sundays, I would make freshly squeezed juice for people. I started off selling 20 and soon enough, I sold 30, 40, 50… Eventually, I opened my first permanent store and then I realised that with a juice company comes the food aspect of it. So I thought, why not get involved in that as well? I slowly started adding food items to the menu and it just kind of grew organically. I never did crazy marketing or you know, any sort of print marketing. It has all been word of mouth. Everyone that has come heard about it from someone else. What do you think makes Honest Food stand out? People come and they realise that they can eat vegetarian and vegan food that is delicious and they love that. Another thing that makes Honest Food stand out is the warmth of our space. The restaurant is set in a quiet and serene suburb. It is a great working space so it attracts a lot of people that do not work from offices. For them, Honest Food feels like a home away from home. Our staff are also incredibly welcoming, friendly and knowledgeable. Seeing as Honest Food is a second home for many, how did you maintain that feeling with your customers during the lockdown? We kept a really big presence on social media. Instead of letting our page go dead, we kept on interacting with our customers. We carried on with posting, shared recipes and tips. Even though we could not see them, we maintained the connection via our social media platforms. We also set up an online store and we started selling some of our grocery items through our Instagram page. This pushed us out of our comfort zone and made us grow as a business. Did you notice a change in the way your customers patronised and supported you during the lockdown? I definitely did. Our customers knew the lockdown was going to happen so they increased their spend at our restaurants. During the lockdown, we received donations from our customers. I also sold pre-sale vouchers at discounted rates that you could use after lockdown and our patrons bought them. Currently, people are coming to work from our restaurants. Our customers are dedicated to keeping our doors open and that is phenomenal. We see the same people coming back every day. We know they could go somewhere else but they are committed to us and it is a lovely feeling. What key lessons can you give to someone who wants to start and grow a successful business of their own? Don’t do something because you think it is going to make you money. Do something that you enjoy because it will be a very long time before you start getting profit from your business. For a very long time, all the money you make will have to go back to your business and if you do not love what you do, you will resent the fact that you have to do this. You need to have some kind of financial security. I know some people quit their jobs to start a business and they think they are going to be earning salaries from the beginning. It does not work like that. I actually had a 9-5 job for the first part of owning a business. I knew that I could always pay my bills and I was building my side hustle in the background. You need to persevere. Success does not happen overnight. I have had a business for seven years and it is only in a couple of years that I have started to see fruition. At some point, I sacrificed my social life for my business but it paid off. So if you work and see no reward for a while, don’t give up. If you want to take your business to the next level and meet more customers online, Visa is your plug! Visit their Small Business Hub to get the support you need. First 100 businesses to sign up get $200 worth of online advertising, so hurry now! This spotlight feature on Claire du Preez is powered by Visa. Visa’s ‘Where you Shop Matters’ initiative aims to champion entrepreneurs across Africa while encouraging consumers to support small businesses by shopping local. Visa’s initiative is supporting small businesses through the Visa Small Business Hub, a merchant platform providing tools and information on how to start, run and grow small businesses.
VISA SPOTLIGHT SERIES ON NATURAL WIGS QUEEN: REMI MARTINS – FOUNDER NATURAL GIRL WIGS
When Remi first went natural, she struggled to find hair extensions that could blend effortlessly with her kinky natural hair. So she teamed up with her hairdresser to make her first Afro wig and pictures of her wearing it sparked a conversation about natural hair on her Instagram page. Remi realised that her desire to wear afro-textured extensions was a desire other black women shared. With this insight, she started Natural Girl Wigs– a game-changing African hair company. This article is about Remi’s incredible journey and insightful lessons you can take away from her experience with Natural Girl Wigs. What was your life like before you started Natural Girl Wigs? Before Natural Girl Wigs, I worked in digital marketing and communications. When I started my business, I was recently promoted to Head of Digital Marketing for the agency I was working for. So on weekdays, I worked 9-5 and when I got home, I would sort orders. It was tough but I knew I wanted to do this. How did you know it was time to go into business full time? I was waiting for a green light that would signify that it was time to leave my job. That green light was the number of orders I was getting daily. Once my orders started getting to a number that could sustain me financially, I had an honest conversation with my boss, who is also my friend and I told her that in three months, I was going to leave. What is one misconception you think people have about starting a business? One thing I find that people think is a major challenge is money. I always tell people that money is not a challenge. With the way e-commerce is right now, what you actually need is community. If you have a community, then you have a business. Your community can even fund you to get the products. Let me use myself as an example. When I first thought of starting a hair company, the first thing I was thinking was that I needed to get all the money I could find. That approach failed woefully but when I took on a community-building approach, I saw the impact I was expecting money to bring. With how crucial community is to your brand, how did you maintain the interaction with your community during the lockdown? We collect our customer’s emails when they buy from us so when the lockdown started, we sent them updates. We wrote to them to see how they were doing beyond trying to get them to buy from us. I think that exposed us to the human aspect of business and our customers connected with us. Did the lockdown affect your business? Not really. During the lockdown, our customers were still buying. One thing about beauty, especially when you are a brand that uplifts others is that people want to be part of a good thing. There is a lot of sad news around the world so people want to be part of something that makes them happy, something that makes them feel beautiful. Even if it is just to go on a Zoom call or TikTok people still want to look beautiful. What advice do you have for someone that wants to start a business? Try to find your potential customer first. Start a page on Instagram and get a feel for the kind of things your followers are interested in. Share your personal story with your community so that they can connect with you. If you build a great community, everything else will flow. You need to learn to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. A lot of businesses have potential but people dislike the experience that they have with those businesses. Customer support can make or destroy your business potential. Build trust within your community. No matter who you are and what you do, you will surely find your tribe. You don’t have to post things that are not authentic to you because you think it will get you far. Try and present your products well, of course, but at the end of the day, try to build that trust with people. Once people trust your brand, nothing would hold them back from recommending your products, supporting you and coming back again. You want a business where your customers are your marketers. If you want to take your business to the next level and meet more customers online, Visa is your plug! Visit their Small Business Hub to get the support you need. First 100 businesses to sign up get $200 worth of online advertising, so hurry now! This spotlight feature on Oluremi Martins is powered by Visa. Visa’s ‘Where you Shop Matters’ initiative aims to champion entrepreneurs across Africa while encouraging consumers to support small businesses by shopping local. Visa’s initiative is supporting small businesses through the Visa Small Business Hub, a merchant platform providing tools and information on how to start, run and grow small businesses.