Right now, Mrs. Kiki Okewale is one of the most successful fashion entrepreneurs in Lagos. She is the CEO House of Plush Exclusive (H.O.P.E.) and Fashion and Kiks Couture; an exquisite fashion line which prides itself in clothing and styling services to discerning individuals with class and sophistication.
A luxury brand that is famous for its use of exotic fabrics, good use of patterns, embellishments and blings to create distinctive outfits.
Kiki who holds a B Sc. in Business Administration from William Shakespeare College, University of Portsmouth in the U.K, an MBA from Ladoke Akintola University, Osun State, also operates a fashion academy for aspiring fashion design practitioners
Few days ago Mrs. Okewale spoke about how she built her successful business on her Instagram page using herself as a case study. She also spoke about major mistakes many entrepreneurs make in business sighting the example of some of the mistakes she also made then.
The live chat started on her business page “Hopebykikiokewale” which has over 165 thousand followers before it was moved to “Kikiokewale” she said that it is not easy to be an Entrepreneur. She said any entrepreneur must be able to have a thick skin. She explained further that seeing many celebrity dancing on Instagram doesn’t mean they are not going through tough times in their businesses. “Most of us dancing on Instagram doesn’t have it it easy”. She said for any entrepreneur 24 hours is not enough. She said that entrepreneurs must be able to work many hours after they have closed the physical shop.
The vibrant ebony pretty CEO said, revealing many parts of Kiki Okewale many people don’t know.
She has “blings by Kiki Okewale”, where she sell matching shoes and purses, jewellery and all that. I have Bakery, Supermarket, and Pharmacy and she is also into farming. She has a farm produce company too where she sells Garri Ofada and facility business. She is also the brain behind cleaning facilities company. She is one of the top staff at WFM, women FM owned by her husband.
Speaking on how she started this many businesses and how she made it big, she said it takes grace of God to build a successful businesses empire.
Her first tip on running a successful business is “you need to have either a passion or skills. Your passion must be something you can monetize successfully to be successful businesses entrepreneurs. She said that she remembered when she started, she loves clean places. “ When I was working, I had zero tolerance for dirtiness. “ I love everywhere to be neat and orderly. So I told myself, why not start a cleaning business. I got the guy who was a cleaner at our office and I started the cleaning firm. I then went to learn the rudiments of cleaning. How to make detergents, how to make liquid soap. Note, you must not be mediocre as an Entrepreneur. You must learn everything that needs to be learnt about the business.
“For my fashion school, it wasn’t like I went to any fashion school when I started. I knew I always wanted to do fashion, so I didn’t go to fashion school for a start, I went to the modern ground where people sew proper. I went to a Barack where you can see 10 to 20 people sewing. That was where I learnt to sew. My husband couldn’t understand me because he was like you this woman. But people at the barracks were saying, “ this woman comes with a car and she comes to us to learn. I know what I stand to gain. You need to have a vision so when you have a momentary setback, your focus is on where you are going. So then, people saw me as she is humble, but I knew where I wanted to go. I knew what I wanted. They didn’t even know I wanted to start a fashion school but I knew what I wanted.” One day, I just bought a machine. Some people have the luxury of employing staff and start but I love to learn. I don’t like to be under pressure but to be in total control. So for you to make it in any business as an Entrepreneur, learn the basics. Even now that I have learnt everything, I do more of embellishments. Everything about entrepreneurship is a phase. You will go through trials and tribulations but when you face that, the knowledge will keep you. What if your tailor doesn’t come or he leaves you, you can decide to do it yourself. But if you don’t have the basics of the business, it is a big problem. You have a restaurant, saloon, hair maker, so any day your staff don’t come, are you going to tell them, we can’t do it today my staff are not around. So learn the basics”.
You can make it in business if you don’t monetise your passion or knowledge, Mrs Kiki Okewale revealed. She revealed that she made hair to pay for her school fees in London. She explained that there are various parts of her that people don’t know. Hear her: When I realised I was going to go to London, I went to perfect my hand in making hair So I did that. When I got to London, I have a line up of children and I could make up to 5 to 10 children during weekends. That was the money I used to pay my school fees. Their friends will bring their children. So you must be able to monetaise your passion” she explained.
She revealed that another secret of a successful business is knowing who your target is. It was under this aspect that she revealed some of the mistakes she made when she started her fashion business. She said she has already started her fabric business. She revealed that she bought some fabrics back then while not even knowing who to sell it to. She said she was new in the business, so she has no Aunty or Mummies who would either buy or introduce clients. She said it took a while for her to get over this. She explained further that not getting the right target in business could lead to total closure of the business. Her words “I struggle with this issue. You know I am talking about my experience. I already bought sewing machines, so I bought fabrics and all and didn’t have aunty, mentor or anyone I am looking up to. You can’t do business this way. I didn’t have a friend that was into fabrics. So I didn’t have friends to ask a question. So I learnt the hard way but I am glad I made those mistakes because It made me a better person. A life lived without making mistakes is a life not lived.
You don’t want to make mistakes yet you want yo make it, how will you do that. There is no roadblock I can not face. I have fallen many times but it has made me a better person. There is no setback that can bring me down. Why do you care about validation? I was ready to start all over and here I am now. Don’t listen to anybody, you don’t need anybody’s validation. Believe in yourself. My fashion business is 5 years now. I remembered when I started, I will go and buy on Alibaba express. I also went to order shoes and told them to put my logo without having any client or target audience. I haven’t done it before oooo. I don’t have a client waiting for me, but I believed in myself. Though I paid dearly for it but I believed in myself. You are not the first to fail. When I started, I was making for all and sundry and when a big client comes, they won’t buy because I didn’t know who my clients were. The high clients were the ones coming so I stopped making for all and sundry, so I told myself, my target audience was the “HNI” (High Network Client). So I have carved a niche for myself after making my first mistakes and now Hopefashion is known for class. Self-doubt kills any dreams” she explained.
“You must be intentional. This was what I did after I made my mistakes in my business. You must be known for one thing. Let them know when they need anything this, it is your store that should first be a point of contact.
She didn’t stop there, she also said some people make mistakes about staffing. She explained that most entrepreneurs make these mistakes a lot. She explained that any staff who doesn’t see into your vision will kill your dreams. “You as an Entrepreneur should also care about your clients. Your staff must be able to give quality service even if you are not around. They must be able to put things together and not be rude to client. Build a good structure. It took me time to learn from this mistake. I later had to explain to them my mission. So I told them, smile when you see a client. Now when they see clients that are happy. I was able to build a strong bond between them. This has brought referrals too. All of this has to be put into consideration too. I also take care of my staff and in exchange, this has given my client quality service. Do you check on your staff? You must show that you care.
Don’t be after new clients, treat your old clients well.
“You must also support all your client no matter how small it is. Do you give them freebies? This has helped my business a lot. “ she said.
– Abiola Orisile
