Eseoghene Odiete is one of the winners of Google Africa Connect Competition 2013; she came first in the SME(Small Medium Enterprise) section. The Competition was keenly contested with 2,200 entries from 35 countries in Africa; but Odiete’s beautifully designed bags got her to the top of SME category. In this piece we shall look at the sweat and story behind Eseoghene Odiete’s successful and innovative enterprise.
Lesson 1: the Internet
Eseoghene Odiete success story begun with just a click of the mouse. According to her, “I went to YouTube while using Google search and watched lots of videos on how to sketch bags, that is how I started sketching what I saw on the internet.”
It is beyond argument that the internet is a world of information and knowledge. And Odiete grabbed it. She surfed the internet for information on how to run businesses and enterprises. Further, she used Google to search up fashion blogs where she could place her designs; while using Facebook as a publicity and marketing platform. In short, she transacted on the internet. Here is her word, “it was more of my leverage on the fashion blogs, Facebook and other online outlets that I started making money; people started contacting me.” To Odiete, the internet has provided us with many ways to achieve our dreams and lots of Africans are going to change the World and all these can be done through the internet. Indeed, the internet is a way-paver for many people out there who have ideas and hunger for enterprise but no money; for boundaries are gone and resources are within reach.
Lesson 2: Passion and Persistence
Eseoghene Odiete’s triumph did not sprout from vacuum rather it is an offspring of passion, pursuit and perseverance. She is a graduate of Mass communication from Covenant University, Nigeria; but she has always had a knack for using her hands – to start a business and employ people. Even when her dad disagreed with her over bag making, pressing her to get a ‘job’ she stuck to her guns. Odiete didn’t give up when Jumia refused to place her bag designs on their site; but rather sent out over 300 request to fashion blogs. She persisted in the rain until she struck gold in the Google African Connect Competition. Now Jumia and Co. are begging her to sell on their platform. Follow your dreams.
Lesson 3: Self-Improvement and Cultivation of Talent
Talent is a rough gemstone that must be polished through constant self improvement and life long learning. Eseoghene Odiete knew that she could use her hands, yet she went ahead to watch those how-to-do videos on YouTube and sourced enterpreneurial skills on the internet. She did not stop there, but put to work what she learnt on the internet.
Lesson 4: Partnership and Social Capital
Eseoghene Odiete understood the power of networking, social capital and collaboration. Hence, when she ventured out, she had to look for other people she could work with. She hired a craftsman and harnessed her social capital on social media to sell herself and bags. There is no reputable and successful enterprise that can make it alone; after all it takes two hands to lift a load to the head properly.
Lesson 5: Starting Small
Eseoghene Odiete did not start her business, Hesey Designs in a big way and in perfect condition. She began her business with a small capital of #10,000; with her ideas and drive – that’s all she got. She started small in a low beat-down workshop in Mushin, Lagos which was rented at a monthly rate of #2,000. It was from there that she designed and produced bags that she displayed and marketed online.
Now a lot of African youths and entrepreneurial spirits out there get discouraged to launch their enterprises for fear of ‘no money and no connection’. Believe me, there is no perfect time to start that business, pitch that idea and pursue that dream. This re-echoes Eseoghene Odiete’s advice that, “nobody should have an excuse per se. You shouldn’t give the excuse of not having money, if you have an idea you can.” If you are still waiting for the perfect time to venture out, then you are on a long wait that may end somewhere in the tomb. Start small. Start now.
– Elvis-Wura Towolawi
One Beat Nigeria 