In Nigeria’s highly competitive fashion business, it is difficult to stand out from the crowd. But this is certainly not the case for Maryam Musa – Nasir, the founder of MAMNA, a modest-women styling and accessory brand with offices on three continents.
Maryam, a native of Kogi State was inspired to establish her fashion business when she identified an opportunity in the space and grabbed it with both hands.
“In 2015, I was resident in Dubai with my family. I always knew that Dubai was a global hub for sought-after fashion clothing and accessories like abayas, gold, and Arabian perfumes, among others, and I couldn’t wait to become a part of that ecosystem,” she said.
“I personally love the Abaya garment and the trendy look, grandeur, and respect that it confers on a woman. I chose to carve my niche here,” she added.
The entrepreneur noted that her business was established to bridge the supply gap between people who love luxurious and unique modern fashion wears.
“We also give customers the privilege to select and even
modify their preferred design of the Abayas, and have them delivered to customers at the comfort of their homes,” she said.
“We attracted a group of motivated women who sought to pursue financial independence for themselves, and we became a channel for them to directly source abayas from Dubai, at a discounted reseller rate,” she added.
Speaking further, the styling expert said she is profoundly grateful and proud of what her brand has achieved with the reseller group, many of whom she stated has grown to now stand on their own feet.
The business has stores in Abuja, Kano, and Lagos and an online platform that takes orders for diaspora
“We have staff in Dubai, Abuja, Kano, and Lagos. And as mentioned earlier, we have also supported hordes of independent reseller groups, many of whom are now owners of their own physical shops across Nigeria,” she said.
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“We have worked with young students, unemployed ladies, housewives and grandmothers. We have helped them become financially independent business owners,” she noted.
Highlighting the factors that made her successful in her venture, the entrepreneur said the blessings of God Almighty, my handwork, dedication, consistency, good customer relationship, a good support system from my family and staff, as well as proper use of the social media for marketing and visibility.
On the challenges confronting the business, she said global logistics remain the major problem facing her business.
“Move our goods across countries is an issue for us. Even more devastating, many of these items go lost and were never recovered. We had to refund some of the customers, and had to re-order many of the abayas,” she explained.
“But with each of these cases, was the unbearable thought of letting a customer down. This wasn’t okay and we needed to do something about it,” she stressed.
To address the logistic issue, Maryam has to change her business strategy by opening physical stores.
“It was this event that led us to the decision of opening a physical store in Nigeria. That way, we could ship a larger quantity of items when it wasn’t peak periods, thereby ensuring that our customers can have their choice abayas almost immediately.”
“That was our most difficult period so far, but in retrospect, it was a blessing. Our Abuja store has now become one of the most valuable arms of our business.”
On her advice to other entrepreneurs, she said, “There are tons of resources out there, and there are millions of people who are genuinely interested in helping you grow. Reach out! With social media, you have even wider access to these resources today.”
“It is also important to tap from the experiences of others in your field so as not to re-invent the wheel. Learn from their mistakes. Adopt their successful strategies,” she advised.
“Lastly, you need to persevere,” she said.
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