• Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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Osoniyi, still thriving after 4yrs, amidst business challenges

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Olujide Osoniyi is the creative director of Jidehaute, a Lagos-based fashion line outfit that produces unisex corporate outfits, traditional outfits, fancy joggers and footwears for all occasions.

Osoniyi, who has a background in graphics design from Yaba College of Technology state, started his business since his graduate days.

“My inspiration was my high taste of dressing good and classy. Before I started, I would customize round necks with paper stencils and paint brushes, then do pencil sketch cloths and all. From there, I reasoned that I would grow bigger into these ideas and stand out differently out of the normal outfit we see around,” Osoniyi said.

With N80,000, Osoniyi was able to get his business registered, get materials; pay for workspace and a photo-shoot section to enable him to start his business. “With the increasing number of clients I have built in this business, I have been able to get a studio space with some numbers of machines and the necessary equipment in it. And I also have an in-house tailor with three apprentices,” he disclosed.

On challenges faced in his business, he cited structural issues, lack of a sustainable market locally and capacity to compete at the global level as some of the challenges.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of business distortion in Nigeria especially for SMEs and Osoniyi’s business is not left out as it has also had an impact on his business

“For us that make outfits for people that are supposed to go out to work, different events and occasions, majority are at home. So the number of outfits we produce monthly reduced alittle, coming up gradually. But we are optimistic that things will fall back in place fully,” Osoniyi said.

With the fashion industry becoming more saturated, he hopes that in the next 10years, his business will be on a bigger scale and level in different aspects.

The young entrepreneur advises aspiring and promising entrepreneurs in Nigeria to be focused, innovative and flexible. “Start small, grow big, be focused, flexible, and innovative and enjoy the growth as it comes.”