• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Meet Daramola Fiyinfoluwa, entrepreneur making unique accessories

Meet Daramola Fiyinfoluwa, entrepreneur making unique accessories

Daramola Fiyinfoluwa is the chief executive officer of Mad About Scrunchies (MAS), a business that sells scrunchies, claw clips and gift boxes in Lagos and Ogun State.

Fiyinfoluwa was inspired to establish MAS in 2022 to spice up the corporate look on her campus – Covenant University.

“Everyone looked the same, and I felt the only way people could enhance their look was to acquire accessories. The goal was to provide excellent and affordable accessories to students on my campus,” she says.

“Subsequently, people began to order larger packages for their friends as gifts and I realised that I could fill a gap in gift packaging.”

The young entrepreneur says her business started with N40,000, but it made its first sale five days after its launch.

“I used N20,000 from savings, N10,000 from my mum and N10,000 from a friend to kick-start my business,” she says.

Fiyinfoluwa also says she runs the business with support from her family and friends.

Since starting, the student entrepreneur has leveraged social media to scale her business and taken training to broaden her entrepreneurial skills.

“I would say my actual journey on social media with MAS started when I was in 300 level,” she notes.

“I decided to take a course in digital marketing at school where I learnt graphics design, photography, email marketing and social media skills.”

Currently, her business has about 200 plus followers on Instagram, with over 150 customers within Lagos and Ogun state, and more than 500 accessories sold, all in eight months since its establishment.

“The most important thing any aspiring business owner needs to know is that their network of friends can influence the growth of their business,” she states.

Speaking on hurdles facing the business, the young entrepreneur says FX scarcity has remained a major constraint limiting the business.

“The FX situation has also made the price of foreign goods like the claw clips and some gift box content more expensive,” she says.

She notes that the current fuel scarcity is also a major challenge facing the business. “It has also increased the delivery charges but I continue to ensure that prices are stable and affordable.”

Another challenge she faced was deciding which delivery company was ideal, efficient, affordable, and enough to deliver her products within Lagos and Ogun states.

Read also: Lessons to thrive as entrepreneurs in a challenging world

To cope with these challenges, Fiyinfoluwa says her friends played active roles in helping her put the business out there when she started.

Fiyinfoluwa says she uses SendStacks for delivery in Lagos and Unified delivery for deliveries within Ogun state.

“I have not had any delivery challenges since I discovered both companies,” she says. Also, in situations where customers were unavailable to receive their packages both companies have ensured that I get such packages back in the best condition.”

Fiyinfoluwa says she decided to use clear bags and a brand logo sticker to serve as the quality seal to package each order.

“That way people can see the contents of their package and be sure that their packages have not been tampered with. This has been great for packaging although I still plan to improve it over time,” she says.

On the business’s short-term goals, Fiyinfoluwa says MAS plans to expand its accessories of high-quality and make them readily available on demand.

The business also plans to start gift boxing on a larger scale. “My goal is to curate memorable gift boxes that my customers will be happy to give to people and receive too,” the young entrepreneur says.

For long-term goals, MAS plans to become a known brand for delivering quality products and also having its custom line of unique accessories.

To mark the MAS first year, Fiyinfoluwa says she plans to collaborate with other business owners in the university who sell similar products to create an amazing giveaway package and simultaneously introduce more people to their businesses.

On her advice to upcoming entrepreneurs, she says, “Start wherever you are with whatever you have because nobody has it all figured out,” she says.

“You do not need to do something big for it to be great, you can simply fill a gap nobody has identified and create value.”

She says, “From there you can refine your ideas and change your structure to adapt to the growth you experience.”

“Make a conscious decision to invest in yourself. You must have skills and knowledge to equip you for your entrepreneurial journey, you can start by learning a skill or gaining knowledge to help you in your process.”