Achenyo Asimegbe on “my journey to success”

Achenyo Helen Asimegbe is a serial entrepreneur. She hails from Kogi State and she is married with two children. She is the CEO of Stylemark Mall, a retailer of high-quality children’s clothing and accessories, and also Stylemark Pro Enterprise (Capacity Development Centre), which trains Entrepreneurs, small business owners, and start-ups.

She serves as a business mentor for the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Foundation and also  Cherie Blaire Foundation for Women in Business. She is a member of Toast Masters International Club.

She holds a B.Sc/Masters degree in Business Administration. She has a certificate in Entrepreneurial Management, she continues to add to her learning through a great number of local and international certificate training programmes, including courses from the University of Leeds, Coursera by- University of London & London Business School. Amongst many other training, she has been privileged and has been selected a number of times to participate in conferences centred on Entrepreneurship and development goals, such as Conference for Emerging Entrepreneurs organised by U.S Consulate General Lagos.

She has a strong background in banking and has worked with two commercial banks in Nigeria.

She absolutely loves to travel with her family/spending that special/quality time together, and also shopping is one of her luxury necessity favs.

She has a strong passion for her businesses, inspiring people, helping people believe in themselves, and not give up hope. And also has a passion for helping other businesses grow.

“Transitioning from banking to business, I must say, wasn’t the easiest thing for me. It was really tough at the beginning, because both professions are somewhat different”.

In taking a bold step to starting a business, I had to look within. I took time to figure out what I was passionate about, I knew it would have to be something that can keep me up late at night and I could still smile and enjoy what I’m doing.

I didn’t want to just start any kind of trade because I wanted to do buying and selling. I had to identify that one thing that I could really do and derive joy from. My first business is Stylemark Mall, which was founded April 2015 and we deal in children’s clothing and all other accessories.

When I started, first of all, I began by marketing to my friends and relatives, and then I began to talk to a few parents from my kids’ school. Most of the time, I would stock up goods in the boot of my car and move around doing deliveries trying to hopefully get new customers. I took a step further and began to use very well, all the social media platforms: Whatsapp, BBM, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to do my adverts.

I was really committed and devoted, not minding how small my business was. I would create adverts with words and post on social media, together with pictures for people to see. It’s been quite an interesting journey.

Even with the ups and downs we face as small business owners, I kept striving, putting in all my best effort. From selling in my boot, to clients in Abuja for starters, I gradually began to reach out in marketing to other people outside Abuja, and that’s how I was favored and began to also deliver outside Abuja.

Well so far so we good, we are on one of Nigeria’s largest online shopping mall, Konga.

Before I began this business, I searched carefully and prayerfully, and I narrowed it to what my greatest interest was, because I know for sure, days would come when situations may make me feel like giving up, but if it’s a thing I am passionate about, then the business will survive.

I love kids been dressed pretty, and super cute. It gives me so much Joy.

I am someone who does not give up on anything I set my mind to do. I wake up and encourage/motivate myself a lot to try and try. I am a very hardworking person, super intelligent and smart. Been able to stay strong and focused, never looking back to see how big some problems or challenges were, has greatly helped me in building a strong brand.

Well, I could just mention some of the skills I possess. They are communication and negotiation skills, marketing, sales and customers service skills, problem solving skills, leadership skills, planning and networking skills.

I have been an employee at one time in my life and I was saddled with lots of responsibilities and tasks which had deadlines to meet. So in the course of working for someone for years, there was a lot I learnt in that time, which eventually added lots of skills and great qualities to me. It helped me in the long run. No regrets on the knowledge acquired.

In the course of running my business, I began to discover how really creative I am, and with that, I can actually achieve a lot being my own boss. I wake up having so many ideas/inspirations on what exactly I can add or do to make my business stand out.

I recently realized that I also have a great passion to inspire people by helping them achieve their dreams, and turning their ideas into profitable ventures. So, I decided to set up my second line of business, which is Stylemark ProEnterprise. A lot of people have been impacted and have started business by the trainings we organized which they took part and most of the time for free. A lot more have had conversations with me one on one, and were inspired to start their own business.

I went a step further and decided to host a GEW event in Abuja where I launched one of the products of Stylemark ProEnterprise called “SME SpringBoard,’’ a platform designed to assist MSMEs realize their growth potential, have access to market, access to finance, and capacity building.

The event was well attended by representatives of government agencies, investors, business persons, start-ups, established entrepreneurs and investment experts.

So mentoring is what I found, as I progressed in my journey of running my own business.

I love all tge 17 sustainable development goals,an i am proud to be currently contributing to the 8th goal which is ”Decent Work and Economic Growth”.

I have mentored a lot of women, and encouraged them to start businesses, of which most of them are doing excellently well as we speak. They have a strong will and are determined to success,and achieve their goals.

I also have a group on Facebook,which is a platform called SME SPRINGBOARD, the group of this group is to interface  millennials, and help them transform their ideas into profitable businesses, thereby adding to the nations GDP.

I am currently working on an event SME Springboard 2017, which has a centred focus on MSMEs, it would be a platform, where people will benefit from capacity building, mentoring, have access to finance, access to market,and build business relationships.

I always say this, I really don’t have to wait until am seen on CNN or get listed on Forbes list before I begin to give my contributions in making the world a better place.