The Journey (Series 5)

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

The journey was indeed slow. Slower than I thought, I started appreciating all the business owners that I knew. That was when I knew that life was not all roses and one had to be prepared for the thorns as well.

I had a friend Bola (now my closest friend), who was into the same ushering business. Whenever she had a job, she will ask me to provide some hostesses, so I got to advertise her jobs on my social media platforms. 

Nobody needed to know who brought in the jobs as long as they kept coming and people continued believing in the brand. That was all that mattered at the time.

After our first job, there were about 5 other jobs in the period of a year. One of which was in Osogbo. I charged less, ran into huge debts, transported the hostesses all the way to Osogbo in my aunt's bus and back to Ibadan. ( the bus consumed so much fuel that I had silently wished we used the public transportation system instead). I was sad but happy because I was able to get another set of outfits, which also meant a new set of pictures.

In Osogbo

With six Jobs in a year! I knew I had to do something and fast! I couldn't continue like this. I decided to take on a couple of jobs for free the following year (2015) and it wasn't easy. I had to explain to my hostesses my plans and why I had to do it. Some understood while some simply made up excuses not to come on the days they were needed. 

A big shout out to our La' Heiress hostesses who stayed with us when the going was tough! Perpectua, Anastacia, Oyinkan, Busayo, Rose... My love for you girls is priceless!

Three free jobs and I now had pictures that I could show potential clients. I felt I had arrived, that the jobs will be flying in now that I had some pictures but little did I know that I was still VERY wrong! This was in 2015.

1st Free Job (January)

2nd Free Job (January)

3rd Free Job (April)

I waited and waited, continued my vigorous advertisement but all to no avail. I was frustrated, devasted, angry with myself for making yet another mistake (or so I thought). Then I got tired, I gave up and decided to venture into other things and this was when I decided to go into Personal Shopping fully. 

I had ventured into personal shopping sometimes in 2014 but it was supposed to be a side business. I had saved up some cash from my advertising job with a Media Agency (WOW! Media Concepts) and also from my youth service, so I felt ready to launch my new business. 

I got to know about a popular online store that sold anything and everything you could think of and without much enquiries, I went in blindly and started taking pictures from this online store and posting it on my social media platforms. It wasn't long before people started patronising me. Little did I know that this period was going to be one of the most difficult and challenging times in my entrepreneurial journey. 

To be continued...