Tell us your first experience with making money

Well, I used to take a lot of contrabands such as sweets and chocolates to my secondary boarding school. I noticed my dorm mates weren’t good at sneaking theirs in. Hence, they would result in begging from me. So, I started offering it to them at a price and they jumped at the offer. That’s how I got the nickname Contra Mama. I became the go-to for contrabands and I made sweet money from it. I was selling an item for over double the price of the initial cost.

Impressive! So was that when you decided to be a Business Owner

No, I wanted to be a Lawyer. I studied law at the University of Lagos. However, right from year one, I was into one business or the other. I always took advantage of my environment and created opportunities for them.

Do you think it has anything to do with how you were raised?

Hmmm! That’s very possible. My mum is a Medical Laboratory Scientist but she runs a SuperMart. Thinking back now, I think my mum has dived into several businesses. I remember her selling gold, fabrics and even paint at different times. So maybe you’re right, she may have had an impact on me.

Now, let’s talk about running a business while being a Law Student. How was that?

I actually ran 3 businesses.

What!!!

*laughs, Yes. I sold wigs, jewelry, shoes and bags. That’s 4 businesses actually. 

Well, it was pretty easy for me. I had a lot of referrals and made use of social media to promote my business as well. I did that till I graduated. My business was doing so well that I decided to skip Law School and focus solely on being an entrepreneur. If only I knew, I’d have chosen differently.

Really?! What makes you say that?

Well, I guess it was pretty much a lack of information on my part or maybe I knew and I just chose to ignore it.  My business was doing so well; I never thought about saving. So I always reinvested the money into the business or used the profits on funding my baby girl  lifestyle.

Sometime last year, I made a huge purchase of human hair from China. However, I got scammed and I lost a lot of money. It’s been difficult to bounce back as I have no savings. I had to borrow money from friends and family to pay my customers who made early payments for preorders.

That’s sad to hear. What’s the next step for you?

Well, first I have to settle all my debts. I’m running sales so I can make some money selling off some old wares.

My elder sister already promised to support me with capital to reorder the goods. So, I'm going to start my business again. 

What do you plan to do differently this time?

It’s a case of once bitten, twice shy. This time around, I’m saving as I’m making a profit. I can’t afford to let what happened repeat itself. 

I already opened a LifeTime Savings plan with Enterprise Life. I’m really excited to get back to my regular way of doing business.