Rising Dragon: Titi Oyewole wants to bring ready-to-wear couture to you and everyone you know

Capital was a major obstacle for Oyewole before she got shortlisted for the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund of the Bank of Industry.

Titilope Oyewole is the founder/CEO of Efab Creations, a fashion startup that aims to make ready-to-wear couture a thing in Nigerian society. 

The 23-year-old graduate of microbiology from the Osun State University started her company on the belief that anyone should be able to afford beautiful outfits no matter what their income is.

 

“Fashion is for everyone and I’m of the belief that no matter what someone’s income is, they should still be able to afford beautiful outfits as we all know everybody like to wear nice things. I started efab creations to cater for people-mostly women-who appreciate beautiful outfits and at the same time want to cut cost,” she says.

Oyewole, who is also currently running her MSc program in parasitology and bioinformatics at the University of Lagos, says she chose the name “Efab Creations” (Efab is an acronym for Everything Fabulous) because there isn’t a single piece of clothing that doesn’t have its uniqueness. 

As with any business venture in Nigeria, starting out is always a challenge. Capital was a major obstacle for Oyewole before she got shortlisted for the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund of the Bank of Industry (BoI).

“First was funds but with the help of the bank of industry, I was able to overcome that to a very large extent, I got shortlisted for their Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund and got N2 million for my startup,” she tells Pulse Entrepreneurship.

 

Funding was not her only challenge too. Building a strong clientele base took sometime but now, her cleints are recommending her business to their friends and family. 

In her words, “Another challenge was building our clientele but gradually we’ve been able to move past that as most of our clients even bring their fitness and family to patronize us therefore increasing our reach and exposing us to more people.”

Despite all of that, Oyewole doesn’t think she’s there yet.

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We asked her how successful she would rate the success of her business so far on a scale of 1–10 and she said: “As someone who set very high goals for myself and my business, I will say a 5 for now. We are at the very average because we have left where we used to be but we haven’t gotten to where we will like to be.”

 

That doesn’t mean she hasn’t had some great moments though. “I’ve had quite a few and they all include having clients gush so much about their dresses and loving them, to the point of bringing in more clients for us. I once had a client tell me, ‘I would never get my clothes from anywhere else,’ it actually made me feel very good.”

With all that she has accomplished so far, Oyewole still wants more. “Like I said, we have very big plans, our short term goal is to keep getting better at what we do while we build our trust in Nigerians and our long term plan is to become the biggest ready to wear producers in Nigeria and the world at large.”

 

On what she thinks can make Nigeria’s business environment friendlier to Rising Dragons (young entrepreneurs) like herself, Oyewole believes the government has a crucial role to play. 

“I think government support in small business will help to a large extent. Also, regulation of some rules, electricity too — to mention a few,” she says. 

Oyewole also understands the advantages of leveraging technology in running her business. She has a fully-functioning website where customers can order [and pay for] outfits and a potent social media presence with both her business and personal pages boasting over 37,000 followers. 

“As an entrepreneur, we have to be consistent and we shouldn’t be money driven, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we don’t need money but when starting a business, that shouldn’t be in the first five reasons,” she says to other aspiring entrepreneurs. 

 

“Point out the problem you’re solving and be very great at it, also, do not measure your success with another person’s milestones, our stories are different and in all you do, never give up on your dreams, they are very valid. Do not listen to naysayers, some people’s work in life is to bring others down but up and coming entrepreneurs shouldn’t pay attention.” 

Titilope Oyewole is our Rising Dragon for this week. You can check out her business page @Efabcreations on Twitter or call 08054720734.

from pulse.ng - Nigeria's entertainment & lifestyle platform online