Hello Fam!
Like play, like play its been about two years since the first one and I have been getting great results. Nelson grillz bagged a small business grant and a permanent gig, others have similar testimonies about getting leads and calls from the blog. It makes me more than happy because that exactly was the whole purpose of #inthespiritofenterprise, to get the word out there about people doing great stuff. Thank you for being there fam!
A quick recap of those featured in the past year.....
2014 entrepreneur line up
Let me introduce to you +Modupe Nnebedum, she's our first entrepreneur showcase of the year and I have an interesting story to share about her. Recently I stopped over at a supermarket around my area to buy bread or so. As I parked, this annoying wasp or was it spider was hanging on my side mirror and I stretched out trying to get it off. A young man in his car beside me walked up to me and said, let me help you with that ma.
Just before he got back into his car, he took one look at my nachi hair and said, I hope you buy our coconut oil here, I didn't even know they sold coconut oil there and that was how the conversation began. Mr Nnedebum talked about his wife's business with such passion, about how she researched coconut for 8years! I was spell bound, I used the money I was supposed to go in to buy the bread with to buy 1 bottle of the product and drove home. No kidding! Lol. It is not every day that you meet men who support their wives' businesses with such passion. Bless him. I met Modupe not to long after that and we have been in touch.
So that's my little story, hehe. Let's hear hers.
Enjoy.......
Modupe Olayemi Nnebedum (nee Fagbohun) is a Nigerian, Insurance and Human Resource Expert, Professional Photographer, Fashion Designer, Actress, Peer Educator, Business Woman, Wife, a proud Mother and founder of Harven 23 Ventures (H23)
A graduate of Insurance from Lagos State Polytechnic Ikorodu (LASPOTECH) and later proceeded to Lagos State University (LASU) where I obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management majoring in Entrepreneurship. Never giving up in developing my skills in management, people and resources, she went on to pursue a Master in Business Management (MBA) specializing in Human Resources from the same institution and Leadership skills from Daystar Leadership Academy where she bagged the recipient of the Sam Adeyemi Award for finishing 1st overall in the Academy. Modupe is also a Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN).
I am passionate about what I do, People development, making positive impact, anything relating to Coconut, Fashion, Art, Hospitality and being successful.
Tell us about your business
At H23, we carefully and professionally implore best practice at all levels of production, from selection of mature coconut to packaging of the products. Therefore, we, make bold to say that our oil is naturally pure not bleached, smells fresh not deodorized, taste real and appealing.
Our goal is to give our customer the best quality Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO), not compromising our integrity for profit making.
Harven23 Venture owns the “H23” Brand Name and it’s registered with the Trademark Commission …With a Vision to be the leading manufacturing company producing Premium Coconut Products in Nigeria
Our Mission is to provide and maintain Total Quality Management, Customer Relationship Management and availability of products to meet the Beauty, Health and General Wellbeing sector.
When was it started?
It was started as a registered business in June 2014 and operates from Lagos.
What products/services do you offer?
Our Products are:
- Premium Virgin Coconut Oil
- Cocosheavera
- Coconut Milk Soap
- Coconut Cream Powder
- Desiccated Coconut
We also offer consultation services
What was your Inspiration for this business? Why Coconut?
(Smile) It all started in 2003, school was on strike (as usual) so reading motivational books, listening to +Sam Adeyemi’s messages, going for seminars etc were what I did to keep myself busy and improve myself. Fortunately for me, I stumbled on a spiral binded book in one of my brother’s rooms, I picked it up and decided to read it-“Acres of Diamond” it’s an e-book written by +Russell Conwell (Russel H. Conwell). All the book was talking about was not looking elsewhere for opportunity, fortune, and achievement, that the resources we need to achieve all good things are present in our own community. Anyone can create wealth if we try hard enough, and our own “Acre of Diamonds” is well within our grasp.
I took a look through the balcony of my room and was thinking of what’s around me that could bring in money (what’s my Acre of Diamond), there it was, starring at my face, it was a palm tree, few blocks away from our house, and it then it occurred to me that we did have a Coconut tree in the house, so I stood up and googled “Coconut” and I saw the amazing things about coconut, its uses, benefits……just name it. I was so surprised because all I knew then was coconut being sold alongside with roasted or cooked maize and I remembered when we were much younger my mum would garnish it with pepper and we roast it in the oven( so delicious).
What I learnt that day remained resonate in my head and my life never remained the same.
How did you get funding for the business?
I started the business mainly with funds from personal savings, support from my ever loving and caring husband and from family members. Along the line came YouWin Programme, and we did “Win” the grant.
How will you summarize the journey so far?
So far the journey has been interesting, challenging and rewarding. We have had course to re-strategize, think deep, make decisions and take action. As we all know starting a business with a world class brand in mind wouldn't come cheap.
We have also been able to penetrate the market in our own little way and within the short period during which the business started (June 2014), we have featured in major exhibitions such as Wed-Expo (Lagos and Abuja), Runway to Stardom, Natural Hair Babes Seminar etc
How have you impacted your community?
We are also proud to say we co-sponsored Runway to Stardom (a fashion show) in November, where we gave out our products to some of their awardees as a way of encouraging them to keep the good work and keep pursuing their dream.
We have also provided job opportunities to both the young and middle age group within our immediate community (Ipaja) in which our factory is located.
We have also been able to recycle our waste product to animal feeds and craft. We are an organization that strongly believes in the Green Initiative where Companies are environmental friendly and managing Pollution.
How would you measure your success in achieving your goals so far?
Right now, the business has grown from where it started from, between June 2014 and now; we have distributors in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, we are also on various e-commerce sites like Konga, Jumia, and OLX. We do deliveries to people in Benin, Ibadan etc
We have also had our products on international corridors like Ghana and a client in Atlanta USA.
What are the main challenges you have faced so far and how have you managed them?
One of the main challenges we have faced and still facing right now is funds, starting a business like ours really needs funds. From creating a good structure, stocking raw materials, advertisement etc
Another challenge we are facing right now is also boosting our production capacity which still boils down to having funds, getting our NAFDAC number so customers can easily walk into supermarkets and health shops to purchase and lastly is acceptance, we have had people who have bought adulterated virgin coconut oil before and are skeptical about buying again so we really have to go the extra mile to convince them to buy and those that have bought so far, have testified to the fact that H23 Virgin Coconut Oil is the best around town when it comes to purity, quality, packaging and price
What are the main opportunities that you have been able to leverage to get where you are today?
The good thing is that people are now going back to natural products, more conscious of their health, they are willing to learn new things i.e. to be informed and even ladies are now going back to their natural hair and our products meet these needs and we also sell knowledge not just the product which is also one thing our customers really appreciate. Everybody also wants to be seen and known with good product and packaging which our product has.
Given the chance will you do this again?
…YES, YES, YES ,YES, YES, I will do it over and over again…
What advice will you give to other entrepreneurs looking to launch
Focus, be determined, passionate and keep your dream alive, don’t be in a hurry…… and make the most of every opportunity you get
Connect with us
Visit our website – www….still in progress.,
Email - …..harven23v@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/H23VirginCoconutOil
Call- …08055138835, 07026149245, 08094081672.
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