How I run a body care salon in my matrimonial home

The sight of exotic cars and women going in and out of the house tells one that something good for women goes on in that house. When our reporter got to the house around 8am, the beautification activities had not yet started because it is her policy not to come down from upstairs where she […]

The sight of exotic cars and women going in and out of the house tells one that something good for women goes on in that house.
When our reporter got to the house around 8am, the beautification activities had not yet started because it is her policy not to come down from upstairs where she lives with her husband to the room where the business takes place until 9am.
Already, there was a customer waiting so this reporter also sat down to wait. When it was finally 9am, she came down, greeted us and went straight to where the bucket containing the henna powder was kept.
She fetched some and mixed it to make a paste. She came back to the room, opened a drawer and brought out the small pillows stacked in the drawer. She brought down other items and then finally sat down to start the henna decoration. She already knew who came first so she did not ask, she just gave the lady two pillows to put her legs on and started her work.
When our reporter introduced herself, she apologized for keeping her waiting but said what she did was in order because it has given the reporter the opportunity to see everything from the beginning.
Taking us through her body care business, Hajiya Amina said her love for henna led her into the business.
“Since my secondary school days, I have loved henna. I used to remove the henna leaves from the tree, blend it and then apply it. Because of this love for henna, I became attached to one of my classmates whose parents were renowned for their love of henna. I would go to their house and her parents would give me the henna powder with a henna perfume called Mahallabiya and I would take it home to apply.”
She added that because of the way she was doing it, she became the only one applying henna for her sisters and when she finally got married after completing her secondary education, her house became a henna centre for her siblings.
Explaining how it turned into a business venture, the amiable mother of four said her elder sister was the architect; “My sister who was in a tertiary institution would beg me to apply the henna for her friends who saw the one on her hands and legs and I would do it without receiving a penny from them. As I was doing it for free, one day this my sister said it was enough, I should tell her all that I spent to make the henna on her friends so that she could pay for it,” she said.
She added, “After sometimes, this same sister of mine said her friends would be having a marriage ceremony and they would want me to do the henna for them. She advised me to seek my husband’s permission to do it for people as a business. I heeded her advice and when I told my husband, he gave his consent, saying if I would do it within my house, no problem. That’s how I started it as a business and today I’m in my twelfth year.”
As for the body scrub, Amina said she learnt it from her Sudanese neighbour and since then has been doing it for women, especially brides.
Her charges for the henna starts from N500 to N1, 500 depending on the type that a customer wants. And as for the body scrub, she charges N3000 to N4000 for a single scrub.
Her source of henna is Rimingado, one of the local governments in Kano. The area is said to have the best henna in Kano state. For the body scrub materials, she gets it from a Chadian woman residing in Fagge local government area.
She relies on the woman because the one sold in the market according to her are sometimes adulterated. Amina receives customers from Kano and neighbouring states of Katsina, Kaduna and Bauchi.
She has trained uncountable women for free from these states and even as far as from Niger Republic.
“I have trained so many women and they are now earning money from it. I did not charge a kobo, I see it as a means of assisting and my reward will be from God because He made it easy for me to learn the art so in recompense, I also teach others for free,” she said.
Asked how she was combining house work and the business, she said “I have a good plan. I don’t come down until 9: 00am. Before then, together with my children, we would have done all that we are supposed to do for the house. I don’t accept customers after 2pm and Monday is a work free day for me. I strictly follow the rule of first come first serve and for whatever reason, I don’t break the rule.”
It is a lucrative business because after paying her workers made up of two almajirai and a woman engaged for the scrub business, at the end of the month she gets up to N50, 000 as gain.
She attends to about 15 people a day but during Sallah period, the numbers shoots to 50 a day, with her children assisting.
Speaking on the challenges, she said she had faced sabotage from both men and women but because of the support she received from her husband, she was able to surmount it.
“I have seen women engaged in the same business stationing almajirai to corner women coming to my house to their house but it did not affect my progress. We have seen men that met my husband to persuade him to stop me from the business but he would not oblige. I believe that it is God that is doing everything which is why I’m always progressing,” she said.
She said she was ready to teach many women if government would engage her to do it in its women empowerment project. She advised women to ensure that they learn one or more skills to be self employed.