‘I‘ve trained over 3000 women to make natural body care products’

Bashirah Ajao founded the Creative Herbalist, a women-driven social enterprise which serves as an enabler of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 5 with a special focus on empowering women in disadvantaged positions and rural communities. She speaks on the thrust of the initiative. For how long have you been into entrepreneurship? Since 2016 and […]

Bashirah Ajao founded the Creative Herbalist, a women-driven social enterprise which serves as an enabler of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 5 with a special focus on empowering women in disadvantaged positions and rural communities. She speaks on the thrust of the initiative.

For how long have you been into entrepreneurship?

Since 2016 and I have been trying to learn the ropes; learning the do’s and don’ts of business through training at home and abroad. I officially registered my company last year.

 How much did you start with?

I started with N1,400 as a corps member in Kano.

 You are into production of skincare products, why did you choose that?

It’s funny how I stumbled into skincare production, because it never appeared to me as a business venture until 2016. I dabbled into herbal skincare when I went for my National Youth Service in Kano. The thing is I’ve an extremely sensitive skin which got difficult to manage as I grew older. To make matters worse the product I found compatible with my skin were costly and mostly imported, which means I’m not assured of getting them always.

My paternal grandmother of blessed memory used to make me a bath soap combining African black soap with indigenous herbs which I used to deal with any skin problem I had. At some point I stopped using it and my skin problems reappeared. When I got to Kano for my NYSC, I found indigenous herb sellers of Yoruba background in the market who understood what I needed and that aroused my curiosity. I began to research about different indigenous herbs and how they worked for the skin.

So I turned to Google, I began to search for English names of the indigenous herbs I was familiar with, the ones I had learnt from my grandmother and I also began to look into the imported ones. I searched for a lot of things online and gradually started my skincare business. I found out there were lots of herbs in the northern part of Nigeria which are being used for medicinal purposes. So, I further directed my research towards how to use them for the skin. I started with only black soap which I sold to my fellow corps members; the soaps were packed in sterilised empty yoghurt containers.

How easy is it to market your locally made products?

We need to embrace and appreciate our God-given natural skin tone; we need to appreciate the melanin produced by the black skin. This is why when I started my business I chose to go into natural herbal skincare products; not just that but also being preservatives-free which means that I don’t work with cosmeceuticals. All my products are made with ingredients directly gotten from nature. You get them in the best natural form possible.

 How many brands and products do you have now?

I have three brands; Sisi Herfrican, an herbal skincare line specialised in the sales of varieties of African black soaps and various skin oils. This was the brand I started with. Another brand is Nature’s Hub which is all about the sales of indigenous herbs and spices while Shea Herfric is about the sales of unrefined Shea Butter and Shea-based products. Nature’s Hub and Shea Herfric were launched in June 2018 so they are relatively new kids on the block.

How far have your products gone?

So far, we have customers across the country and we have in one way or the other debuted in about 13 countries around the world.

 What are the challenges you have encountered as an entrepreneur and how did you surmount them?

The first challenge most entrepreneurs encounter is funding. Aside winning a grant of N100,000 early last year from the Omojuwa Foundation, I have bootstrapped my way around this business from inception to date. As frustrating as it might sound I have enjoyed it. Though I have learnt a lot unaided, I don’t think I would have taken any form of loan no matter how low the interest rate is because I totally dislike being pressured. I would not advise entrepreneurs to take loans in the early stages of their businesses because more often than not, the funds are misused.

Another major challenge in my line of business especially since I have chosen to stay on the herbal skincare line which does not involve skin bleaching or lightning has been on how to convince prospective clients not to bleach their skin. One factor that has made me steadfast is the fact that I enjoy working with herbs and I enjoy teaching about it; so explaining to my customers over and over again why they need to opt for an herbal product does not bore me.

The last challenge I would like to mention is lack of business education. I see most entrepreneurs struggle with this e.g. how to have a structure in their business, writing a business plan, developing a business model, digital marketing skills and basic accounting. I have been able to work on this and still working on them by registering for different courses and employing the services of business and personal development coaches.

What has been your achievement so far?

My business is a women-driven enterprise which serves as an enabler of goals 1 and 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals with a special focus on empowering women in disadvantaged positions and rural communities. Through a project called “Mogul Woman”, in collaboration with some non-governmental organizations that have such women in their databases , I have been able to train 3,839 of them (November 2018) on how to make natural body care products using ingredients accessible in their communities

I also held an online training on the 1st of December for 1000 women on how to make children’s skincare products and also sensitize them on the beauty in being black so as to reduce the abuse of corticosteroid creams by some mothers. This is a major achievement for me besides successfully keeping myself in business and also having my products in 13 countries and counting.

My goal is to take 100,000 women out of poverty by 2025, God willing.

What assistance do you think government should render to entrepreneurs in the country? 

Entrepreneurial activities are capable of making positive impact on a nation’s economy and improve the quality of life of the people. They offer easy employment and empower the disadvantaged segments of the population. The heavy dependence on crude oil has killed most of our local industries, frustrated the agricultural sector (which I must say is now blooming thanks to private investors).

I would appreciate if the government makes more effort to help entrepreneurs become more stable financially and structure wise. There is so much to gain from entrepreneurs in different industries in Nigeria e.g. herbal skincare, Adire (local fabrics), tourism, agriculture etc.