‘Nigeria business environment is competitive for start-ups’

Blessing Oluwabunmi, a graduate of Public Administration from the University of Abuja is the owner of ‘BB’s Bites and Events’, catering and event management outfit. The 25 year lady reveals how she manages a mobile food venture and the challenges of Nigeria’s business environment for young entrepreneurs. How I started the venture After my first […]

Blessing Oluwabunmi, a graduate of Public Administration from the University of Abuja is the owner of ‘BB’s Bites and Events’, catering and event management outfit. The 25 year lady reveals how she manages a mobile food venture and the challenges of Nigeria’s business environment for young entrepreneurs.

How I started the venture

After my first degree, I thought of engaging myself. I registered for three month training on catering services pending when my NYSC posting would be out, that was in 2013. I utilized that period to acquire the skills I needed to function well and then I started the business.

My love for the kitchen – a motivation!

I love the kitchen, I have passion for cooking and being the first child there are so many responsibilities attached to you. I also love new learning new things and this motivated me greatly to acquire more skill in this area. I started on a very low scale with little capital.

What it takes to be a professional caterer

The first thing is to be passionate in what you are doing and once you have passion, you can then put in additional effort that will help you to soar in your chosen business.

I have employed 4 workers in 4yrs 

Currently, I have four staff working with me and one apprentice. We do record a profit of between N50,000 to N80,000 every month depending on market flow out of which we pay salaries based on percentage. 

My customer attraction strategies, enviable

I get my customers by referral from friends, family members and acquaintances. When they patronise us and feel satisfied, they tell it to others, and this has been enviable. We also use the social media platforms where we advertise our products and services.

Location still a challenge for my business

My greatest challenge is location. I live at Kuje, one of the satellite towns in Abuja, and this affects sales. A customer once told me how she orders a 10 inch cake in Abuja city centre for N25,000. I was amazed because that goes for N12,000 at my location. We are trying to improve our marketing strategies and service quality so more people can patronise us from any part of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and beyond.

My advice to young minds on entrepreneurship

The main thing is to be focused. Without focus, you will get discouraged and be moving from one thing to another but when you are focused you will stick to your idea, face the challenges and overcome them. I always keep myself update; cake baking is like a school, you keep learning daily. I have enrolled into about six classes of cake baking and it has helped me to improve a lot. So others could do the same.

I now know how competitive businesses are in Nigeria

The business environment in Nigeria is very competitive and unfriendly. In the course of my training and business life, I have discovered that the business environment is saturated with an army of untrained event undertakers. What we have therefore are bundle of incompetency. It is this stiff competition that we must contend with at the Events Market. The greatest lesson for me is to work in God’s directions and keep offering the best quality of service.