On that Monday morning, we drove up to 15B, Augustine Anozie Street, lekki Phase 1 in search of of a good Nigerian story. It was not a story about big politicians and juicy government contracts. It was not a story of corporate mergers and blue chip company moguls. It was the story of a determined young Nigerian heroine in the making, worthy of emulation. A story of entrepreneurship in an environment infested with petrodollars and the dearth of creativity. It was the story of Juliet Omoruyi, founder and CEO of Julyet Peters clothing line.
She came into the room with an unobtrusive air about her and then as we got talking one discovered a disarming personality which belies a rock hard determination. From her first working day she knew what she wanted and would not be caged. A budding Amazon, she left nothing to fate but rather worked her faith with diligence to get what she wanted.
As she spoke of her journey and challenges she was articulate, wielding a command over the spoken word as one would expect from an English major from University of Benin. All her through her narrative you could see there was always a plan and the discipline to reach the desired goal. The personal account of her saving habits suggests a personal financial management that would make Robert Kyosaki, one of the authors I sighted on her shelve, proud to be her mentor.
And she did it with God’s help as she is quick to affirm, just as she is determined to help others also. She currently runs a designers training institute for aspiring designers and plans to establish a clothing production hub that would enable up and coming designers outsource their production thereby easing that burden off them. Indeed it was a beautiful story but don’t just take my word for it. Hear her below from excerpts from the interview at her office in Lekki.
Question: What was your working experience and progress to this point?
Ans: When I graduated from the University of Benin, I had a clear idea of the type of job I wanted, which was to work in the telecoms sector. It happened however that when I went for a job interview at Visaphone I was offered an opening in the sister company, that is Zenith Bank, but I rejected that offer and insisted on staying at Visaphone in line with my goal. For my work experience, I spent two years in Visaphone before moving on to Globacom where I spent four years.
Q: Any issues or challenges then?
Ans: I was rather insistent about my targets so I often felt constrained to move at the pace of my supervisor or immediate boss. A lot of times I felt I could do more, achieve more, and get more results than what was obtained. In relating to customers I could not innovate as much as I would have wanted because we always had to refer back to our bosses for consent. There were situations where working under a team lead I felt I could have gotten more results but the team leader then insisted on getting back to the office for authorization and in that process that window of opportunity was closed. So this was a frustrating experience and it led me to the conclusion that I could only work in a setting where the buck stops with me; where I was at the top of the decision making process. Again I was more a stickler for results than routine. As a marketer I could strategize on how to meet my annual targets in a month. Yes I was more of strategic thinker and so I didn’t like being micromanaged. I didn’t like being forced into routine just for the sake of it.
Q: so why did you stay in paid employment for four years knowing all these about yourself, were you a bit scared of stepping out on your own?
Ans: No, I was not scared. But I had a fair notion of what entrepreneurship entailed in terms of capital and human resources and so I knew I needed to gather the funds. Besides, I also wanted to gain adequate work experience in the real world. So I had both these considerations on my mind which kept me for that while.
Q: so why did you choose the fashion and cloth making?
Ans: The clichéd response to this question will be that I started from age 3 and I used to regard such responses as insincere. However three weeks ago my sister came around and she mentioned that I used to make dresses for my doll as a toddler. I also recall that I opted for clothing and textiles while in senior Secondary School, and I used to design and make clothes with my mum’s sewing machine. When I decided to start a business I considered three options namely, to start a vocational school that will fill the gap between secondary school and university, providing career counseling or between university and employment, providing finishing skills and competencies for fresh graduates; Two, to go into farming on a large scale; three to host a television talk show and for which purpose I reached out to Multichoice to find out the terms and finally four, to go into fashion and designing. I wrote a business plan for all four ideas but I knew that whichever I chose I wanted to be in control of the business from beginning to the end. I didn’t want for instance to have to import clothes even though I had visas to travel. I wanted proudly made in Nigeria products.
Q: so what have been the challenges in pursuing the clothing line?
Ans: well I had to acquire the needed skills. I had not interned anywhere before with any clothier or designer so I had to fall back on what I learnt practically from my mum and fro research. Secondly, I had to work with people who were not used to operating in a structured environment; who didn’t understand work ethic. People who did not understand that one cannot just take a leave of absence without properly consulting the employer. The third major challenge was with power supply. We had industrial machines that required constant power supply and so had to generate our own power most of the time.
Q: How were you able to acquire the required skills having not interned elsewhere before?
I had what I call unskilled professional s that is a designer who didn’t attend a formal school, tutor me. Actually I had about seven months of such training beginning from the last six months while I was under paid employment. Then subsequently I also had a professional designer putting me through the ropes. And I could quickly assimilate what I was taught since I already had a knack for it.
Q: How long have you been in business now?
Ans: Five years.
Q; Congratulations, you have crossed the two year critical period.
Ans: Thank you.
Q: You mentioned that yours was a capital intensive business. How were you able to raise the funds required to start up?
Ans: I started about five months before launching out to draw a financial plan. I made a list of everything i would need including all the equipment from the largest to the smallest items. Then i started setting money apart from my salary each month. This meant giving up a number of luxuries and privileges. I then started buying up the affordable items on my list bit by bit. In addition i was part of a contributory scheme and when it was my turn to receive payment i invested all my incoming on the costlier equipment. I also had assistance from family and friends but that was minimal.
Q: No Loans or other investors?
Ans: None. It was a bit frustrating at the beginning; having to start on a smaller scale than i envisaged but i encouraged myself to continue. i also tried to access loans but did not succeed even after going through all the motions and formalities. One is excited with a business plan and then approaches a bank only to get a No at the end. But i refused to despair and decided to look inwards for the solution
Q: When would you consider your breakthrough moment in business?
Ans: That would be at the point when my staff came to me to express concerns over our capacity to meet all the orders we were getting from customers.
Q: on a scale of 100 where would you place yourself and where do you see Julyet Peters going from here?
Ans: i would say 75%. We intend to expand our production capacity to effectively meet all our customers’ demands. We want to on a large scale and also be able to produce for other budding designers; that way we can help them with the burden of having to own their own factory before pursuing their design concepts. We also want to increase the size of our training institute to undertake trainings for both corporate and institutional bodies.
Q: What peculiar challenges do you face in actualising these goals?
Ans: The major issue is finance. Initially it was human resources. There was the challenge of moulding an informal work force. However as the business grows and takes on more structure the work force adopts and learns s to follow processes. However we need more financing to grow the structure and take it to the next level where the workers will naturally up their performance.
Q: Any particular brand products?
Ans: Basically we have our bridal line which caters to bride also. We also make clothes for men including suits and traditional outfits. we also have all sorts of variety for women from African prints to western styles. So we have a wide variety
Q: Do you ever think of going back to your day job on dark days?
Ans: I have never looked back. It depends on the passion one brings to a pursuit. And i pursue passionately whatever i do. That passion drives me to excel. so up till date i still read and research on the fashion industry. i am privileged to mentor some people in the industry but i do not see myself as having arrived. Again i made very realistic projections from the beginning. i did not expect to start making profits immediately. There were difficult times for instance when out eight tailors on a job four suddenly left leaving one in a lurch. but none of these setbacks made me want to go back to my former job or any job. What i did was to ask myself what i was doing wrong when faced with challenges. i also anticipated most of the challenges in my business plan and so i was not caught off guard
Q: Do you get to socialize often?
Ans: Not Much. Although my business requires that i be out there attending events and all that but my focus is on building the right foundation for the business. And by that i mean getting all the needed equipment in place and the right quality of staff that can deliver on our goals. i get to hang out but not just for the sake of it. I hang out when there is a useful cause for that and with the right people. I like to mix business with pleasure.
Q: Are you presently in a relationship?
Ans: Yes, i am in a comfortable relationship.
Q: If you had to choose between staying in a relationship and pursuing your business which will come first?
Ans: That choice is not necessary in a healthy relationship. A healthy relationship implies that you are together with someone who appreciates and respects you. But if we are talking about marriage here then of course family always comes first. We will go with scriptures on that.