The hall, beaming with lights, was half-empty from my perspective, although you may want to argue this if you’re prone to seeing the glass as half-full. I surmised not many people have interests in the core stuff; the things that really matter. There was neither glitz nor glam worthy of anyone’s Instagram feed, so most people skipped this segment which in my opinion was the best part of day one at AFWN.
There was adequate representation. Every piece required to finish the puzzle of building a successful fashion brand was represented by respectable individuals well-versed in their forte. Uche Nnaji, the founder of the menswear clothing brand, Ouch; Mimi Hassan, the designer who also owns a sewing factory; Mrs Bolaji Olusola from the Bank of Industry; Abas Idaresit, founder of Wild Fusion; and Joshua Ogbini of Beckley Consulting.
The fact is if you are looking to build a sustainable fashion brand, you’ll need funding but within our current economic context, I’m unsure how well the orthodox ‘financial aid from friends and family’ standard works (not even Uche had that luxury a decade ago). That’s where the Bank of Industry swings in, to the rescue like a superhero. According to Mrs Bolaji, BOI “currently has 1billion Naira set aside as fashion funding, to aid SME’s and 22billion Naira to aid large enterprises.”
I wasn’t convinced, and neither was the Rare and Debonair gentleman who sat by my side looking spiffy in his Ankara waistcoat, and red chinos pants.
In hushed tones, we both blurted out “it’s a sham”. Perhaps speaking from direct, or indirect experience, we – like many other Nigerian youths – believe loans from financial institutions are not dependable mainstays. But Mr John put up a fair argument for them by asking: “How structured is your business?”
Let’s be real for a second, would you give someone your ‘hard-earned’ money to start a business when they have little to no structure in place? (If your answer is yes, I’ll like to, maybe, send you my account number?) In Essence, what fund providers look out for is an impenetrable structure and to have one, you need to “register your business as a company or an enterprise; have records; have a business account, and make a realistic business plan” Mr Joshua added.
If these don’t work, it isn’t a green light to throw in the towel just yet; there’s dignity in staying the course which takes guts and a ton of raw passion. At least, for Uche, that’s what keeps him going amidst the scrawling disadvantages of sustaining a business in Nigeria. As opposed to Mr Joshua’s stance, Uche believes you can build from scratch and prove to Buhari that you’re not a Lazy Nigerian Youth. Ah! How do you counter someone who is living proof? You don’t. Instead, you do what Mr Abas did: you buttress the point.
Abas holds the opinion that for your business to thrive, it has to stand out through branding, which he defined simply as “differentiating your business”. But standing out wouldn’t put money in your bank account; the pull strategy will. We all know the money comes with the people, but how do you get the latter? “If you get on social media and show your customers how to build a lifestyle through fashion, people will come to you,” Abas said, buttressing the importance of growing your business organically through social media: “You don’t need a brick and mortar store, there a lot of opportunities online today”.
However, nothing mentioned fixes the problem of creating with ease. That’s where Mimi comes in. A subtle spar between Uche and Mimi enlightened attendees on the difference between creating your garments in Nigeria and outsourcing it. They both put up legitimate arguments but one thing that remained a constant is the infrastructural challenge. Uche believes the way around this is to outsource while Mimi thinks the ability for our factories to produce fewer quantities of clothing as opposed to larger ones, is the advantageous edge.
Nevertheless, growing a business takes hard work, the question is: Are you ready to put in the work?