“To tackle recession, we open more Bobos Clothing outlets”

 

The Bobos Clothing Company is in Festac Town to better service the people of that place and environs. The key words here are better service. There are obviously quite a number of clothing brands in Festac Town but we are here to give a better deal of quality and affordability.

 

That’s the strategy. You see many people adopting the online business model nowadays. It’s because of recession. The cost of going online eliminates some other costs of the structure. And also works on the behaviour of the buyer.

 

So entrepreneurs are trying to close that gap between their buyer and point of sales. At Bobos, this is also a consideration. We want to get to the buyer. Close that physical gap. And that’s how we are fighting the recession to help that man who wants to go and pick goods directly from the stores but has not enough transport money for that because of recession.

 

We do not have a factory of ours, where we make our clothing or shoes and so on. But we have signature items. These signature suits, shoes, etc are made for us. They are tailored to our taste and demanded details. And a couple of world famous labels also tow this lane.

 

 

We are purely a sales shop for good reasons. It’s often a plus to be segmentally focused. Division of labor makes companies experts and authority in unique aspects of businesses. For us, we want to master the art of selling. Do selling so well and perhaps in the nearest future, to a point that leads us to also making. While there’s also no harm in taking both sales and making as a priority for any company and utilizing backward integration. You also want to be careful not sacrifice one line for the other. For Bobos, we don’t want to sacrifice selling for making, or vice versa. So we are doing the best of selling at the moment. And unlike this part of the world where people want to do everything under a roof, most international brands usually fall in our category (the category of specialization).

 

Yeah, what I have discovered now is there are places you open up. And the regrets come with several surges or attacks of Levi and Taxes collectors. I start to wonder if it was a crime going to that location. Talk about double and multiple taxes, levies, etc. We suddenly realize how protected we have been for situating at other places. Funds will never be enough for any entrepreneur. There is always the next step to expand to. So I may not mention that as a challenge.

 

There are of course some brands in Nigeria that make and sell. Some only make. We have smart casuals on our shelves from local makers. We have items from Kola Kudus, Aristocrats and others. They are doing quite good. Foreign companies can’t make it like us even though they have better machines. You can always make it a strategy to perfect one. Then move to the other.

Items on our shop come from different parts of the world, depending on pricing, quality, and other factors.

 

Although we don’t sell products from the textile companies, like Ankara, Uniforms etc. However, the disappearances of these companies are also tied to same factors that are responsible for other companies’ closures in Nigeria. Businesses close when they aren’t competitive enough. The health of our economy is also an item to consider.

 

It pays to start with something you can manage. Management is a big task. And it involves a whole of things. You should start small. Doing so matches your little management experience and skills. You will grow. Bobos Clothing started small. And along the way, my management skills have grown as the business expands.

 

Yes, start with the amount of money that will not break or kill you, when you lose. I started Bobos while I was in another business. That first business thought me not to start with huge funds.

 

 4. Don’t start with a giant stall or mall.

The truth is Bobos Clothing started from my house. Not that my house was an office. It was just where I kept my items. I would go and buy items and supply or sell to people. Gradually I built some trust and gained sizeable clientele. The idea to finally owning an outlet then came from my clients. Who thought it was the time I have space. That’s how it should be done. Some people start with big spaces of the shop with no single client yet. It’s wrong.

 

We at Bobos, we sell and don’t make. We are purely a sales shop for good reasons. It’s often a plus to be segmentally focused. Division of labor makes companies experts and authority in unique aspects of businesses. For us, we want to master the art of selling. Do selling so well and perhaps in the nearest future, to a point that leads us to also making. While there’s also no harm in taking both sales and making as a priority for any company and utilizing backward integration. You also want to be careful not sacrifice one line for the other. For Bobos, we don’t want to sacrifice selling for making, or vice versa. So we are doing the best of selling at the moment. And unlike this part of the world where people want to do everything under a roof, most international brands usually fall in our category (the category of specialization).

 

 

That’s why I talked about organically generating your clientele and customers. Most of these celebs are people we service as customers. 90 per cent of them are clients that came to buy clothes or people we styled for their events. And we are able to benefit from that relationship. Known faces are usually better for sales than unknown faces especially for this kind of business.

 

 

Right now, yes and it’s also a bit strategic and technical too. While we want to sell either directly, online, and through individual retailers, we are also concerned about our image. The way the retailer presents itself is very important. It’s only logical that you sell yourself first before trying to sell fashion to the client. I should also mention that we have the biggest retailing outlet in Nigeria (at the moment), Twice As Nice selling Bobos Suits. You can pick up our products from them and that speaks volumes as to the maturity of the business owners in the fashion industry of Nigeria. We also sell items from Kola Kudus, Aristocats, as I mentioned earlier on. We have realized that the market is large enough for us, so there’s basically no need for us to stay in our shells.

 

I spend most of my time here in the office. I try to relax when I travel. Owambe, that’s family engagement, also provides the atmosphere for me to relax. There’s that cautions effort from me to make the office a lively place for all the staffers. I may not be the best boss in town, but I share jokes with them. Not a fan of football, you may want to say I am boring. But to myself, I’m not. My Sundays are usually for my religious commitments.

 

 

It’s the Government’s place to support business and the citizens of a nation. If the welfare and economy are buoyant by reason of Government supports. It will be a win-win situation for all. There will be fewer crimes, happy people and the Government will have fewer headaches over insecurity. The Government should help provide forex, eliminate double taxation and overburden levies. In all fairness, I will say the Government is doing great with Bank Of Industry (BOI). Since we are not into manufacturing and productions we haven’t gotten funds from them, but I know a lot of people who have recently received funding from them. The Government should also consider helping the small and medium enterprises. A lot of focus is placed on the big companies. The big companies are already getting the needed supports. Everybody wants to do relate to the big companies.

 

 

Who would have thought the Banking in Nigeria could be this grown. UBA is almost everywhere in Africa. There’s hardly a nation in Africa that you will go and not see UBA. It wasn’t always so. Nollywood is more valued by foreigners and people outside the shores of Nigeria. Nigerians are highly stylish. They are the most stylish people in Africa. The Congolese men are the only people who could equally match our love for fashion and style, with their love for very bright colors. If Nollywood and Nigerian Banks can do it, our fashion in the nearest future would get to that level too. Being the most stylish people in Africa is already a big market for anyone that wants to enter the industry. Nobody thought these banks could attain these levels a long time ago.

 

 

That will be going global. We have people buying from us across the globe now. But we haven’t quite attained that global status yet. This is the vision, we hope to pursue soonest. When Bobos Clothing becomes a household name in the global scene and a force to be reckoned with internationally, that will be some awesome achievement.