The Nigerian Woman Building The Fashion Amazon Of Africa! Forbes Features Olatorera Oniru
Olatorera
Oniru, one of
Nigeria’s most assiduous and ambitious young entrepreneurs is set to hold ‘Cocktails
& Dresses’: Nigeria’s largest luxury fashion sales & exhibition
event on the 22nd of May 2016.
The 29
year-old lady is the founder of Dressmeoutlet.com,
a Lagos-based e-commerce startup that retails fashion products sourced from
across the globe, was recently featured on Forbes.
Dressmeoutlet.com
strongly promotes made in Africa goods with the goal of retailing only the best
20% African designers. Olatorera continues to travel across Africa and beyond
in search of unique treasures and creative manufacturers to retail on Dressmeoutlet.com
and will be visiting China, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Morocco,
Ethiopia and Tanzania within the next coming months.
The luxury
fashion sales & exhibition event will be holding at the Grand Ballroom,
Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos and will see 50+ of the best
designers and manufacturers in Nigeria showcasing and retailing highest-quality
products. It will also see 10+ international designers exhibiting and retailing
and will be attended by 2,000+ guests. including 500+ high-ranking VIPs and
special guests.
Olatorera
who has also been confirmed as a speaker at Women in Business Seminar 2016
taking place at Emoyeni Estate in Parktown Johannesburg on 6 July 2016, where
she will be speaking on Entrepreneurship and leadership: Paving the way for
Africa’s Development gave some insights to running a business in Nigeria in
her recent interview with Forbes.
Read some
excerpts from the interview below!
On what
made her delve into entrepreneurship…
I was ready
for the leap. I believe I have leadership capabilities to create, establish and
innovate; and now I want to create global visibility for African products,
create jobs for people, and generally do my part in making the world a better
place and I would not have 100% of the freedom I need to grow if I remain
employed. I have dreams and I want to make all my dreams come true and this
requires me investing as much of my time as possible into my dreams. I want to
express my love and care for people in my own way. More importantly, as
comfortable as I was, earning way above average with the conglomerates I worked
for, I just could not be too comfortable knowing that the poverty rate in
Nigeria is 65% and even worse in other African countries.
Funding
Dressmeoutlet.com…
Dressmeoutlet
is being funded from personal savings. I think it is safe to say that we are
reasonably inancially prepared for the next 3-5 years of running and growing
Dressmeoutlet.com. Notwithstanding the fact that we are open to considering
outside investors who buy into the company’s mission and vision 100%. We have
been approached by companies that want to buy Dressmeoutlet.com and companies
that want to invest in Dressmeoutlet.com. Selling Dressmeoutlet.com is not an
option. Right now, the team and I are very focused on growing and increasing
the valuation of Dressmeoutlet.com.
Her
advice to other young African entrepreneurs…
Please do
it. Go out there and do it, one step at a time, one day at a time, one
handshake at a time, one clap at a time, one achievement at a time. Africa now
more than ever before, needs more entrepreneurs springing up and booming
industries. Africa needs you, I need you, and the world needs you to succeed in
whatever your passion is as an entrepreneur. Utilize any and every resource
that comes your way. Speak to professors, attend conferences, and apply to
opportunities. Push your dreams; don’t let anything stop you from doing
anything great for the world. Simply do well, live well and work hard.
Follow link to read full interview: http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2016/04/04/meet-the-nigerian-lady-who-is-building-the-fashion-amazon-of-africa/#30dd00387e52
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