You know her, everyone knows her, every small/medium scale entrepreneur interested in growing their business knows the Lolo One of Instagram, Nelly Agbogu. Asides running healthy food and snack company, Nelliesng, Nelly runs Naija Brand Chick, an online resource platform that connects MSME’s with resources and tools to grow their business online, make sales and retain customers.
As an offshoot of NaijaBrandChick, Nelly created the NBC trade fair which has been dubbed as the largest SME sales fair in Africa.
If you were at this year’s fair, then you will most likely agree Nelly does justice to the word GROWTH! Dang! We absolutely love how Nelly has redefined trade fairs in Nigeria and how she continues to leverage technology in building and growing a business. Nelly is SOLID Lady Boss goals and here are 4 things she has taught us about doing business in Nigeria.
1. Integrity: Can your brand be trusted? Can customers get value for what they are paying for? You might have your marketing channels on lock down, certifications on point but if your customers cannot trust that they will get value for their money, you might as well want to revisit why you are in business.
2. Consistency: Chances are 2-5 people are in the same line of business you are in. Like you, they want to make profit, build a brand, a digital following while at it and very possibly want to be a household name in Nigeria. Question is what are you willing to do to set yourself apart from the rest? From Nelly, we have learnt that no market is saturated, and consistency is what sets you apart from your competitors. Instead of focusing on what other brands out there are doing and not doing, focus on doing what has given you the ‘little’ results you have now repeatedly. Consistency is KEY when it comes to building a business and no one else models it perfectly like Nelly.
3. Passion and creativity: Have you watched her dance videos? What about the spontaneous skits she churns out on her page? To do business in Nigeria and sustainably too, finding new ways to introduce what you do to your community is important. Creativity is your ability to reinvent yourself and your brand repeatedly. E.g customer engagement, content strategy, marketing strategy should be reviewed periodically. Passion on the other hand fuels your creativity. Passion is what gets you up at odd hours of the day brainstorming and strategizing on how you can do things differently. Nelly has found ways to introduce her business in different ways to her community and we LOVE it!
4. Networking: Many at times, we think networking should be with people that are ahead, but networking can also be with peers. The goal of networking is to connect and engage with people. Networking also helps with visibility especially as a business owner. Don’t be afraid to put your business out there and connect with people. Remember networking is not just vertical, it is also horizontal.
