Taffi Ayodele is beautiful, classy and she is the co-founder of Thandos, an authentic African designer brand, creators of Africa’s first foldable ballerina flats. Now if you have not seen those shoes you have a lot of catching up to do.
In 2014, Taffi took part in the She Leads Africa competition and came third. Here are a few things you can learn from her.
Think without a box (yes, without)
Who could ever have thought of foldable flats? Maybe it crossed your mind but you quickly dismissed it because it sounded ridiculous. Well Taffi thought of it and brought the idea to life. What ideas have you been ruminating over? It is time to get to work.
Taffi also created an outstanding design and marketing strategy for the brand. In Thandos, there are offers that allow designers to send shoe sketches to them and the costumers get to pick which design they want to see brought to life. The designer whose sketch is chosen also gets to share part of the proceeds.
Be flexible with your strategy not your goals
Taffi was studying in New York when she developed her business strategy but when she moved to Lagos and saw what the market needed, she got to work and made changes to suit market demands. The overall goal was making African authentic shoes and that was not tampered with.
Never be afraid to change things up where necessary to achieve your goals. You won’t gain anything by choosing to be blind to market demands or trends.
If you put your heart and soul to it, there will be results.
Thandos launched in December 2014 and in less than a year, Taffi was recognized by Forbes as one of the female entrepreneurs to watch. This is something some businesses have been struggling to get for years and in less than one year, Taffi achieved it.
Entrepreneurship is a marathon and not a sprint.
Are you thinking of starting your business? Well think it through before you delve into it. Entrepreneurship is not for the weakling and there will be a lot of hurdles to cross so be prepared.
Ultimately, if you’re doing what you love it will all be worth it.
