My Story

Funny how I have always wanted to share this story and @lighthousengnetwork gave an opportunity to do so some weeks back after which I was like why not share this to the world at large..

Don’t get me wrong 😊   , I am not a master yet, still learning this rope but thought to share the little I have done while I grow my empire by God’s grace…

My name is Solum Adoi-Elaigwu, l work with a mobile market research company as a business development consultant. My job involves meeting with clients to see how we can proffer solution to whatever challenge they have by conducting surveys / research regarding the challenge, as it is we don't have a physical office for now so l work from home unless when l have meetings with clients.

To ensure that l have a structure, l wake up early, do my usual work out and set my to do list and get on it for the day.... Most times , l finish my meetings on time , do my proposals on time then spend my free time burning data online 😊- surfing the website or playing on Instagram

So while playing on Instagram, l started thinking, how do l turn this time l spend on Instagram to money 🤔🤔 (guess the Ibo blood in me was at work at that time)

Meanwhile while l was thinking about this which was two years ago, l had a newborn

A quick recap before l tie this story together 😊 - when l had my baby, a typical first time mum so l bought a lot of baby items , never knew they grow super-fast 😊 so l had a lot of baby items that were barely used and some were never used

As l was thinking of monetizing my time, l kept telling myself, Solum this is not going to be just buy and sell, you need to SOLVE A PROBLEM

When you solve a problem, money will follow the solution you are bringing to the table

Take out before we continue - Wealth creation is about bringing a solution to a challenge, no matter the business you wish to venture in, first question is? What PROBLEM am l going to SOLVE? Problem solving is Value and Value brings money

So while thinking of monetizing my time on social media, my baby items flashed to me, l immediately bounced it off my husband and my good friend, my husband said, good idea but you need to do some research on it to see how people that have done it abroad are doing it because when l told him about it, what l said was l am going to build Amazon in Nigeria 😊😊 so he asked me to do my homework.

At that time, l felt that there must be other mums that probably had a lot of baby items like me that they never used while some other mums will want to buy their baby items at a super affordable price

My friend who l mentioned it to was already into baby items but new ones so she asked whether I think people will buy and also where will l be getting items from that l can't just sell my own and then stop the business 🤔🤔 my response was, l sell yours too and all my friends own and from there people will know me, we smiled about it

But the idea never left so l went to God, prayed and started my research, my case study was Amazon then l discovered OLX too.. so OLX was buyer meet seller which was great but there was some fraud issue where people pay before service and received damaged goods so l decided that l will be the middle man for my own platform to ensure l curb the fraud so seller drops with me and buyer picks from me.

Take out before we continue - Pray about the idea and do your homework / research to enable you plan on how to run your business

THE LAUNCH:

So l launched Zadobkiddies on Instagram , l started with my friend's baby item ( A high chair ) which was sold in less than two weeks and my DM on Instagram almost busted from enquires on selling and also buying so l had to contact someone to help me create a website so it's easier for people to upload and also order.

People from outside Lagos started buzzing that they want to sell too so l started recruiting representatives from the locations that orders were coming from and also added Google analytics to help me know where the buyers and sellers were coming from and also people that just view the website.

Take out before we continue - Learning daily on how to run the business to ensure that the picture l had in mind when l started "Amazon" is achieved

There are challenges but l learn from them, when logistics disappoint, l own it, l will call the customer explain and also plead to give us more.

I get overwhelm daily but quitting has never been an option rather l ask myself what is the foundation of this challenge, l trace it to where it started , take my learnings and change the structure immediately

A typical example is , we have a place for drop off / Pick up on the mainland courtesy of my good friend that l sold her high chair 😊😊 so to ensure that l am able to manage customers that don't want to pay delivery fee or the ones that probably stay close to the drop off place , we do pick-ups Saturdays , this has helped me getting overwhelmed when customers order today and want to pick up the next day ; so we give two options - you can pay for delivery or pick up on Saturday

Take out - Structure your business as you get bigger to avoid pitfalls

Finally - Zadobkiddies started from my phone (Instagram), from there to website and we are currently looking for a bigger space to enable people drop off more items with us for easy deliveries.

Key things to note: l did it afraid - My friend asked "who will buy and who will sell" and my response was, l will start with your item and my other friends😊

I didn't just jump into it - l prayed, did my research then launched so it's important to do your homework on that burning idea

Structure - Put a structure to ensure that you are able to see what is coming in and going out, with this you will learn how to manage your cost and also structure helps you to know what worked and what didn't so you can easily change what didn't work

Above all, it's not just about starting a business. . It's "What problem can l solve".  Once you're able to put down the problem that idea can solve.  Then you are already on your way to the goal.

I will end my story with - You can do it and l also tell people around me that you must not be the one to execute the idea, you can be an investor while your partner can execute.

Hope you enjoyed reading my story, I will also love to hear from, you can drop a comment if you wish to tell your story for us to share to inspire someone… or send us an email solum.enigwe@gmail.com