My name is Olamijuwon Ajiboye and I am the CEO of Lacreme customised Popcorn, a gourmet popcorn enterprise which makes and supplies scrumptious popcorn for all kinds of events within the state. I have been doing this for close to 3 years now and in addition to my popcorn business, I also run 4 other businesses – an apparel clothing store, a hamper and gift store, a management consulting firm and a child care safety consultancy but I’ll be focusing majorly on my popcorn business in this interview.

I knew I was going to go into business right from being a graduate but I needed the corporate exposure which has helped a great deal in structuring my businesses. I ran my first business simultaneously with my paid job for about 2 years, selling from home and my car in order to keep my operating cost as low as possible. When I felt the business was growing, I quit my job after weighing the pros and cons for a few months and decided to rebrand to attract more customers.

Over the years I discovered avid popcorn lovers such as myself could not readily access freshly popped popcorn at a moment’s notice. This inspired me to start-up my own gourmet popcorn business, and so far the reception has been very encouraging partly because there is already an existing market for our product. I am currently working on 10 different flavours of popcorn and I cannot wait for it to hit the markets.

The biggest initial challenge for me was marketing – i.e. getting my product to my target audience, but thankfully with the help of social media our client base has been growing considerably. I often tell young entrepreneurs to never underestimate the power of social media. It is the biggest and most valuable tool at ones disposal needed to take businesses to the next level. Another initial challenge that readily comes to mind was getting the right staff to work with, but I was able to overcome this by providing thorough orientation exercises and trainings.

There are a few things that I can attribute to me being able to run 5 businesses at the same time. Firstly, I try to learn from people who successfully run multiple businesses on a large scale, understanding the crucial steps taken to ensure such businesses stay afloat. Another is prioritization, being able to decide what project needs my attention at a particular time is something I have been learning from great business pioneers like Richard Branson and Aliko Dangote. They have been able to optimise their time by prioritizing what has to be done at a particular hour of the day. Also, I have a great team that ensures the smooth running of the business. They work with me on the business and have relieved me of a lot of responsibilities in order for me to achieve a good work life balance.

Soft skills such as being resilient is another skill I attribute to the success of my business. I have received so many ‘Nos’ in my life but I keep pushing till I achieve my desired result. I have come to the realisation that nothing in this life comes easy, so I work hard and work smart to achieve my goals. Good customer relations is also another thing I will attribute to running a thriving business in Lagos.

My dream for the next few years is to be a household name at all the major events in Nigeria and Africa. Not just with my popcorn business but with all five (5) business.