Young people are making giant strides in the world today, and its encouraging to see how businesses are being set up and sustained. Be on the lookout every Friday because we will get to meet young entrepreneurs who started their businesses from scratch, find out the challenges they face and how they find their way through the maze that is the business world.
Today’s CEO is Bernard Shaibu: Shaibu Benard Abu a graduate of Management Information System and a member of E-Council. With experience in Banking, (Internship), Entertainment and Consulting (Visa Consultant). He believes everyone was born with equal opportunity to succeed irrespective of their path to greatness (artist, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, etc.) His philosophy about life has always remain “life is an adventure therefore be adventurous”. Hem & Omakie Nigeria is proudly a Nigerian based shoe-design Company. We manufacture a wide range of vasertile design in hand-crafted dress shoes for men, women and children as well. Our dream is to set the pace in a vast range of bespoke shoe design and production with an international competitive edge. At Hem & Omakie, every stitch, seam & tuck reflects a drive for quality & excellence in what they do.The Company’s long term mission is to carve a niche as leader in bespoke shoe manufacturing in Africa and beyond, by establishing an upscale, retail presence in Nigeria.
Here is how our chit chat went:
AD: Bernard, Hi, how are you today?
Bernard: I am fine today Ada, and you?
AD: I am well thank God. You have been making quite a splash lately so its only natural I had to talk to you.
Bernard: Yes dear, all thanks to God.
AD: So lets get right down to it, I know you are a busy man and time they say, is money. You studied Management Information System, how come you are making shoes now?
Bernard: Yes, MIS was my discipline in school, but fashion is my passion.
AD: Hem&Omakie is an interesting name, how did you come up with it?
Bernard: Hem&Omakie was coined from two words: “Schehem and Omachonu” which means: Resourceful people rule.
AD: Well said, so how is going so far?
Bernard: I got to realize I would only be running away from my own shadows if shy away what I love to the best, cos at the long run I would still find myself coming back to it! Well, Ada, it hasn’t been a bed of roses, because we are still pretty new in the market, n to get to the top, lots has to be done, so I wouldn’t say its a smooth one right now.
AD: Walk me briefly through the process of making a shoe.
Bernard: Well, shoe making is not a brief process, but however, I would try: first, you need to draw out a design, cut out them out a cardboard papers which we call pattern making, then have pattern cut out on the kind of fabric you want for your design, sew the fabric in areas required, have the sown fabrics transferred in form of a shoe mold, then of course you include the soles beneath the mold and with a little finishing touch, you have a pair of shoes made for yourself!
AD: Wow! you make it sound easy.
Bernard: Yeah well, you wanted a nutshell, so I guess that is a good way to put an entire process in a nutshell, pending when we meet at the factory for practicals.(Laughs)
AD: I will definitely visit soon. So how many employees do have at the moment?
Bernard: Well, at the moment we have two major head cobblers, and a few tentative staff. We look forward to expanding and growing into a larger market share.
AD: I am sure you have had some challenges, please share a few with me
Bernard: The challenges we have had, have helped us see the bigger picture. Inconsistency in the supply of some fabric, (as most of our fabrics used are imported), power supply also poses a huge challenge, considering the huge demand for our brand, sometimes we don’t even know where to start from when we have a lot to do over the night and all of a sudden, power failure comes to play. But through it all, we are learning as we go and soon we’ll do it all with our eyes closed. Also, we are faced with the challenge of meeting demands, because we do not have the heavy duty machines required to produce in very large quantity to meet the Nigerian market but I know this won’t be for long as we work tirelessly to achieve it.
AD: Tell me, If I want to purchase a pair of Hem&Omakie shoes right now, how would I go about it?
Bernard: Well are currently on about 5 online stores which includes, www.konga.com/hem-omakie, Pinkybolar.com, Futwia.com. Mofeera.com.ng so u can actually seat down at home with u phone or ipad n make an order without much stress! However our website is still in process n would be live soon! For the interim our facebook page can also be accessed via www.facebook.com/hemomakie
Adaugo's Diary 