5 MINUTES WITH LARA ALFRED

it is exciting to see women who have turned their hobbies to cash cows. lara alfred is one of such, and even more interesting is the fact that she is a Chartered accountant. this wife and mother has managed to build a brand and sustain it despite the challenges faced by entrepreneurs. she is the Founder and Ceo of Rinimesville Group (Rinimes Virgin hair, Rinimes Fabric and Rinimes accessories). in a chat with style Correspondent, Ruky Salako, lara talks about her journey so far as an entrepreneur in the fashion industry.

tell us about yourself

My name is Omolara Alfred. I hail from Oyo state. I am a qualified Chartered Accountant (ACCA,uk). I have a Bsc in Accounting from Oxford Brookes university, London, and MBA in Financial Services from the prestigious university of east London, united kingdom. I am happily married with kids. To a very great extent, I love my quiet times, which is when I do all my research; I do a lot of reading. One of my hobbies is collecting lifestyle books.

I am also extremely creative... I am into art, music, fashion-the whole culture. I love them. That’s why we sell high quality virgin hair, closures, frontals and wigs. we also have a wide range of fabrics for men and women which include, laces, atiku, silk, chiffon, stoned ankara and guinea fabric. we also have turban, Swarovski and zirconia jewelry sets and purses.

having studied Finance, a far cry from art and fashion, why the turnaround?

I love fashion! I would say it’s a passion I picked up from childhood. I have always had a keen interest in Fashion, from when I was young. I always liked to look good and well put together. I always liked art more than anything and I was always intrigued with what you could do with lovely outfit. However, it was out of a towering need and mounting requests that I turned my childhood passion into a cash cow.

how did you start this business?

Back in 2009, after my graduation in London, I went shopping in the uSA. I got some beautiful virgin hair from one of the beauty stores for myself. Family and friends who saw them on me fell in love and requested for some. Gradually, the order became too high that I had to do my research and travel to different countries to source for real virgin hair and make my own specifications, then the rest, as the British would always say, is all old art though I had the hair business as a side business because I wanted to actually practice my accounting profession as a Chartered Accountant. Then I moved back to Nigeria to join my husband and got a managerial job with a government agency. I also got so active during the weekends doing deliveries to my hair customers. I had a big bag of hair at the back of my car always ready for delivery. After three years of working, I knew I couldn’t cope with just doing a 9-5 job. I wanted to expand my customer base and explore different countries for good opportunities. I did a survey and found out that every Nigerian woman loves to look good to occasions with her beautiful fabrics, jewelry and accessories. Then I realized I could source for good and unique fabrics and accessories. due to the time limit of my job, I was unable to pursue my dreams so I had to quit my job and started my business fully. By the special grace of God, we opened our first store at Adeniyi jones, Ikeja, Lagos, few months after I left my job. Now we have expanded and currently at our Opebi, Lagos store.

how long have you been in the business?

Rinimesville was established in 2010.

What is your sustainability plan?

Making sure we sell nothing but quality products. we are detail-oriented. we don’t cut corners.

how lucrative is the business?

The fashion business is very lucrative. But my inspiration is that a woman should always look her best. My greatest joy is when I see my clients looking good in our fabric, hair or accessories. That inspires me to keep going. It’s not always about the money.

What are the challenges you face?

Like every other business, there are challenges but the benefit in fashion business outweighs the challenges. I faced a lot of challenges while starting out in this business especially in getting customers to trust our hair brand. Many ladies are skeptical in buying hair from new brands. Now Rinimes hair sells itself. Also, the exchange rates, the high rate of shipping, customs taxies and duties, unstable power supply and cost of running generator are sickening.

there are numerous hair, fabric and jewelry businesses today, what makes yours different?

what makes me different is full research, creating exciting retail spaces, being fashion forward, staying different, customer feedback, not going with the crowd and most importantly, supplying what the market demands but not in the most conventional style. with our hair business, we do our specifications and ensure our virgin hair are properly wefted. we take our time to create designs for some of our fabrics especially laces, chiffon and silk. we do our own prints. Nigerians are so fashion savvy. They truly inspire me to be creative.

I have a large range of fabrics to choose from which is updated every week so it will be difficult to find many people wearing what you have bought from me. To stay ahead of competition, I buy from every part of the world as far as my brand’s quality and standard are met and my clients, who are the most important people in the supply chain are happy with it.

What advice do you have for people who want to tow this path?

Firstly, you need to put God ahead in any business you want to do. Make sure you ask God to lead you through. I think in anything one wants to be successful at, one has to put in hard work and time. No success is achieved overnight that lasts long. And you need to have a passion for the line of business before starting. This helps you forge ahead even during any difficulties.