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Ishola Modupe Olarewaju is the founder of Oroki Pap, known for producing pap in a modern way with different flavours, in this interview; she speaks with Tomi Lala on the journey of being an entrepreneur.
Q: What inspired you to become an entrepreneur
Alot of things inspired me, but it started way back, 8 years ago, but the one that brought me out started 3 years back when I started the Oroki pap.
Q: Share with us the journey of starting your own business?
Oroki pap started during COVID period. It happened that almost all my friends were just selling one thing or the other, so I wasn’t doing anything and at a point it was as if I was the only one not serious with my life.
So, at a point I said I want to start selling something, I thought of selling shoes and bag but I’m not a fashionable person, as you can see me. I’m not someone that is good with fashion. So, I started praying, I started hoping, what can I do, what can I sell? I can just say that Oroki pap is like something that is divinely ministered to me. I just heard it, OGI, and I was like Ogi? ogi of all things, how will I be selling ogi? Ogi bawo?
But in the first 3 weeks, it happened that I was just seeing everything ogi, online; ogi, in my brain, Ogi, in my dream is Ogi, okay I just said let me give it a try and I took #2000 or so, I just went to the nearby market and I got few grains, one congo of corn, one congo of millet and I produce the first set, I did the graphics myself, I put it on my status and before I know it everything got sold off.
I was like okay, after that one, let me give it another trial, I did another production again and in the next day, sold out, before I know it, people started knowing me up and down, they want pap, they want pap, that’s how I become popular Oroki pap.
Q: What unique challenges have you faced as a female entrepreneur, and how have you overcome them?
Ok, let me say in the concept of female entrepreneur I don’t think I have, because I hardly meet my customers, that’s the truth, in fact 90% of my customers, I don’t know them, I’ve not met them. All I do is, transact with you online, on messenger or my WhatsApp, after the transaction, pay my money and I will just call a dispatch rider to deliver my goods. So, most of my customers they don’t know me, physically I don’t know them, but on social media, we know each other, so I don’t really have any challenge when it comes to female entrepreneurship.
Q: Can you describe a specific obstacle or setback you encountered in your entrepreneurial journey?
Alot, a lot, Is it the electricity or inability to meet up with orders to deliver and money, financial… Alot of challenges, a lot, but the main one I’m facing presently now is inability to meet up with orders because of the facilities I’m using. The machines I’m using, presently my orders are more than the facilities I have, so that’s one of the challenges I’m facing.
Then electricity too is not really helping, fine! The light in Osogbo is still far better than some other state, but it’s still one of the challenges because most of the machines are electricity base, so once there’s general blackout, me too, I will have to be on a spot, so that’s one of the many challenges I’m facing.
Q: In your experience, what opportunities have you found that are particularly beneficial for female entrepreneurs?
Alot, I dropped teaching job to become a business woman. One of the things I use to say is that, most of the people I’ve known through my business, I wouldn’t have met them through teaching line, it’s not even possible, I can’t.
I can say one of the things I’ve benefited as a female entrepreneur in business is meeting a lot of people and by this, I’ve known a lot of people that we’ve been friends, even customers turn friends, customers turn family, far and near, I’ve had a lot of links, most of the people that are selling my product outside the country, I met them through online as a business person.
I wouldn’t have met a lot of people like that if I were to be in the school business.
Q: How do you balance the demands of entrepreneurship with other aspects of your life, such as family and personal commitments?
It’s not easy, I must not lie, I am a student, I’m doing my PhD, I’m a wife, I’m a mother of three, I’m the first born in my family, I’m a daughter, I have a lot of things. So, you can imagine sorting all those things in between 24hrs in a day, it has not been easy but God has been faithful.
Let me just say Foresight and being focused, I know where I’m going to, so, it’s not been easy but God has been faithful.
Q: Can you share a story about a significant milestone or achievement in your business that you’re particularly proud of?
Yeah, about not up to 5 weeks that I started Oroki pap. All thanks to God and social media, I use social media very well, God helped me in that aspect, it really worked for and it’s still working for me.
So, one day, I was sitting down somewhere, in fact I went for a medical check-up, I just saw an international number on my phone, as I picked the call, the person was like ‘is that Oroki pap”? I said Yes. The person said ” Wow, why will I use Oroki? That, the name was the thing that attracted her to me. She said she’s from Osogbo, and that Oroki alone made her remember a lot of places in Osogbo, how do you sell your pap? I gave her the price and she said okay, I want to be a distributor for you in USA, I was like, ah, are you serious? Is this one joking or playing and before you know it, we negotiated and she sent me over #100,000 then, so I did her production, I sent it out to her, within few weeks she placed another order.
The first one I experienced was that call, her call, she was the first person that put me into that line, especially an international line, I can never forget that experience, from the name OROKI
Q: What strategies have you used to foster growth and scale your business, and what lessons have you learned along the way?
Like I said earlier, social media, I’m a very shy person, you can see me I can’t even look at your eyes, I’m a very shy person but I made use of social media very well.
I do tell people, it’s surprising when I tell people that 90% of my customers are from social media and I don’t even know them, I’ve not met them. So, if you ask me that question again, I would say, it’s social media, social media really helped me, in fact, now on my way, inside the market, people will call me ” Oroki! Oroki! Oroki!” – I don’t know half of these people but they know me through social media.
Social media really helped me a lot, and one of the lessons I’ve learnt, I’ve learnt a lot, because of my marketing strategy, I use a lot of things, me talking naughty on social media, being too playful. But one of the major lessons I learnt is that no matter how you try to be friendly with everybody, let there be a gap, that’s the major lesson I learnt recently because it’s social media. I don’t know half of these people, but the moment you start rolling with pigs, they will drag you in the mud, so because it’s social media, because of the fact that I don’t know half of them, I was being dragged partially into some muds, but as the question says, it’s just a lesson and I’ve learnt my lesson, everything is still on social media, we move.
Q: Do you have any female mentor or role model who have influenced your entrepreneurial journey?
Yes, a lot of them. One of them is Abebi Foods, she’s an aunty, she’s a boss, she’s a mother, she’s everything. I really appreciate her, she’s always like ” ah, you can do like this, do like this” I really appreciate her, she’s my major role model.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring female entrepreneurs who is just starting?
Upcoming female entrepreneur, it’s not easy out there, a lot of trash will come, a lot of insults. But one thing I’d just advise is, wear this thing with pride, and let people know where you are going to, be focused and never compare yourself with someone that has been in the business for over five years, no, Rome was not built in a day, a million miles start with a step and a drop of water makes an ocean, so you too start and grow. With God all things are possible.
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