Temitope Olatunji, 33 got into the civil service with the drive to change the system. She was like the proverbial one-lady-squad, the lone voice who wants to whip everyone to order. “At a point I had the dream to be the President of Nigeria, because of my passion to fix the messed up system, but my experience at the civil service was very frustrating, it made me realize that the rot is so deep, no single person can change things, at that point I began to think of life outside the government work” Temitope heaped her passion for governance into business. It was a rocky start. At every turn, there were layers of personal, financial and bureaucratic hurdles. “By the time I got married, I realized the need for more finances to support the home, so I began by doing catering services for households and offices, but I wanted to do something on a daily basis so that I can earn more regularly. One day, while cooking in the kitchen I said to myself why not make body cream using Shea butters, which was how Shear Splendor Company was born. It was almost an instant success as orders came from friends and family.
As Temitope struggled to put structure into the business operation, she met the first institutional hurdle: “I don’t think NAFDAC – National Agency for Food and Drug Administration- is helping small businesses, when we approached them for certification, they visited my small factory, they told us to do several partitioning, so I asked them what partitioning has to do with safety of the product, as a small business, where do I get money for space and the kind of factory they wanted to see? This is one of the challenges faced by small businesses, the regulations and demands are too much that it does not encourage growth of small businesses”. Like many small businesses, Temitope is unable to access loan from the bank, she thinks being a woman is one drawback: “I have approached a lot of banks and even family members to give me loan but they look at me and say, we believe in your business but we can’t risk investing; truly, with the drive and the passion I have for the business, I would have gone far ahead of where I am today if I was a man” she admits, while calling on government and policy makers to simplify regulations and make loan accessible to women led small businesses.
As business grew, the demand for more work took a toll on her health: “throughout January to April 2018, I was so ill I couldn’t produce but I was lucky that I have stock that were not yet sold. I had the support of my mum who helped me take care of the children during that difficult period. My coping mechanism was having the business at a makeshift tent behind my house”.
Another difficult period was during the COVID 19 lockdown. “The COVID 19 lockdown was an experience no one ever envisaged. My business was completely shutdown, I have like 5 staff working with me, only two returned after COVID. I cannot quantify the loss but we are happy that we survived that period”. Temitope said her business received no COVID 19 grants for small businesses or any related support: “we only heard about government palliatives and grants for small businesses but I didn’t receive any and I don’t know anyone who received something”.
