Alexandrina Owoeye is CEO Laderin Nigeria Limited, makers of Alexsial branded coconut oil. She is one of the beneficiaries of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) and other interventions for small businesses having proved her mettle. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde she talks about how she discovered the amazing benefits of coconut oil, how she started the business, memorable moments, challenges and more. Excerpts:
What or who inspired you to go into the sector?
My initial discovery of the health benefits in coconut oil occurred when my first child developed a stubborn skin infection. Having applied several dermatological creams without positive result, I simply followed the advice of my family doctor and applied coconut oil and the infection disappeared. Aside this, I later discovered other amazing health and beauty benefits of coconut oil (known as mother of all oils). These include germicidal, cosmetics, dietary, therapeutic and natural anti-oxidants properties which have several applications. I decided to spread the good news by making available to the populace, a 100% all-natural authentic virgin coconut oil in place of the many adulterated coconut oils in the market.
What were you doing before this and what was the experience like?
Having known the mind of God concerning my career, I made up my mind not to seek for paid employment after my Post Graduate Studies, PGD in Transportation at Olabisi Onabanjo University. With God’s help and the support of my husband we weathered the storm.
What are some of the challenges encountered?
The major challenge I encounter just like any other Nigerian entrepreneur has been access to funds for business expansion. Funding is necessary because it would make it easy to explore a variety of opportunities as well as grow the brand in different ways. The other challenge has been the overbearing activities of government agencies. These agencies like Customs, NAFDAC and Local Government have contributed to the high mortality rate of SMEs in no small measure.
What makes your products different from others?
The originality and purity of our product makes it different. Our coconut oil is 100% all-natural virgin coconut oil, extracted from only quality hand-picked, fresh and mature African organic coconut seeds. Our coconut oil is cold-processed to allow the retention of natural anti-oxidants and preserve the distinct aroma and flavor of coconut. This process ensures the premium quality of our oil. The authenticity of our products has been confirmed by Certified Laboratories Inc. of Plainview, NY, USA through the certificate issued after the scientific analysis of our coconut oil. Lots of effort has also been put into our packaging to make our product attractive and devoid of leakages. Testimony abounds from our various customers on the effectiveness of our products
Let’s compare when you started doing this and now, what has changed?
A lot of things have changed since I started the business. First, the business that started with few thousand naira is now a multi-million naira company. Secondly, our manufacturing which used to be by manual is now near fully automated. The company that started as a nuclear family business now employs over twenty staff. Our product is fully registered with NAFDAC and other regulatory agencies and all relevant taxes are remitted as and when due.
In what ways has been an entrepreneur changed your lifestyle?
The lifestyle I have now differs from the former. As an entrepreneur, I have to stay awake at nights most times so as to accomplish some salient tasks which are important to the business.
What are some of the changes that you would like to see in the sector?
I would like to see more government intervention in the sector mostly in providing enabling operational environment for manufacturing especially the infrastructural facility like power, and good roads. The regulatory agencies are also destroying industries with their operations instead of being partners in progress. I will also like the tax burden to be lessened. The growth of many emerging economies especially the Asian Tigers are powered by SMEs with the help of soft loans from their governments. Nigeria can follow suit.
Share some memorable moments as an entrepreneur?
My memorable moments as an entrepreneur are many. One of them is when our product was certified by NAFDAC to be marketed as cosmetics and dietary oils. The second memorable moment for me was the approval given to our Company Laderin Nigeria Limited by Lagos State Health Service Commission to supply our products to all General Hospitals in Lagos State. That was awesome and it was a great inspiration for me. Other memorable moments include when we got the approval by Shoprite for the distribution of our products on their Superstores nationwide.
Also we are one of the beneficiaries of the low interest loan given to companies by Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) and it was a great turning point for us. This has helped to boost our business, get better in our production and it has also enabled us to employed more staff.
The crowning moment for us was the honour bestowed on our company as one of top 100 fastest growing SMEs in Nigeria. The award was given to us by BusinessDay Media Limited in 2018.
What are some of the lessons that you have learnt?
One major lesson I have learnt as a Nigerian entrepreneur is the unwholesome attitude of most workers. Workers with good attitude to work are hard to come by nowadays, you have to monitor every company assignments. Many companies that went under are as the result of workers attitude to their assignments. I also learnt that as an SME, you should start small with personal savings, flee from bank loans which are suicidal.
What are some of the new areas that you would like to explore in future?
Our vision is to expand our local market and export to foreign markets. Our goal is to be a one stop global supplier of tropical coconut products. Based on this goal, our company is creating a business model which integrates coconut farming and producing communities in Nigeria as business partners thereby providing jobs for many individuals and companies along the supply chain of our products from production to packaging and marketing.
Where do you hope to see your business in the next five years?
In the next five years we aim to expand and make our products available in all states in Nigeria and to export our products to foreign markets.
If you had to advise young people who want to go into business what would you tell them?
As a young entrepreneur, start small, work hard and don’t be afraid of making mistakes. That is where you gain experiences from, every problem or mistakes would teach you new things and you would certainly get better.
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