‘Failure is a highway to success’

Women are breaking barriers to become successful entrepreneurs. Among such is Tessy Isaac Umoh, chief executive,Teesocial Collectables. She took a leap to start her business of retailing. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Nothing could be truer for women entrepreneurs of today who are charting unknown territories with courage and determination.
Be it in e-commerce, education, investing, travel, fashion, retail, fitness, hiring and others, they are proceeding with gumption and unbridled enthusiasm to change the world around them and make a difference with their ideas.
One of them is Tessy Isaac Umoh. She is a fashion junkie, and on course to building a successful fashion start-up. In five years, she has grown her business to a notable platform with customers across the South-south region.
Based in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, Miss Umoh, whose business name is Teesocial Collectables, has made it selling male and female wears. She offers well-curated collections, which are available at affordable prices.
How did the business idea come about? She said: “I love looking good always, so most of my friends want to buy what they see me wear. So, each time I buy stuffs for myself, I end up not wearing them. My friends will take them from me. So, one day I said to myself that it will not be a bad idea if I buy and sell to them. That was when the idea came up. “I went into the industry because I love fashion and making people look good. There’s an African saying that the way a man or woman dresses is the way he or she will be addressed. So, the fashion industry is huge and largely unexplored. I am happy the industry is booming but we are just still scratching the surface.’’

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Tessy started the business in 2014. Her words: “I started the business in a very small form that was 2014. This is my fifth year on this business.” adding: “It’s a small business which I started with funds raised from friends and family members.”
The business, according to her, is self-sustaining.“Right now, the business has grown immensely. I give God the glory,” she said.
As a woman who founded and built her business from scratch, she knows how difficult it can be to turn a dream into a lucrative business. As a start-up firm and because she works alone, she often needs to oversee all the aspects of the business.
However in the course of her pursuit, she has faced some challenges, such as difficulty getting access to funds. It was her perseverance that has made the business grown.
On failures and what she learnt from it, she noted: “Failure is a highway to success. I learnt a lesson when I first ventured into fish farming. I was saddened when I suddenly lost all my fish. They all died because I never took that serious. So, when I started my fashion business, I took it more seriously because I realised that I failed in my fish farming because of my lackadaisical attitude. So, that was the lesson I learnt from my loss; whatever one is doing to eke a livelihood deserves one’s time and attention,” she said.
She has identified new opportunities and markets. She nurtures her prospects and reaches out to them regularly, asking what they need from her. She also tries to address their concerns timely.
Her advice for young entrepreneur: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step forward as the Chinese proverb says. They should not allow initial set back to weigh them down.
“Manage time and resources, don’t spend your capital; take part of your profit as running cost and plough it into the business. Stay focused and never ever allow initial setbacks to distract you. You must set a goal for yourselves and work to achieve the goal in the short-, medium- and long-term.”
Her most satisfying moment in business is when she goes to the market and gets customers to buy them off her shelf.
On the whole, she has made a lot of sacrifices to be a successful entrepreneur. She explained: “I made a lot of sacrifices. I remember taking goods on credit, which some of my customers will not pay for as expected. To keep the business going, I have to source money elsewhere to pay for my goods, so I could retain the trust of my suppliers while I wait for my own profit in the hands of my customers patiently.”
This notwithstanding, she is proud of what she has accomplished. In 10 to 20 years, she believes with hard work, perseverance and abiding faith in God, her business will expand to employ hundreds of young people. Among her plans is to establish an online e-commerce platform.