Against all odds a woman entrepreur’s venture is growing in leapt and bounds reports Daniel Essiet.
Effiong Williams, 28-year old Chief Executive/Founder, Reel Fruit, Lagos, has demonstrated the power of grit and determination to succeed in business. Despite the many hurdles encountered, she has been able to build a food processing business in Nigeria.
She started Reel Fruit three years ago as a snack and beverage company that focuses on locally made and packaged products.
She said: ”My decision to launch Reel Fruit in 2012 was borne out of my decision to venture into the agribusiness sector. I believe that agriculture has huge untapped potential both in wealth and job creation. I am motivated by the possibility that I can change lives and create employment and wealth for myself and others.”
Today, she is one of the nation’s entrepreneurial success stories and the owner of a thriving fruit juice processing business.
However, her entrepreneurial journey was not an easy one.
She obtained a BSc degree in Physiology and Psychology in South Africa, and followed up with a diploma in business management. While South Africa, her thoughts were exploring the huge potential in the nation’s agriculture sector which has not been explored.
Consequently, she decided to quit her job in South Africa and return to Nigeria to start a business full time.
On her return, she did a research and found that she could start a fruit juice processing company and make it big time.
However, the venture was capital-intensive and would require more funds than she could raise at the time.
Having realised this, she decided to start small, though still having her mind on the big dream by providing dried fruit snacks as a healthy option to unhealthy snacks; this was the beginning of producing the Reel Fruit product.
Her home kitchen became the launch pad. “I decided to start with my savings. My first cost was applying for registration from the relevant authorities for my products and doing market testing which was around N600, 000. I later invested more money to buy packaging and started sales,” she said.
She targeted her product at health conscious consumers interested in healthier lifestyles and wants to consume healthier products.
Before she knew it, she found a hole in the market and launched the product.
Having a business background, Miss Williams deployed her expertise to build the brand.
Initially, she faced several challenges, which she considered ‘the many percularities of doing business in Nigeria.’ She discovered that projects such as hers take a longer time before they can be executed, too many expenses, poor infrastructure and the challenge of getting the right human capital.
To survive, she became more patient and opened to ideas on how to achieve success. She has also learned to be more confident. “Everything takes more time and more work than expected. I have also learned to expect a little and big miracles and luck along the way, “she added. However, despite these early challenges, the local market responded positively to her product and she could see her dream being realised.
Since then, the business has been growing. Over time, she has become very savvy as a business woman and determined to improve on her efforts to maximise profit.
But how much is the business worth now? She wouldn’t reveal it. She said: “I cannot reveal our business’ value as we are currently raising funds to expand, but I will say that our growth in the last year has been 400 per cent of our previous year. We have seen quite good growth, launched new products in the market, and we have acquired some large customers. I am hoping that we would continue to drive growth.”
She said the corporate values that drive the business are rooted in a long term vision to change lives by making Nigerian products appeal to global standards that could be sold anywhere in the world.
Currently, the company has 10 employees. However, by the end of this year, she hopes to grow the number to 30 when her expansion programme might have been completed.
She has been able to secure grants from friends and family. She has also won two grants. “That money has allowed us to expand our product range, get office space, expand our sales team and grow our company,” she said.
With success, her life has changed. “I will say that my life has much more meaning. I have realized that building a large, profitable agribusiness is my life’s purpose, and I wake up every morning intended on achieving that goal. I can withstand many challenges because I am certain of my life’s path.”
Chief Executive, Reel fruit was a winner of Women in Business Challenge in 2014. She used the money of the competition to develop new products; one is a fruit drink, while the other is a cashew product called snack-pack.
