A university graduate proves that the days of small beginning should not be despised. Starting small as a cobbler, he has become an entrepreneurial model for youths, showing the way in self-sustenance through shoe making. Daniel Essiet writes.
Long before he graduated, he was already his own boss. And while his contemporaries roamed the streets after graduating from various tertiary institutions in search of unavailable jobs, he became an employer.
The story of Abraham William, a cobbler, is one that aptly captures the determination of an indigent’s quest for success. After learning shoe making in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, William has taken what was his childhood passion of shoe making, to become a small scale footwear manufacturing firm. Today, he is the Chief Executive, AB Leather Works in Shomolu, a suburb of Lagos.
“I learnt the trade many years ago in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, for three years; and today, I am a happy man,” he told The Nation. He certainly has every reason to be happy. From a business he started with less than N50, 000, Abraham has grown his trade to become lucrative. For instance, he used proceed from the trade to educate himself at the University of Lagos, where he obtained a degree in Business Administration in 2011.
Besides, on his payroll are 10 apprentices and journeymen. He has also been able to acquire different machines and equipment to modernise his work. This has made him famous, especially for his unique footwear designs and quality, and carving a niche for his business. His firm also makes old shoes become new again and custom-making leather goods.
As a young business owner, William is proud of what he has been able to accomplish. He therefore admonished the young generation to explore the idea of manufacturing local shoes. The market for shoes, he explained, is huge, especially considering the nation’s growing population. To succeed, he advised entrepreneurs to focus on producing high-quality products that are able to compete with other companies vying for market share and consumers’ attention. In the market, the quality, attributes and brand of the product, he said, should be able to stand on its own merit.
William’s commitment to continuously support young Nigerian entrepreneurs is based on his believe that they are vital to economic growth. Small and medium-sized businesses, he said have continued to create jobs while strengthening economic recovery. For him, the problem is that many people who make shoes are not trained in the art and science of making shoes and are not ready to do it well.
“The best way to make it with small – scale – shoe business is to carve a niche and offer something that big brands may not be offering. Particularly, create a new design that will attract a common man and a wealthy customer to your business,” he said.
Satisfaction for William comes in the feeling he gets when customers love what he has done; hence, his continued effort to put his energy and ideas into building a profitable business, which has been buoyed by his tertiary education, has positioned him to acquire capacity to coordinate his financials, market himself, interact better with his customers, and converse with them about things they are interested in.
“The business has repaid its start up capital many times over,” a satisfied William said. Though his vocation involves a lot of hard work and challenges, his strong passion has always kept him going.
Austin Esia, another shoe cobbler of 20 years, corroborates William’s position. He said the business of shoe making has become lucrative because everybody wears shoes. The business, he explained, is low risk. According to him, making an entry into shoe business is fairly easy if there is focus. “There are no significant barriers such as stringent government regulations or prohibitive capital expenses, to entry into shoe making business. One can start a shoe store even without a huge initial investment capital, depending on inventory selection and shoe location. The right location is extremely critical to the success of a shoe retail store,” he explained.
But he says the vocation is not for the lazy. This is based on the enormous man hours that go into working on a shoe. For instance, William said he works for about 13 hours daily, while Esia does about the same time daily.
For this duo, shoe making is the business for unemployed youths. Esia advised young entrepreneurs to explore opportunities within the industry, because with patience and perseverance, they can grow tiny businesses into large establishments manufacturing all kinds of footwear and equipment. Besides, there is a huge job potential in the vocation which can serve as a means of job creation for the teeming unemployed population.
One aspect of shoe making that is a money spinner in some areas is shoe shining. The startup capital for this is low: a large can of Kiwi polish which sells for N150 and a shoe brush of N50, you are in business.
