Amara started with her savings from NYSC. “I was quite lucky to have served in a good state, and we used to get both federal and state allowance, so I used to put a certain amount aside. And during NYSC, I also had some people patronise me because I used to market my business to anyone I came across. I was able to put some money together, and the first thing I did was my branding because I hadn’t registered the business officially at that time, so I just made branded bags, some boxes, complementary cards, and just continued pushing,” she said.
By Eberechi Obinagwam
At 10, Amara Njoku-Abba found passion in bead making at Fountain Nursery and Primary School, Surulere, where it was first introduced to her in an art class. She could not do much with it because she was too young then, but the fascination from that class never left her. Years later in JSS3, it resurfaced during a Girl Guide Society skill acquisition training. This time, it stuck. She went home and started practicing on her own, making beads for family and friends.
As days went by, bead making became part of her and she carried it through her Economics degree at the University of Lagos as a side hustle. After her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), instead of looking for a paid job, she officially started Ola House of Accessories from her room in 2016, crafting statement jewellery from gemstone beads and precious metals.
“To be honest, a lot of people thought I was crazy because I graduated with good grades and, like in any Nigerian home, it was expected of me to search for a job. But I knew what I wanted to do, and I am certain I didn’t make a mistake. Looking back, I have enjoyed every step of the journey,” she told TheNiche in an interview.
“I am still exploring, still learning, and there’s so much more to come. But I am certain that focusing on my brand, my talent, my gift and giving my gift to the world — is right. This talent of mine is a gift to the world, and with it I am making the world a more colourful and beautiful place to be,” she added.
Now, thousands of women within and outside Nigeria wear her pieces to celebrate their wins. Her success still traces back to that 10-year-old girl in Surulere who found something she loved and refused to let go.
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Capital
Amara started with her savings from NYSC. “I was quite lucky to have served in a good state, and we used to get both federal and state allowance, so I used to put a certain amount aside. And during NYSC, I also had some people patronise me because I used to market my business to anyone I came across.
“I was able to put some money together, and the first thing I did was my branding because I hadn’t registered the business officially at that time, so I just made branded bags, some boxes, complementary cards, and just continued pushing,” she said.
Family and friends also supported her: “When people asked me back then what I wanted for my graduation gift, I would always say ‘support my business,’ and I was quite disciplined about the money”, she enthused.
Market space
Amara said she didn’t have challenges penetrating the market with her products at that time and now because there were quite a few in her niche of jewelry making. “So, you have the regular traditional bridal jewelry and then you have the few of us that make contemporary jewelry, and I can count on my fingers the vendors that make such type of jewelry.
“So, from the get-go I have always had the customers that vibed with me, with my style of jewelry, and they have stayed with the brand through our interesting journey,” she said.
Experience
Amara’s most striking experience was in 2017 when she could not afford to buy a particular pendant in bulk that she needed for a new design she had just created that was buzzing with so many orders.
“I used to buy my raw materials based on orders, so I went into the market this time around to buy a particular pendant. I got into the market, went to my supplier’s store, and there was not a single piece of that pendant!!! I honestly almost passed out,” she recalled.
“Because I have a good relationship with my suppliers, I asked him who bought everything, and then he started to laugh and he told me. He mentioned the name of the jeweler, I would not mention their names, obviously. And he told me that she had come into the market with a picture of that design of mine and bought every single piece.
“She was a senior in the game, one that had been in the business for a while. She had much more capital and money, and I was just this very small 23-year-old girl with no capital and was just trying to survive, and that’s what most small brands face,” she said.
“She bought everything. I thought it was a joke, and every shop I went to that day told me the same story that this person came in and bought everything. I sat down in the market and cried my eyes out. I was so downcast. I sat there and prayed and said, ‘God, the same way you gave me this design that was successful, you will give me another one,'” she added.
God came through for her, and she recreated that same design, and it was still a huge success. The founder of Ola House of Accessories also faced design theft. A few weeks after, she said another colleague message her on Instagram to tell her that someone was replicating her designs.
“Unfortunately, in Nigeria the copyright laws are very weak. It’s not regulated, anybody can spring up on your design and bombard the internet with it,” she said.
Breakthrough
Amara’s breakthrough came when she got an order to make 50 pieces of a design some months after she started. “It was the highest amount of money I had ever received. Even though the order almost broke me because I had no staff to help with production, it motivated me to do even more, and it’s been growth ever since,” she recalled.
Challenges
The founder of Ola House of Accessories struggles with poor electricity supply. “It frustrates me so much when I have to spend so much on electricity for a product that isn’t reliant on power supply for its manufacturing,” she said.
She also suffers from the fluctuating exchange rate. “The fluctuating exchange rate also makes a mess of costing our designs. One day you are in the market and prices are fair, best believe that the next time you go, there has been a hike in the raw materials cost which trickles down to the pricing of products. To be honest, running a business in Nigeria is not for the weak,” she lamented.
Japa
Amara can’t afford to pack up her brand that she has put in so much over the years and leave to start life afresh in a strange country. So, she has decided that Ola House of Accessories remains here regardless of what the economy has to offer. “It’s been years of pouring into that business, years of watching it grow. I can’t just pack it up and leave for an unknown place. I would honestly not blame anyone that decides to japa, because the Nigerian system will break you. But I know the future is so bright regardless of what the economy has to offer. I will keep pushing and I believe God to keep showing up for me,” she said.
About Amara
Amara Njoku-Abba is the creative director of Ola House of Accessories. She is a super wife and mother. She was born in Lagos. Amara holds a BSc in Economics and a Masters in industrial and Labour Relations both from the University of Lagos. She also holds a second Masters in Management from the University of Hertfordshire and a PhD in view.
She loves exploring new adventures, sketching, shopping and spending quality time with her family. Her belief is that with God all things are possible, and if your mind can conceive it, you can definitely achieve it. She trains young people and have workers.
She can be reached on Instagram- @olahouseofaccessoriesng
