Morenike Fadipe, a Mass Communication graduate from Crescent University, started by helping a sister sell off her unsold perfume in school. Amazed by the turn out, she decided to make it a side hustle, before turning it into a full-fledged business. Morenike now deals in all kinds of perfumes, including Arabian and designer for people with diverse lifestyles.
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Morenike Fadipe, a Mass Communication graduate from Crescent University, started by helping a sister sell off her unsold perfume in school. Amazed by the turn out, she decided to make it a side hustle, before turning it into a full-fledged business. Morenike now deals in all kinds of perfumes, including Arabian and designer for people with diverse lifestyles.
How it started
After graduation, Morenike had sought a paid job to supplement her income but was offered a poor salary. “After school I tried getting a job to supplement my income but was offered N30,000 monthly as a salary with loads of conditions. So, I rejected the offer considering I was already making more than that from my business in a week. I went back to the drawing board and decided I was going to face my business full time. Then came NYSC but I didn’t let it affect me. Instead, I packed as many perfume oils as I could, hid it in my box and sold it all in camp. I went everywhere with my products during my service time.
“After my service, I relocated to Lagos and opened a walk in store in Egbeda Lagos which is now fully operational online @ moscentstore on Instagram,” she added.
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Morenike is the owner of Mo Scents Store, where she sells perfumes and fragrances for the body, home and car. Morenike officially started Mo Scents Store as a drop shipping business, partnering with suppliers to ship perfumes directly to customers in 2019.
She recalled the journey so far: “I started from drop shipping in a very funny way. On that particular day, I had gone to a big sister’s shop who also doubles as a school sister and saw that she had loads of body spray on her shelf due to low sales. So, I picked one that I wanted for myself and a few minutes later, a thought came that I could actually take a few to class and sell off for her and that single act was the beginning of Mo Scents Store.
“I took a few to class and sold all. Few months later, I saw perfume oil in a WhatsApp group I belonged to. Because oil perfume was still new at that time, I was fascinated. So, I reached out to the person that advertised on the group, got little for starters and amazingly my class members bought all so I reinvested and started growing from then”.
Startup capital
Starting up as a drop shipper, Morenike didn’t have much of capital challenges. She built on the little profits she made as an undergraduate and her rent money which used to expand her business. “I built on the little profits I made then as an undergraduate and after Covid-19 hit, my then landlady refused collecting rent saying she wanted to use my apartment. So, I used the rent to import perfume oils from Dubai and that step literally blew my business,” she said.
Penetrating the market
Unlike many who would struggle to sell their products, Morenike said she didn’t have any problems penetrating into the market. This is because her first set of customers were her classmates. “So, it was easy to sell. I built on that customer base and got referrals from them. Then, gradually, I started posting on Facebook and Instagram.”
Nasty experience
Morenike’s bad experience in business was buying counterfeit products that she could not sell for fear of losing already built customers. “When I got counterfeit products, I couldn’t sell because I wasn’t going to ruin what I had built. So, that set me back a little. Fulfilling orders at that time was hard and I was so scared my customers would run,” she said.
Breakthrough
Morenike got a large order that encouraged her. It did because it was an unexpected. “I wasn’t doing too much except that I sell quality perfume oils and that one order opened other doors for orders for me. It was my first large order and it was a breakthrough for me,” she said.
Business challenges
The owner of Mo Scent store said her challenges in running a business in Nigeria is simply logistics and inflation.
Japa
As for Japa, Morenike is still undecided. “I have not decided whether to go or remain. Time will tell.”
About Morenike
Morenike Fadipe had her Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mass Communication at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. She later proceeded to Crescent University where she obtained a BSc degree in the same course. She currently runs a perfume business called Mo Scents Store where she provides the best quality of perfume oil among other products ranging from Arabian and designer perfumes for people with diverse lifestyles.
