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SPOTLIGHT ENTREPRENEUR: OLAOLUWA MOJISOLA ALABA

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role in your business.
My name is Olaoluwa Mojisola Alaba. I am a mental health expert, a clinical Psychologist & Psychotherapist.

Nutrition and weight loss expert.

I am also a Nutrition and weight loss expert for OMAC (Olaoluwa Mojisola Alaba Consult) a mental health and wellness hub. In addition, the co-founder of Funtasticaland entertainment centres, amusement parks, in Nigeria.
I believe in healthy eating, and I lost almost 40kg in a year without strict dieting and extreme exercising. I had fun losing all that weight! I am almost completing writing my first book on how I lost the fat. To me, food is a functional medicine
Role in Business?
I am the CEO & MD.


What led you into this sector?

I was overweight for many years. I have always struggled with weight gain from the onset of motherhood (mother of three beautiful children), through working many years as CEO of my company, Funtasticaland.

Before weight loss


For many years, at 5 ft’3 inches I weighed over 106kg or 233.6lbs and life was miserable for me. I was caught in between a big belly pouch due to 3 cesarean childbirths, pre-diabetes, chronic anal fissures, knee pains, aching shoulders, shortness of breath, and regular hospital visits. Every part of me wanted a better life. I tried to run, play, dance, jump, climb, swim, and explore the world, but I was weak and couldn’t do much because of my excess weight.

I was mocked for being on the obese side of life.
Then I was not able to wear the clothes I liked, because my size was increasing every day. For that reason, I had to compromise on what I wore. It was not a pleasant experience. It left me with so much pain, anger, fear, self-pity, and low self-esteem.
How did I allow myself to become ballooned to a size 20? I thought to myself. I was stuck and irritated. My self-esteem was bruised. I started seeing food as the cause of my predicament (I used to have a bad relationship with food). I became afraid of eating. It also became hard for me to attend social gatherings; and whenever I did, I avoided taking pictures. I hated taking a stroll in my neighbourhood because I got fed up with having people, including strangers, pointing out my body size. Sure, some did it out of sheer concern, but I felt hurt, nonetheless.
Then this particular day, I decided I have had enough.
My problem was not overeating as such, but the lack of information on what to eat, my food intake, portion control, and a sedentary lifestyle. Aimed with a healthy lifestyle, nutrition, and weight loss training and certification, I was able to lose almost 40kg in ten months.
For anyone trying to lose weight, please understand that insufficient or extreme diet will not make you lose weight but rather slows your digestion, your sleep becomes disruptive, your hormone functioning decreases, and micro-nutrient deficiencies become a risk. Your body needs food to have optimal metabolism. An optimal metabolism will be able to burn fat and keep it off in the long run.

After weight loss.

Entrepreneurship could be hard. What has been the victories and challenges of your journey?
Businesspersons face a lot of challenges, and many books have been written about the ways to overcome them. While economic education doesn’t make a person a businessman, it is important to get a relevant information about the mechanisms of running a business. Many difficulties the small and medium-sized businesses struggle with can be solved, but entrepreneurs need to be willing to face them and put the needed efforts to build the successful business. Sources @ https://www.legit.ng/1198401-challenges-entrepreneurship-nigeria .


One of the most challenging things about being an entrepreneur and nutrition and weight loss expert is the amount of myths around food and nutrition. People putting themselves at risk by believing a set of principles about food which may not be entirely accurate.
Also as clinical psychologist, one of the victories of my entrepreneur journey is understanding the way I work and providing insightful awareness on mental health, rethinking food, emotional eating, meal prepping, calorie counting and planning.
I’ve been able to take actions on the science behind eating well by making it practical, understandable, and fun. We’ve been able to help our clients make the best choices by seeking professional help on mental health issues and also encouraging people to inculcate healthy eating habit and lifestyle.
As a health coach, You can make good income, but it won’t happen overnight and it will take quite a bit of effort.
When you finish your health/Nutrition coaching certification, clients will not automatically fall into your lap. You’ll have to find them, market to them and work to gain their interest.
Becoming a health coach has been deeply rewarding to me, because it is rare in life that you get to promote happiness, build resiliency, save people’s money, and help people live longer and more fulfilling lives at the same time.


As running Funtasticaland; we know play is so important to optimal child development that it has been recognized by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights as a right of every child. Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them, thus at FuntasticaLand Amusement Park, what we do basically is putting smiles on our clients’ faces, making them happy which is very important for their states of minds.
Some challenges we face are meeting the diversified needs of our customers, Lack of capital, Difficulties in getting loans, Poor state of infrastructure, Marketing strategy challenge, staying ahead of our competitors, improving our marketing strategies, how to digitalized some of our products etc.


What is it like working in the weight loss and amusement park industry?
Working as a health coach is incredible dealing with weight management, mental fitness etc. It requires a lot of dedication, passion to help our client’s wellbeing, commitment, trainings etc.
It is a beautiful experience being a Co-founder of FuntasticaLand Amusement Park, mental health expert and a health coach because I get to make people happy, celebrate kids, help overweight people meet their weight loss goals, reduced stress, increased self-esteem, decreased anxiety, and managed depression. Feeling better psychologically contributes to better physical health outcomes.

How are you staying ahead in spite of covid19 and and what lessons or what advice would you give to anyone who wants to break into your industry?
The pandemic really affected almost everyone and every sector but most especially the entertainment industry, in compliant with the federal government direction that all entertainment facilities must remain shut, we had to close our parks.
We had to refocus our marketing strategies, create two new products that we can deliver in people’s home; tagged “FuntasticaLand Treats Box and Party Box”. Also we are still reaching out to more customers and engagjng some people online and still celebrating children’s birthdays in their home. While most start-ups may see repurposing as a short-term opportunity or solution, it remains a fundamental survival strategy and growth opportunity for this time.
As an health coach and weight loss expert
It is an avenue to reach out to more people that our health is important and we should also employ healthy living habits even in the lockdown. We can stay fit while at home without gym by simply increasing our daily movement through house chores, jumping ropes, participating in aerobic videos, dancing etc.


Advice to give anyone who wants to break into the industry.
To be a health coach or specializes as a weight loss expert, you may obtain a certification, but very importantly, you must have passion to help people improve their health and wellness.
As an entrepreneur, I will advise that many entrepreneurial businesses must pivot to meet new needs for goods or services borne out of this crisis in order to survive in their Business at this covid 19 era and beyond.

These are the social media links to the businesses mentioned above

@funtasticaland
@alaba_olaoluwa
@dietsmartfoodies

3 HELPFUL TIPS ON DELIVERING EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE

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SUMMARY OF FACEBOOK LIVE SESSION ON DELIVERING EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE BY ADENIKE ODUJOKO

On the 29th of May, 2020, we held our first Facebook live with Adenike Odujoko, who has 15 years of experience in customer service delivery and it was an enlightening session on delivering excellent customer service for business growth. It’s available on our TBN Entrepreneurs group on Facebook. Click here to watch the full video and also join the group for more wholesome contents.

WHAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE?

Customer service is the action taken to care for the needs of customers. It is highly important for an entrepreneur to have an excellent customer service. This service should be provided before, during and after the interaction with the customer. It was also mentioned that “good customer service starts from you and your team”.

Having an exceptional service gives the brand a niche in the market.

“Having an exceptional service gives the brand a niche in the market.” This means as a result, the business gains ground, grows and attracts more customers. However, to provide this service, the business to adopt ways to meet the needs of the customers.

HOW DO WE BUILD AN EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE?

3 HELPFUL TIPS will be shared to help entrepreneurs:

  1. KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS: This is very crucial because how one relates to each customer differs and one cap does not fit all. Be able to segregate your customers and know how to meet their individual needs. For example, running an online business can include customers that are not social media or online shopping savvy, they could call a number of times before their order is placed. The relation to them will be different, it might require patience.
  2. TRAIN YOUR TEAM: It’s important to have a grounded team and develop emotional intelligence in dealing with customers. They determine how the customer feels about the business to a very large extent. Train them to handle common issues that may arise with customers and still ensure the customer is satisfied. The team must be grounded in knowing what the business is all about and knowing how to sell the product. They all must be humble in relation to the customer and respect them.
  3. BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH CUSTOMERS: In business, relationship is key in ensuring the business grows. Through this, more customers can patronize the business and gain loyal customers. Be responsive to the customers by being genuine in your relation with them, they can sense lack of interest. Let them know they are important to you.

We hope these tips are helpful and visit the Facebook page to watch the full video and learn more.

To list your business for free, visit TBN BUSINESS DIRECTORY.

5 Things you can do to provide better customer experience.

Customers will choose to do business with you because you provide a better all-around customer experience. Here are five things you do to provide that better experience:

  • Pay attention to your initial greeting, whether in person, on the phone, on email or chat, is always prompt, genuinely pleasant and sincere. You use that positive first impression as a springboard to developing a real dialogue with your customer.
  • Ensure that Doing business with you is a smooth process. Your customers can easily get in touch with you, consult you, place an order and also get them swiftly. You need to deliberately think about all the steps that your customers will need to interface with your business and create process and options for your customer. Creating a smooth process is not the easiest thing to do, if it was, everyone would have a good process. Once you can do this, you would have succeeded in building a better business.

  • Established trust. While this is not easy to do in your first interaction with a customer, you realize that the building of trust begins with that first contact, and grows exponentially with each subsequent positive experience. Real trust is built like a building, from the ground up, with a strong foundation.
  • Be friendly, yet professional to every customer with whom you interact. Be sure however, that you are also tactful when dealing with customers. For example, you won’t apply the same level of friendliness to a customer who is in a bad mood or in a hurry and a customer who is chatty and enthusiastic.

  • Be attentive and listen to your customers, even the things that are not said. There are customers who prefer to be assisted while there are some others who would rather do it all by yourself. Remember it’s all about your customers’ preference and not yours. Be courteous and offer to help if needed allows the customer to determine the extent of his interaction with you, and that makes for a comfortable experience for all types of customers and prospects.

The goal is to ensure that the service you provide remain in the customer’s mind long after the product purchased has run its course.

SPOTLIGHT ENTREPRENEUR: GBEMISOLA ADEBAYO

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role in your business.

Gbemisola Adebayo

My name is Gbemisola Adebayo, founder and CEO of Hegai & Esther Cosmetics, a position I have held since I founded the company in 2002. I also head the company’s Research and Product Development team.

In this role, I oversee the total life cycle of makeup products creation, from conception stage to designing and manufacturing.

What led you into this sector as a career?

At first, it was passion for makeup as a whole, but then as time went by I discovered that more women were looking for more holistic benefits from their skin care and makeup products, so I decided to fill that niche.

Entrepreneurship could be hard, what has been the highlight (victories and challenges) of your entrepreneurial journey so far?

Showcasing Hegai & Esther Products

Major highlight for us was when we had our first breakthrough in 2012 when we caught the attention of hundreds of makeup artists through the sale of makeup books and DVDs. It is a highlight because we proved that truly you don’t need capital to start a business, what you need is an idea. I had bought a makeup DVD from an American makeup artist and felt many Nigeria makeup artists would be interested as well as against paying a lot for training here or traveling abroad for the same reason. I mailed the author asking if I could get a deal if I bought multiple copies of her DVDs, she agreed, but then there was a big problem, I didn’t have a dollar to my name! So what I did was I uploaded a picture of the DVD I bought on my Facebook page, marketed my business to over a hundred makeup artists via their inbox, asking interested MUAs to make a deposit of 50%, and boom that was it! I used their money to buy the minimum quantity required by the author, and business started!

Hegai & Esther Product Perfect Pressed Powder

We face the same challenges peculiar to the Nigeria business climate like importation, foreign exchange, access to funding. As for funding, we grew organically up until 2015 when we got a bank loan that almost destroyed the business, so we had to scale down on our costs in order to stay afloat.
We look at victories and challenges the same way, both help us know what works and what doesn’t.

What is it like working in your industry?

Hegai & Esther Product

Fulfilling. We fill a psychosocial need and that in itself is very rewarding. Meeting women’s needs to feel beautiful, pampered, and confident makes the job satisfying. It also is a steady income stream because these needs never end, even during this present lockdown and economic downturn, the needs still exist, the onus is on us to devise affordable and sustainable means to meet those needs.


It is also a very competitive industry. Entry is almost nonrestrictive, so we find many people considering it a first option into entrepreneurship. Also beauty like fashion is dynamic so trends keep changing very frequently, meaning we have to be very aware of trends and must be careful on how to stock up on goods.

You have done so well for yourself and your business, what lesson or what advice would you give to anyone who wants to break into your industry?

Passion will help you start, but strategy will sustain you. You have to be a thinking business owner!

You can learn more about Hegai and Esther by visiting their website at www.hegaiandesther.com

Spotlight Entrepreneur: COMFORT OMAYE OKWUNDU

My name is Comfort Omaye Okwundu.
I am the Creative Director for COMFENDY

We make the prettiest ready to wear Ankara dresses for girls. When I say for girls, I mean little girls (age 2-14) and for ladies (size 8-16).

I recognise that there is a universal confidence that comes with looking good. Hence, I enjoy creating clothes that externalises the inner beauty. We also offer other services like gift wrapping, custom party dresses and styling for birthday shoots.

LESSONS LEARNT AS AN ENTREPRENEUR:

Entrepreneurship has been very challenging for a number of reasons.
Every customer is different. Different in tastes, expectations, lifestyle and attitude. This is where focus comes in. Initially, I was doing more than I could handle. Making clothes for men, women,girls, ready to wear and custom. I was doing virtually everything but was not a master at my craft.

Overtime, I was able to find and create my niche which is making clothes for girls and ladies alone. Even at that, I had to stop taking customers fabrics to work on, because I realised it was not working for me. Finding your niche makes the flow seamless.

ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURS:

From my experience of running a business for over 5years, I will advise entrepreneurs to forgive themselves when they make mistakes. When things are not going as planned, draw strength from the fact that you are doing what you love. This is really important because there are moments where you will feel like throwing in the towel and you will begin to question yourself. One other important lesson I learned is to come out of my box. This lesson was a major one for me, since I am naturally an introvert. As an entrepreneur, we must seize every moment and every opportunity. Don’t wait for the opportunities to come knocking, go all out for them.

SPOTLIGHT ENTREPRENEUR: JOYCE BUSARI

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role in your business.

I am a wife and mother of 4, an accomplished UK CIBTAC Certified Esthetician and Holistic Nutritionist, with over 15 years experience in the beauty and wellness industry. In 2005, upon completion of the prescribed training in Skin Care and nutrition, I gained valuable experience while employed by one of the United Kingdom’s pioneers in the health and beauty field, and was recognized as one of the top therapist in their various clinics across the country. Advances in technology have now enabled me to broaden my extensive experience in skin care and weight-loss over the past 15 years with the use of heat and light therapy. I am the head esthetician / holistic nutritionist / CEO of Biyou Spa and recipe creator of Health Bistro, which was established 7 years ago as a female only spa.
Not only do we provide alternative to weightloss and skincare, I also help people suffering with high sugar and cholesterol levels reverse these diseases using my knowledge as a nutritionist.

Joyce Busari, CEO Biyou Spa

What led you into this sector as a career ?

I grew up in a home where health and wellness was a lifestyle, and I saw the desire and drive for every woman wanting to look beautiful, slim and young, this led a lot of women to do harmful things to their skin and body ignorantly. I wanted to help women achieve their desires without the need for drastic measures such as cosmetic surgery.

Entrepreneurship could be hard, what has been the highlight of your entrepreneurial journey so far?

Entrepreneurship is very challenging especially in Nigeria, sometimes I feel like one is contending with everything from staffs, electricity and just about any thing you can think of. Having said that, when you help clients achieve their desired goal, it makes everything worthwhile.

What is it like working in your industry?

In the wellness and spa industry, once you are knowledgeable, your clients trust you 100%, especially if they have gotten good results from their experience with you. It is fulfilling to see how a life can change and can be challenging other times, especially when clients don’t adhere to the advise given, all in all when clients achieve the goals they set for themselves and to be part of their journey, it just brings it all together.

The Biyou Spa, a women only spa, located in Alausa, Lagos, Nigeria.

What are some of the big goals you hope to achieve in the next 5 years?

To be amongst the leading spa for alternative holistic solutions to skincare, weight loss and nutrition in Africa. To also help as much people who suffer from type 2 diabetes and cholesterol reverse their disease and get them off their medication.

What lesson or what advice would you give to anyone who wants to break into your industry?

Firstly, your foundation has to be solid, that is to get proper education so you understand how your business works and so no one can hold you to ransom. And always study, as knowledge and technology advances everyday. Learning doesn’t stop in the classroom.

Joyce Busari of BiyouSpa works with a client

Secondly, make sure you put proper business structures in place before you start your business, every one should know their role and responsibility, this makes it easier for you the entrepreneur to know who amongst your employees may need training or may need to be fired if they don’t align with the company policies. Keep proper account so you can track your income and expenses, evaluate the performance of your business, create budget and curb theft.

A beautiful view of Biyou Spa!

Create a culture in your business, defining the company mission, values, ethics & expectations from your employees.

Finally, the spa industry is a serviced based industry, always strive to create an unforgettable experience every time a client comes in.

You can learn more about Biyou Spa by visiting their website at www.biyouspa.com

Jeff Bezos: World’s First Trillionaire?

The world’s richest man could be rich beyond imagination in a relatively few years — tracking as he is, according to the content and comparison site Comparisun, toward becoming the planet’s first trillionaire — and the global pandemic, a source of anxiety and worse for much of the world, may be speeding the process.

Updated data provided to MarketWatch by the company show that Bezos would have to wait a further four years — until 2030, when he’s 66 years old — to ascend the trillionaire’s throne.

Here’s how Comparisun described its methodology:

We analysed the market capitalization of the 25 highest valued companies on the New York Stock Exchange according to Macrotrends, as well as the net worth of the richest 25 people in the world, according to Forbes, in both cases taking the last five years of data (as of September 16th).

For both, we then calculated the average yearly % growth over the last five years and applied this rate of growth for each future year to try and predict how the value will change.

Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’s name was trending on Twitter early Thursday as the Comparisun study, dated though it was, made the rounds.

Amazon.com’s sales topped $75 billion in the first quarter of this year which was largely driven by the high demand during this pandemic that has kept people at home and made them depend on home delivery for just about any households item and even groceries.

According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Bezos’s net worth has risen from $125 billion on April 12 to $143 billion on May 5. However, as the chart shows, the rise is not direct, it’s a little high,a little low but it’s rising:

It is known that a large portion of his wealth was handed over to his now-ex-wife during the dissolution of their marriage last July.

Shares of Amazon AMZN, +0.88% are up about 29% in 2020 — this while the benchmark S&P 500 SPX, +1.15% is down nearly 12% — though the road ahead could be a bit rocky as the company has pledged to spend $4 billion or more to develop COVID-19 testing capabilities for all of its employees, “enhanced cleaning” of its facilities and “higher wages for hourly teams.” Such extra spending to cope with the pandemic may wipe out the company’s second-quarter profit and tarnish the stock’s attractiveness to investors.

But Amazon — whose shares have nearly tripled in value over the past three years — will likely remain a favorite among investors, with the potential for a second wave of the virus, and more lockdowns, as one potential near-term catalyst.

According to the 2019 study from Comparisun, whose content and comparison platform is geared toward the operators of small and midsize businesses (recent headlines: “Top tips on how to manage your business correctly!” and “The Best Software Tools For The Medicinal Industries” and “What is the best iPad POS System for a Bar?”), Bezos could reach trillionaire status by 2026.

Updated data provided to MarketWatch by the company show that Bezos would have to wait a further four years — until 2030, when he’s 66 years old — to ascend the trillionaire’s throne.

Here’s how Comparisun described its methodology:

We analysed the market capitalization of the 25 highest valued companies on the New York Stock Exchange according to Macrotrends, as well as the net worth of the richest 25 people in the world, according to Forbes, in both cases taking the last five years of data (as of September 16th).

For both, we then calculated the average yearly % growth over the last five years and applied this rate of growth for each future year to try and predict how the value will change.

Here’s the chart Comparisun produced last year of the world’s richest people and how reachable the trillion-dollar level is for each — reportedly concluding that only 11 of the 25 people on the list had a “realistic” chance to amass a 13-digit fortune in their lifetimes:

Credit: marketwatch.com

7 GRATITUDE QUOTES TO RECOGNIZE THE GOOD ALL AROUND YOU

It’s so easy to be overwhelmed by all that is going on around you and this can affect the outlook we have about ourselves and life.

It’s important to actually surround ourselves with positive words and people. This does not mean we ignore the bad things but we are grateful for every other thing. We live a life of gratitude.

Here are 7 gratitude quotes to show us that we have every reason to be grateful and have a positive outlook:

“I lie in bed at night, after ending my prayers with the words ‘Ich danke dir für all das Gute und Liebe und Schöne.’ (Thank you, God, for all that is good and dear and beautiful.)

ANNE FRANK

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

WILLIAM ARTHUR WARD

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”

CYNTHIA OZICK

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

MELODY BEATTIE

“No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.”

ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD

“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.”

ALPHONSE KARR

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”

HENRY WARD BEECHER

HOW TO USE INSTAGRAM’S SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES STICKER.

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There are different ways to support small businesses during this COVID-19 period. One of which is, using the new Support Small Business sticker for Instagram Stories.

HOW TO USE INSTAGRAM SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS STICKER:

To use Instagram’s new sticker, open the stories camera, snap a photo or record a video. An image or video from the gallery can be used. Also, an image from the Instagram page of the business can be posted to the story.


Once an image is selected, open the stickers tray and select the Support Small Business sticker.

Next, type the name of the small business you want to support on the sticker.

To change the style of the sticker, simply tap it to view the style options. Then hit post it and it reflects on the support small businesses story, your story and the business page receives the notification and can share it on their story. Other individuals can tap on the sticker to learn more about the business and gain easy access to the page.

In case, the sticker does not reflect on your sticker options, simply update the application. The sticker should be present after the update.

This is a cheap and effective way to get one’s business out there and get the support needed to grow it.

Now head over to Instagram and support your friend’s business or your business.

DEVELOP NEW SKILLS FOR FREE.

Due to the pandemic, the lockdown has been extended for another period of time. After this lockdown, there’ll be a shift in how businesses are ran and bigger skills especially in the IT sector would be required. We all have to be at the top of our game.

How then can we be more equipped to be skilled without having to spend so much?

Learn, gain knowledge and practice. Luckily for us, some academic organizations are hosting free classes which will be of great benefit to us.

Below is a list of online classes to be a part of and gain new skills for free.

  1. Oxford home study
  2. Alison
  3. Future learn
  4. Open learning
  5. YouTube
  6. Codecademy
  7. EDX by Harvard
  8. Harvard Online Learning
  9. Duolingo
  10. Coursera

Going on these websites can be a little overwhelming with the number of courses, however don’t try to enrol in as many as you can, enrol in what is of priority to you and in line with your goals. Think ahead and don’t enrol because many are enrolling.

Most importantly, build on computer skills; be skilled in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access. It is of utmost importance to know how to operate these softwares well.

We hope these tools are helpful. Stay tuned for more and stay safe.