We’ll continue to make profit as long as women want to look good – Sephia Jewelries

Managing Director, Sephia Jewelries, Mrs. Sofiat Abimbola, has attributed government policies and exchange rate volatility in the economy as major challenges in jewelries business in Nigeria.
Abimbola, who has been in the business for more than a decade, said the country’s economy in recent time had made the growth of business difficult. Hence, multi-nationals have abandoned Nigeria to neighbouring countries, she lamented.
Speaking with The Point in Lagos, Abimbola said, “I started this business from the scratch with almost no capital and despite several challenges in the beginning, I was able to break through. Through this business, I have been able to achieve some basic things that ordinarily I would have thought very difficult. I have made contacts that helped me to excel,” she said.
Explaining her major challenge, the jewelries dealer said, “My challenge is finance. The economic situation has not made it easy for everybody that does business because the exchange rate is too high and despite that, the dollar has not been stable for some time now. Though the rate of exchange could be said to have been stable in the last two to three years, prices of things keep going up.”
Speaking on patronage, Abimbola maintained that the business had been enjoying good patronage from people who are keen on looking beautiful despite the difficult economic situation.
“The Lord has been good to me in this business. People have been patronising us because they want to look good. Inasmuch as they want to look beautiful, despite the tough economic situation, they come to us,” she stressed.
Advising intending jewelries dealers, she said a lot of dedication was required to thrive in the occupation. She also added that faithfulness to the buyers and selling quality items also helped to build good customer relations.
“If you want to start a business like this, apart from capital, you need to be dedicated to what you are doing in order to excel. What I do to maintain my customers is that, I ensure that what I sell to them are of good quality so as to build customer loyalty. My products are exceptionally different from what other people sell. I don’t sell fake because I know the calibre of people that I sell my goods to and what they usually want. So with this, they keep coming back for more of my items,” she noted.