The name Oluyemi Ogedengbe became popular recently, when a video which had renowned Lagos Pastor – Tunde Bakare, preached on using your talent to succeed in life went viral on the internet.
In it, the cleric among others mentioned Yemi Ogedengbe as a trained pharmacist who today has turned a successful caterer following her passion.
In the highly competitive world of catering, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. But Oluyemi has stood out from the crowd with her brand – Double Delicious Catering Services.
The young entrepreneur started first in what seems like a blooming career as a Pharmacist. She worked for a while as a medical representative in a pharmaceutical company.
Afterward, Oluyemi ventured into running her retail pharmacy for 10years without being fulfilled.
“Sincerely, I did not find that inner fulfilment while working as a pharmacist. I had to put a pause on everything to seek God in prayers for direction for what to do next,” she says.
With spiritual insight and passion for catering, the pharmacists-turned-caterer established her business in July 2009.
“Surprisingly, in a dream, God showed me how big catering could be for me if I followed that path. However, before that time I had begun to provide catering services on a small scale for my church simply because I love cooking,” she narrates.
Also, she was inspired to establish her business severally by Pastor Tunde Bakare’s timely messages. One of which is that God prospers through the work of our hands and would use those talents that are deposited in us.
Today, Double Delicious in its 11th year has become a brand to reckon with in Nigeria’s event space.
Speaking on her brand offering, Oluyemi says her outfit provides indoor and outdoor catering services.
“We provide excellent services for corporate and individuals who engage us for weddings, funerals, and house warming among others. We have enjoyed the consistent patronage of Pastor Tunde Bakare’s family and other prominent Nigerians for years,” she states.
Oluyemi says creativity, presentation, promptness in delivery, and excellent customer service have made the brand stood out in the industry.
Highlighting the brand’s significant achievements since its inception, the entrepreneur notes that the business has been consistent in providing excellent catering services for over a decade.
“Being in business consistently for over a decade for me is an achievement. There many businesses like ours who unfortunately have had to close shop. But God in His infinite mercies has kept us waxing strong,” she says.
“Being able to sustain the relationship with some of our key clients since inception till date is an achievement for the brand,” she adds.
Also, she notes that Double Delicious Catering’s ability to give educational and food support to the less privileged and vulnerable support among other things is also inclusive.
Speaking on major challenges facing the catering industry, she says inadequate access to funding has remained the major hurdle.
“The catering business requires a lot of funds for equipment. To be up there you must have good funds. For us, accessing funds from financial institutions can be a tall order. But we have been able to cross the hurdle,” she says.
Similarly, she says staffing has also remained a big challenge to the industry. “Staffing can also be an issue. You must get the right and skilled talent. We have had cases of pilfering, poor attitude to work, and so on.”
On her advice to young entrepreneurs, she says “do not to relent but work hard, pray hard and covet the grace of God in all your business endeavours.”
“To break successfully into the industry, you must be consistency and earn the trust of your clients’ overtime,” she adds.
