After a 23 year old Onyinye Okocha lost her husband to the ill-fated Dana air crash of 2012, she was left with no choice but to get the best life for herself and her 15 month old daughter. As a stay at home mum or “domestic engineer” as she fondly called herself, depending on anyone for their upkeep was certainly not going to be her default. Her role as the CEO of Kairos Treats since 2014 was stumbled on by fate and has grown in leaps and bounds. Her determination shows us how good money can be made out of lemonades from the lemons life throws at us.
Although, she initially delved into makeup, the mobility of the job did not give her ample time for her daughter. After her stint at the Aspiring Entrepreneurs Program with Fate Foundation did the idea for Kairos Treat come about. Unlike some sayings where we are encouraged to follow our known passion before delving into a business, Oyinye’s motivation was a means of survival as getting the best for her was not negotiable.
Starting the business did not come without its challenges which include the “Nigerian usuals”; a continuous rise in the cost of flour, sugar and other overhead cost such as running the generator. Others include getting the right staff who will flow with the vision and get things done with little or no supervision. One of the toughest challenges she had as a startup was a staff she had employed with no skills nor experience. She had hoped that by training her on the nitty gritty, the staff would stay and grow with the business. Alas! just a few days after, the new staff asked for an increase in salary, refused to show up for days and just walked away. Oyinye learned a big lesson from this incident by never allowing sentiments in recruiting and training staff but to have a well-documented staffing procedure stating obligations and terms of resignation. She doesn’t feel bad now when a staff leaves as she tries to retain employees and minimize staff turnover.
Onyinye recalls of her best moments where she had an order to make a 20-inch dessert wedding cake. The cake crashed a day before the wedding. She and her team had to stay up all night starting all over again. The wow expression from the bride made her day. Her key success factors in the business include the God factor, going beyond meeting clients’ expectations, and being meticulous on quality. Excellent customer service she says brings in more referrals and publicity for her business. She considers negative reviews on social media as a deal breaker in any business and ensures she puts in her best in every cake she makes for clients.
Oyinye strongly believes in continuous learning as she endeavors to attend training and courses to master her craft. She believes that an entrepreneur needs to keep better at his/her craft, be up to date with trends in the industry of operation and have an open mind to learn from just about anybody.
Her advice to budding entrepreneurs is to remain focused. She reiterates that although getting multiple sources of income is advisable, building a business at the early stage involves staying in your lane, sticking to it and getting better at it by the day. It involves more than dabbling into several businesses in a short time as it takes patience to build a niche and a worthy brand.
Grace Efezokhae
