Aisha Abdullahi Goje is a graduate of the University of Abuja. She became an entrepreneur and produces tea, after she got inspired to be self-reliant. Aisha spoke more about this in an interview with Daily Trust YOUTHVILLE.
What inspired you to venture into the tea business?
My dad is an avid tea lover.
He drinks at least five cups a day.
And he makes us make it for him almost every time.
My grandmother loves tea too.
As I grew up, I became fascinated by the different flavours of tea.
Then I became obsessed with loose teas especially ones with fruit pieces, flowers, and chocolates.
I remember going on Teavana and just browsing their loose tea flavours.
Looking at the pictures, then the fascination moved to teapots.
They’re so beautiful.
Every teapot is different and beautiful in its own way.
I remember opening a page on Instagram called “tea spot” and I was just posting pictures of teapots.
Luckily for me, all the teapots I posted there I had a way of getting them. Maryam Datti was my very first customer and I will never forget how happy I was.
After I sold the carton, I abandoned the page.
After I got a call of reprimand, I then made up my mind, I was going to use part of my savings to buy some stuff and just get back to selling.
What are you doing to expand your business?
In five years in sha Allah, I see me having my own store as I get asked all the time if I have a walk-in store.
So hopefully, soon they will ask and I will say, “YES”.
Do you think more people are drinking tea now than in the past?
No. I think most kids in northern Nigeria grew up around tea.
So tea culture has always been there.
The difference now is I think it’s more in your face, with social media and people having tea stands at various events these days.
Who are your customers and what are their preferences of tea flavours?
I have amazing customers, Alhamdulillah.
Most of them prefer instant teas like Alitea, Lipton Karak Classic and Cardamom.
Anytime I restock and post it, the stocks are sold out in a few days.
How does social media impact your business?
Social media is God-sent to small business owners like us, especially the Instagram ads.
With that, if you have a business account, you can see when your customers are mostly active, which of your posts are doing well, and the number of times the post was saved.
Their business tools help a lot of us.
So I usually time my posts based on the time my customers are active based on my insights and they usually do well.
What challenges does Tea Haven face as an enterprise?
The challenge was getting access to items but since you can find personal shoppers from different countries on Instagram that is out of the way.
Now, it’s the exchange rate: you buy something now, tomorrow Dollar or Pound has gone up.
It’s actually very scary especially for us that get things from overseas.
What are your final words?
I want to thank every person who has ever bought anything from me, thank you!
I still get amazed whenever I post anything and people send messages wanting to buy.
