‘To win customers’ hearts, produce quality products’

Amina Adam Abbas is the CEO of D-Meenat Make-up Ltd in Kano State, a company that produces body and hair creams and enjoys patronage from many states across the North. She says for entrepreneurs to win their customers’ hearts, they must produce quality products.

You studied a health related course, what prompted you to go into business?

I can say I inherited the passion for business from my mother.  I grew up seeing my mum doing different businesses. She was into making local perfume (Humra) and local incense (turaren wuta). So, when I finished my O level I went to Lagos to visit a relative and while there I enrolled into one of the vocational schools and I chose to learn cosmetics making.

When I came back to Kano, I started practicing what I learnt in the Lagos school.  Initially I started by producing body and hair creams. Gradually, I have been able to grow and improve the business. I expanded my production to other things like soap making, shower gel and others.

My uncle was so impressed by what I am doing so he encouraged and advised me to register my company with CAC and get NAFDAC certification which I did.

Tell us about  your products?

I produce about 20 different products, ranging from body cream and lotion, hair cream, shampoo and conditioner; bathing soap, shower gel, and so on. And alhamdulillah, people like my products because they are very good and natural. I can proudly say, though my products circulate mainly in the northern states like Katsina Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Jigawa, Yobe, Borno, I have started exporting to some neighbouring countries. I have made a lot of progress.

What are the challenges you have faced doing the business?

In whatever you do in life you encounter a lot of challenges but I can say that the only challenge I face in this business is that people buy products and do not pay on time.

What’s your take on people going into entrepreneurship?

Many youths are jobless in this country. So, the earlier people start learning vocational skills, the better. Government cannot provide jobs for us all. So you can start a business with the little money available. You don’t have to wait till you get a huge capital. And before you start, make sure you have a little knowledge of what you have chosen to do. This way you will get better results. Also, you have to be hard working and produce quality products to win your customers’ hearts.

What do you do in D-Meenat Foundation?

The idea of D-Meenat Foundation is giving back to the society. The main aim of this foundation is to create jobs for our teeming unemployed youths in the state and also to curtail social vices in our society. We do a lot of things in the foundation. We train youths especially in my area of vocational skills free of charge. After the training, I also empower some of them with startup kits.

I can’t afford to empower all of them. Sometimes I go to a public school to teach the students vocational skills not only in cosmetics making. We also teach them house decoration, cookery and so on. I buy the materials and I invite some of my trained youths to join and help me in conducting the training at the school.

Do you get support from government?

I have never received any support from government though I registered with the state incubation centre and they promised that I would get a space at the centre. I think if government could intervene financially in vocational centres, the level of unemployment will reduce drastically in Nigeria.  We have the talents all we need is support from government.

Government should provide us with space at the incubation centre as that will help and ease the burden of renting business places for young startups.