Upclose & Personal With Nicholasa (C.E.O. Nichobeads)
Wednesday morning found me chilling, away from the sunny weather with one of Lagos' finest C.E.Os (calm down, we didn't chill physically...lol), this beautiful indigene of Ondo state tells us her journey to being a successful "beadsmith" (Yes, "beadsmith), read our chats.
Nicholas The Beadsmith.
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Nicho: morning Peter
Pedro: How are you this lovely Wednesday morning?
Nicho: I am not very good
Pedro: Really why? If I may ask.
Nicho: but i am thankful for the gift of life, thats good enough, Nigeria's economy situation is alarming and frustrating
Pedro: Yeah, true though, but there's hope, talking about the economy, you're an entrepreneur, how have you been able to bridge the gap between the fall in naira, cost of production and satisfying customers?
Nicho: yes.,when there's life, there's hope and about how the economy affects the business... it really hasnt been too easy cos we have to deal with the extremely high amount of materials
In business, we have the down-time and Rosy-time...i consider this time as the down time and with time everything will balance and be favourable to the Buyers and the Sellers.
As an entrepreneur, we should know how to come between these prices so it wont totally affect our customers for future relationship.
Pedro: but your customers do not complain about your prices, do they? 'Cause I remember entering a phone shop to get a phone and discovered it had become almost twice the original price, I complained and turned back...lol... In fact I'm still complaining.
Nicho: Of course.. its business.. I dont expect a turn up on my beads al the time..but then my prices are moderate and standard
Pedro: That's lovely, so, being a beadsmith, how has it been? How did you start?
Nicho: Being a beadsmith has been so beautiful and tasking, you know nothing good comes easy...in all, it has been eventful.
Well, I started 2 years ago, during my youth service in kwara state, hearing about the situation of unemployment in Nigeria kept on ringing in my head and I just said to myself. I have to do something to keep me living and i came about being the "Bead goddess" π
Pedro: "The Bead Goddess" ghenghen... Did you learn the trade on your own or you learned somewhere?
Nicho: I learnt from a BeadMistress in a town in Kwara. No one is an island, I had to go out to search for knowledge in my area of interest.
Pedro: Let's leave beadsmithing for a while, any other handwork you've got up your sleeves?
Nicho: hmmmmm....i cook very well too
The Beadsmith At Work
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Pedro: Cook! Oh well, now you have my full attention, You cook for parties?
Nicho: hahahahahahaha noπ
Pedro: Why not?
Nicho: The zeal to make cooking a party affair isn't there.
Pedro: Or you're avoiding being called "Iya Basira"π
Nicho: lmao
Pedro: Anyway, you must invite me over one of these days to taste and rate your cooking.
Nicho: hahahhahahaha...sureπ
Pedro: What do you do when you're not being a chef & a beadsmith?
Nicho: wellπi study my chinese, I am currently learning the Chinese language.
Pedro: Woochow!!!
Nicho: chinchunchin
Pedro: Lol... Why Chinese?
Nicho: you know of all countries coming to our rescue economically.... China has taken most of the glory, in construction, automobile, telecomms, gadgets ...just name it, so i felt..learning the language would help a great deal, I would be able to assist business men that plan on starting up a business with the Chinese
Chinese Tutor.
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Pedro: Smart move
Nicho: πthanks
Pedro: Will you learn other languages?
Nicho: yes...but i want to get to a reasonable level in learning this, before I proceed to other languages.
Pedro: What would the next language be?
Nicho: German
Pedro: When will Spanish or French come in?
Nicho: i dont think french willππ
Pedro: Lol... Why?
Nicho: lol
Pedro: Yeah, why?
Nicho: i dont have a flare for it
Pedro: Oh okay, any hobbies?
Nicho: Beading, cooking, meeting new friends and touring
Pedro: Touring... Hmmmmm how many countries have you toured?
Nicho: none, but I would love and hope to visit a lot
Pedro: Mention five π
Nicho: The Bahamas, Miami, France, Dubai and New york
Pedro: Nice ππππ When we've made enough money, we'll plan vacations togetherπππ
Nicho: hahahahaha
Pedro: Do you train others?
Nicho: yes, I have trained about 5 and still training more lol
Pedro: Impressive, so if I want to learn, what would it take?
Nicho: I will invite you over for a chat, then talk to you about the training, ask questions about why you really want to learn that is "your sole aim" and how effective you want to be, then we talk about the price and get started.
Training.
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Pedro: And total duration?
Nicho: it depend's on the individual's ability to grasp, but its usually about 2months
Pedro: Alright, where do you get inspiration for your designs from?
Nicho: I think of some funny styles, but I look to my bead mentors mostly and make sure I do better
Pedro: Do customers tell you what they want and you come out with that exactly, however weird it may look?
Nicho: yesso they do, and it always comes out really nice, so nice that I steal some of the styles too π
Pedro: Hahaha, has a customer ever had reason(s) to complain?
Nicho: well....i dont give them that avenue cos m a customer to oda people and i know what i want so i wont do a bad job.
Just Bead It.
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Pedro: Okay, let's leave business and "beadness", do you like music?
Nicho: not really a fan
Pedro: Oh, and movies?
Nicho:q hmmmm.. I love movies.
Pedro: Hollywood, Nollywood, Ghollywood or Bollywood?
Nicho: Hollywood and Nollywood
Pedro: Nollywood? Aunty, but why na?
Nicho: I chose hollywood first, I gat to support ma country no matter what na.
Pedro: Lol... Isn't she just patriotic
Pedro: A football fan?
Nicho: not at all
Pedro: So you don't watch football with the boo, Or support his team?
Nicho: basketball? yeahhhh!!!
Pedro: Oh nice, so who's your favorite basketballer?
Nicho: Kobe Bryant
Pedro: πππππ I knew you would mention Kobe.
Nicho: Lol.
Pedro: Any word of encouragement/advice to other entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs & those who do not know what business to go into?
Nicho: My advice to you people out there is to keep it real, the struggle is real but you have to keep up with the struggle so you can attain your desired height. Remember Rome wasnt built in a day, even Nigeria is in the development process so we all need to chill and make it happen.Thank you.
Pedro: Thank you for your time... Meanwhile when are you inviting me over for breakfast, in-between meal, lunch, in-between meal, dinner & dessert?
Nicho: hahahahahaha...anytime soon..I'd keep you posted
Pedro: "A ga ma eyes on ya"
And that ended our chat, you all read "the struggle is real, but you have to keep up with the struggle", if you've started something, don't give up and if you haven't, please start something.
Contact Us.
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Bbm pin: 5334DDC1
I.G: @nichobeads
Call/whatsapp: 08160888063
website: nichobeads.com
BBM Channel: C001C79C7
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