Doing Business Ep 4 - Understanding fashion retail and wholesale

This time the CEO of PayForce by FairMoney Tomi Ayorinde is exploring the fashion world with Ochije Nnani, Fashion guru and Co-founder of Fazsion Wholesales and The Outlet.From understanding the fashion business, retail, and wholesale to distribution, Ochije shares his story of how a little side business in the university turned into a business empire. Here are some lessons: Lesson 1: 3:50 - Your hobbies can lead you to occupation Lesson 2: 5:11 - Check for the gap in your market and solve it. “You always find your next business where you are” - Tomi Ayorinde Lesson 3: 7:50 - Put in the work to build your brand in terms of authenticity, price point, and confidence Lesson 4: 9:40 - Train your staff appropriately and use technology that helps you serve the customers better. Lesson 5: 10:27 - Make your business efficient i.e. reduce operating costs. One way to do this is by partnering with already existing locations. Lesson 6: 10:50 - Build a prototype. Check if your business model works on a small scale before you scale up. Don’t forget to be patient. Lesson 7: 12:48 - Spend time thinking about your business, its vision, and how to solve problems. It’ll help you give better directions to your people. Lesson 8: 14:59 - To scale, you need distribution. Consider building deep & robust distribution channels as this helps you get your products to the consumers. It can also help your business acquisition as businesses that are acquired often have robust distribution channels. Lesson 9: 19:00 - When starting your business, you’ll be doubted, but you need to stick to it. Lesson 10: 19:51 - To survive, you need to follow the market not what you want. Lesson 11: 21:54 - It’s okay to be unsure of yourself. Just keep going as some things are beyond your control. Lesson 12: 23:10 - Optimize your business as it grows to be more efficient, to help with cash flow, and to serve customers better.Lesson 13: 29:30 - Employ technology in your business to the degree you need it. It helps you, your staff, and your customers. Lesson 14: 37:54 - Are you in business to add value or cash out? If it’s the first, then you need to be resilient Lesson 15: 38:48 - Always build a great team. Your staff need to be happy, they need to be your priority and don’t be afraid to weed out anyone who doesn’t agree with the vision.