How I raised Capital to start my Makeup Business in Nigeria

It is not news that starting any business at all in any part of the world requires capital and sometimes that may be the hardest process ever, Aisha Doggi, a Makeup Artist tells us in an interview about how she raised capital, and how her mom's support brought her this far.

‘’Yes, Makeup is my first business that's what I started getting money from it is forever my first baby.’’

We would like to know what your journey with raising capital for your business was /is like - "How did you go about raising capital for your business?":

"When I started the Makeup business, I was broke. I mean fresh out of high school broke, that was what I was. I started using my siblings, mom’s, and aunties makeup, anyone I could get my hands on because I couldn't afford to buy mine. That was how I got around to that and by the time I started to do people’s makeup, my mom has seen the passion I had for makeup and she bought me my first kit. It wasn't a fully stocked kit but she got me the basics I needed to start. I still remember till today it was a little black box with foundation, concealer a powder, blush some brushes and that was about it. And she told me she knows I will make something out of that, and that was how I raised capital for my business literally I still remember the amount she spent on the box."

"She called me and made sure I needed it and really wanted to do this, so she spent 45,000 naira on my products and everything, they weren't big brand products, but they were things I could start with. I really thank her for that because if she hasn't done that I would have had the capital to start anything.”

She also spoke to us about how it wasn't easy to navigate, “Nothing came easy, but I would say with time and practice everything gets easier. What I found that came to me easy was the makeup part, this is something I really love to do even when I am stressed I do makeup to relieve my stress. I won't say anything came easy overall, but I had to put into the work and build out a client base that appreciate the work, trust me humble beginning I understand that, so it wasn't really easy.”

"Sharing some hurdles she faced in her early days, she shared, “the frustrating aspect was trying to save and buy products and as a freshman, in University I had to do a lot of convincing customers to try my craft and book my service.’’

We asked her to share some learnings on doing things differently in raising funds and she said, “Knowing what I know now honestly, I would do a couple of things differently and that includes trying to find other sustainable means of raising capital and funds because then I had to save for months to buy products and things I needed because the clients were not coming so much as we were students and all of us were on allowances. Things weren't looking up then but I am happy with how far I have come on this journey as a Makeup Artist."

The advice I can give to newbie makeup artists is to follow your dreams and passion put your heart into your business and I promise you it will pay off, no matter how slow it may seem put in your best and it's worth it.''

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