Every nation develops on the back bone of Small and Medium
scale Enterprises and any government that ignores the SMEs has generally
decided to fail. Good evening everybody, my name is Chikealam and today we are
going to be talking to one of Nigeria’s upcoming fashionista, SOFT STITCHES.
Soft Stitches is a fashion design
outfit located in the city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria and she is
doing amazing stuff with her designs. I’m already excited having this
conversation with her. She will be telling us a lot about her designs.
Question: Can you please tell about yourself?
Sandra: My name is Sandra and I’m a fashion designer in the city of
Port Harcourt as you rightly said. I basically make female wears, I also make
English wears or what we popularly know as “Already made clothes”, and our fabulous
African designs
Question: What inspired Soft Stitches, what’s the story behind this
beautiful and glamorous outfit?
Sandra: Well, there is really no story, just a young graduate who
has passion for good clothes and decided to build something out of that passion
considering that there are no jobs available for young people these days. I
just had passion for good clothes and pursued it.
Interviewer: Wow! Passion I must say is not something we have so
much of these days. It is gradually fading away in present day Nigeria. People
no longer do things because they are passionate about it, but because of the
financial benefit attached to it. So money is basically everyone’s passion
right now. But here is someone who’s got passion for something and that passion
has driven her into starting something. I think I will take a sneak peak at
your wardrope to see what it looks it. (Both laughs…)
Question: where do you see Soft Stitches in the next three years?
Sandra: Well… in the next three years, Soft stitches should be a
very big name in the fashion industry where I should actually have my fair share
of ehh, you know…
Interviewer: fair share of the national cake
Sandra: Yeah, yeah… (both laughs). In the next three years, Soft
Stitches should have grown into a fashion school where people will come and
learn different skills and things about fashion. People should walk into Soft
Stitches and be able to learn everything there is about fashion (from the
basics to everything there is to know). Second, Soft Stitches should have
started hosting exhibitions and participating in Trade Fairs and actively
participating in the Lagos Fashion Week. So in three years, Soft Stitches
should be doing some of those and even more
Interviewer: so we are looking at the next three years when Soft
Stitches would have been doing so many amazing things, I can’t wait to come by
and have something really nice so I can look sleek and flick
Question: So the journey to three years into the future, what are
your Key Performance Indicators that would tell you whether or not you’re on
the right track?
Sandra: Key Performance Indicators will include, first, creating my
own designs and not having to copy other people’s designs. I should be able to
think up my designs and make them for my customers. Second, increased number of
students in my fashion school and lastly large clientele.
Question: What is your biggest business mistake?Sandra: Ah! My biggest business so far was not having a good
credit/payment facility for my customers. This resulted into a series of bad
debts that had lots of touching stories. I had to keep reminding so many of my
debtors, some paid and others, well… But now, I have developed a better payment
plan for my customers, where they can spread their payment over a period of
time before collecting their jobs. To a large extent, that has ended the bad
debt issue. And lest I forget, there is a signed agreement
Question: What is the end game/big picture, or is it going to be
just fashion as usual (Obioma), or should we expect more from Soft Stitches in the future?
Sandra: it’s not just going to be fashion design and fashion
school, I want Soft Stitches to be a big name in the fashion industry where we
won’t just make clothes, but we’ll diversify into other areas of the industry which
would include shoes, bags, and other accessories. Imagine walking into our
fashion outfit and we make a dress and a matching pair of shoes and bag to go
with it. We also look forward to diversifying into the male fashion line
(suits, senators, etibos, shoes, slippers, etc). We also look forward to
being a major importer of the sewing machines and equipment of all kinds and sizes.
Question: What are your final words to other upcoming
entrepreneurs, young school leavers, undergraduates and recent graduates, and
those who don’t have anything doing at the moment?
Sandra: Follow your mind and your passion for anything good you want to achieve. Don’t just do anything because people are driving you into it, but learn a skill because you are passionate about it.
Interviewer: don’t forget to add that the passion should not be
money. People should not just do things because of the financial gain alone
(both laughs mildly).
Thank you Soft Stitches for your time and I hope you grow bigger and achieve your big dreams.
Sandra: Thank you too and God bless you
The brightness of our future is dependent
on the stories of our little beginnings.
Patronize made in Nigeria, for Nigerians
and by Nigerians. That’s how we build a great nation.
