True Story,

She was an old friend. I treated her the way I treat old friends at my store, with fondness and the familiarity reserved for people you grew up with. I also obliged her request for a discount, an alteration and free delivery, why not? It’s only money and she was loyal or so I thought. I think I experienced my first feeling of betrayal the day I went into her store ( popped in to say hello) and saw a copy(a very poor copy) of my design on her mannequin. Her eager sales girl, anxious to make a customer of me explained that I could order the dress in any color and it would be made for me in Senegal where they were sourced. I called my friend immediately. I asked why she did it , she apologized and said she honestly didn’t think I would mind. She had sent her dress ( the one she bought from me at a discount) to Senegal and they delivered a decent sample and even offered to make the dress in other colors. It was an offer she couldn’t resist. I felt hurt, betrayed and uncharacteristically angry….I might even have raised my voice ( albeit politely 😂) . That season was the lowest point in my business life. What she did exposed my business to copycats and not just any copy cat but the aggressive kind, copycats with even more capacity than me. Copycats that delivered poor copies of my work and cheapened my designs. Customers were dropping like flies, sales were at an all time low and I honestly thought I wouldn’t survive. She didn’t know it but that single act of sending my design to Senegal almost ruined me. But it didn’t…….

Many businesses have been ruined by copycats and I was almost one of them. To be honest I think those who buy these poor cheap copies are just as much victims as I was. In my desperation to save my business and increase my dismal sales numbers I started making cold calls to old customers who had suddenly,abruptly stopped buying from me. One of these customers admitted that she stopped buying because she noticed that my designs, especially some of the pieces she considered expensive and “special “ were being worn by people on the street, very casually. She said she spoke to a few of her friends and they had noticed it too. Her conclusion was “ doesn’t Tomi know who her customers are? Why would she cheapen them like this?” Her words stung. I explained what had happened and her  response changed my life, she said “well I have decided to buy from another brand, it seems her designs are not easy to copy” ( I knew the other designer she was a victim too, but that was not the point 😂).

To survive this season I needed to deliver something that couldn’t be copied. That is exactly what I did . My next collection after that experience changed everything for me and 8 years later my brand is stronger and still delivering “something that can’t be copied”. In my online course I dedicated an entire lesson to how to deal with copycats based on how I survived that season . Copycating is a bigger threat now than it was 8 years ago. Creatives in all industries are vulnerable. The threat no longer has to come to your store or pretend to be a friend, your body of work is just a click away and the copycats are even more sophisticated. Why then am I so unbothered by them. Its because of what i know now. In a way I am thankful for what happened then. It forced my business to a new level and forced a shift in my thinking.

Take the online course “How to start a ready to wear label in Nigeria”  click the link ‘Enroll button’ on the site to start. Don’t wait to go through what I did, learn from my experience. And to the copycats I say “bring it on” 😎. 

When Cynthia decided to go into the business of fashion it was based on the overwhelming number of compliments she received for her unique style. It seemed she had a gift to somehow make anything look good on her. Friends looked forward to seeing how she would transform a simple Ankara dress code into a red carpet worthy moment. Her mum noticed it too and made her the official family stylist at photo shoots and events. Those were the simple days. 

Her passion for fashion was one thing, her sewing skills were also admirable. She learnt from the best, her aunt who lived with her had taught her how to sew as a child, she was clearly meant to do this, so she did.

She created a collection of trendy party dresses, work dresses and casual dresses. She travelled to China and produced them. Her friend had given her a few leads. The factory made 300 pieces of each design in variety of colors and prints. They looked lovely. She tried on a sample and it was perfect.

2 months after her return to Lagos her orders were ready and shipped down. She had decided to run her business from home and online through her website and instagram. Sourcing from China meant her costs would be low and her pricing competitive. All her friends would be invited for the launch of the brand and already she was getting orders from those who saw the pictures posted of the samples. She would be sold out in no time. Or so she thought….

The first disappointment came when she noticed that all the work dresses were a whole 3 inches shorter than what she expected. Then there was the quality of the fabric of the purple swing dress , the exact one she sampled and posted all over her social media Channels . The blue cape dress , and all the shirt dresses were fine but the blazer dress , her proposed signature design, was not fine, the sleeves were all cut small, too small. She began to panic. She called the factory, all they had to say was “sorry” they were happy to alter if she sent all the pieces back, but  she would have to bare the cost of shipment. She couldn’t afford that . She instead said a prayer and hoped for the best. 

The launch was a success. All her “fans” showed up. The shirt dresses did great, she sold 70 of them. As expected the blazer dresses were loved by all. But only 2 people could get there arms through. The work dresses, swing dresses also didn’t sell, “too short” people said . Too bad

I met Cynthia a year after she launched her label. She still had a store full of inventory she couldn’t sell but this time a head full of relevant knowledge of how to do it right. She stumbled on my online course “How to start a ready to wear label in Nigeria” and registered immediately. She said it was the module on production she loved the most. If only she had taken the course sooner she would have learnt exactly how to handle outsourcing internationally. Now “she knew better” and was going to give it another go. 

You don’t need to make expensive mistakes before acquiring practical relevant knowledge. Click the ‘Enroll now’ button on the site to start the course “How to start a ready to wear label in Nigeria “ immediately.