Nike Majekodunmi is the CEO of “Nuts About Cakes” and a mother of 3 kids. Her family life impacts how she conducts business. She’s been married for 13-years and is blessed with a boy and two girls. Nike started as a baker/decorator 15-years ago with recipes she found online. Her results impressed her and she was pleased to share them with her folks.
Journey to “Nuts About Cakes”
Nike is highly creative as she also loves to dance, sing, and speak French. Her artsy side is a very important influence on her career. After baking cookies for a while, her interest in baking grew and she decided to resign from her regular job. Many people considered her decision silly at the time but her family was her spine.
Nike loved to experiment with cakes which resulted in her nickname “Iya Elepa” translated to “Nutty Lady.” Initially, she chose “Nuts about Nuts” but switched to “Nuts about Cakes” to incorporate her cake business. Nonetheless, people still call the business by different names like “Cake and Nuts” or “Nuts and Cakes.” Today, “Nuts About Cakes” is a known brand.
Growing “Nuts About Cakes”
Running her business in Nigeria is quite challenging according to Nike. In the beginning, she handled all the chores herself. Today, she’s got more than a hundred staff in her employ. Getting investments in her idea was never easy as many people have doubts about baking as a profitable business. Luck smiled on her as she had a father and a husband who were willing to invest in her business. Her mum also offered to loan her some funds for the business as well.
After this, she had to put in a lot of effort into plowing cash made from sales back into the business for it to keep growing. For about 4-years she didn’t earn a penny as a salary and even when she did, it was far less than that of her decorator. Today, it has eight retail shops and two production hubs.
Advice to Startups
Her advice to anyone looking to start up a business full-time is “Rome was not built in a day.” Everything takes time, so one should enjoy the process. Always appreciate where you are presently and learn everything you can from the “now.”
Another thing, “never wait till you have a huge investment.” One should start from wherever they are, it doesn’t matter how small. According to Nike, one must have a passion for the business before going into the baking industry. This is because there is a lot of competition in this industry. Practically everyone knows someone who bakes.
Apart from having passion, you cannot afford to lose focus. One of the lessons she learned in the course of running this business is that no man is an island so one needs to build the right team. Apart from building the right team one also has to build a good support structure. One should get a mentor, or training, or even work in the industry before setting out. This way one will gain the necessary experience and exposure and not be a flop in the end.
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