Skin care and beauty business is a gold mine. Over the past few years, a small but promising league of women-led natural brands of all sizes have burst onto the beauty scene creating an estimated global market of over $445 billion. It is a much fledgling industry in Nigeria and many entrepreneurs are beginning to key into it.
Blessing Uwayemwen Omokpia, the young Chief Executive of Blemiviv concept, Vinto logistic and London waters, is one of the leading entrepreneurs who has made a name for herself in the skincare space. She started this business in 2017 and has since moved from making natural skincare products at home to having a standard factory in Lagos.
The entrepreneur makes her skincare products from natural ingredients and offers targeted treatment for various skin concerns.
Prior to the establishment of her beauty line in 2017, Omokpia didn’t give much thoughts about starting a business and she definitely didn’t know much about creating beauty products. What she did know, however, was that she had a very good idea: skincare products that addressed specific consumer concerns, from dark skin to body spots. So she spent more than a year researching and acquainting herself with the space before bootstrapping and launching Blemiviv Concept.
Over the past two years, the Lagos-based company has grown into a profitable venture with branches across Nigeria.
Omokpia is not oblivious of the challenges inherent in the skincare line business. Her goal is to keep up with the rapid innovation of materials and ingredients that go into beauty products, while also keeping an eye on maintaining the utmost safety of her products. Staying on top of consumer tastes is a constant endeavour for her. She prides herself in the quality of products she delivers and a brand that contributes positively to the environment, to society, and to supporting individual expression.
The young entrepreneur was also poised to creating a brand that leaves very little room for disruptions that slow delivery, as there are many competitors waiting to fill any delayed order.
With this in mind she launched Vinto Logistics – a fast and reliable delivery company to facilitate her supply chain and put her at advantage over those with weaker order fulfillment solutions.
“I would say delivery was a major challenge when I started,” she admitted.
“People needed the products home and abroad and getting to them at first wasn’t easy, especially within Nigeria as bus parks and riders weren’t so reliable which was what actually gave birth to Vinto Logistics. The moment we had our own logistics company, everything else was taken care of,” She recounted.
In the last two years a lot has changed in her business with branches established across states in Nigeria yielding improved patronage. But the entrepreneur is not satisfied with that; she looks forward to establishing more branches in and out of Nigeria where she can roll out more products.