One major difficulty that comes with the #BuyNigerian campaign is how extremely pricey these fashion pieces can be.
The norm has been said to be that quality products are expensive while most affordable (in other words, cheap) products have less quality, and in the long run, buying them usually leads to regret.
Our #MillenialQueenBoss today Sophia Ike-Onu has successfully combined quality and affordability and has built two flourishing businesses – The 5k Shop and MyT5s
The 5k Shop is an e-commerce platform that stocks high-quality Nigerian products that do not exceed N5,000. Yes, you heard that right!
The 5k Shop started from Sophia’s home after she partnered with a tailor to make the pieces, whilst also funding it with her savings. She launched her business at a fashion exhibition and her products sold out by the end of the two-day event.
Fast forward to almost 5 years later, the company now has about 10 staff, 8 working full-time and the other two on contract basis. Sophia has gone on to start her own fashion label T5S which contributes to 80% of The 5k Shop‘s inventory, with the remaining coming from other retailers.
Sophia has also gone on to receive awards because of her work with The5kShop including the British Council Enterprise Challenge 2016 which allowed her to be privately mentored by Sir Richard Brandson. She was featured on CNN in 2016 for promoting affordable products made locally. Also in 2016, she was listed as one of the 100 most influential women in Africa by Leading Ladies Africa and lastly, she was also named Brand Ambassador for Virgin Atlantic.
Sophia Ike-Onu is a BSc holder (Architecture) from Covenant University and a Masters degree holder (International Architectural Regeneration and Development) from Oxford Brookes University.
Sophia is promoting the #BuyNigerian movement and has proven that quality and affordability can be mutually exclusive.
