Godwin Green Essien is the CEO of Godwin Green Couture. This young graduate of Business Administration and Management from Kwara State Polytechnic is a designer to reckon with in the country. He has won many awards and at present he is the official designer for Silver Bird Mr. Nigeria pageant. He is also one of the organizers of Nigerian secondary schools fashion shows which helps revitalize vocational training in Nigerian schools.
In this interview with Sunday Sun, he reflects on his efforts in building his business from scratch and many other sundry issues.
What inspired your label ?
My name is actually Godwin Essien but I have added Green to my name. Recently, I even told my wife we will be adding the “Green” to our name. You know the colour green signifies a lot of positive things like nature, life, fruitfulness and it’s beautiful too.
How did you start?
Wow, it’s a long story but I will try and make it very short. After I have searched for a job for a very long time and I wasn’t making a head way, at a point, I was at a crossroads, then I took my problem to God. I heard a voice in my room that said clearly to me, that I should learn sewing. All my life, I wanted to be a banker and being a fashion designer was the least on my mind. In fact, it never crossed my mind for once because my entire dream was that I wanted to be a banker. Instantly, I knew it was God speaking, because you know the devil will never tell you to go and sew. Since, I knew it was a positive voice; I rose up and went to look for a place to sew. I thought to myself, even if I learn this, it’s not going to be a waste of time, after all I wasn’t doing anything at that time. However, while I was learning this, I still had my dream job close to my heart but then I kept learning. I was with a designer for 4 months and then I left for another better place and I just kept moving on. In 2006/2007, I opened my first shop and started doing clothes for clients and friends.
How much did you start with?
I started from my bedroom in my parents’ house. So, I really cannot say that I started with a particular sum because the machine I started with belonged to my mum. I did not buy a sewing machine to start. It was just friends and relations that would just walk up to me and give me clothes to sew for them. What I would say is that I started with a sewing machine given to me by my mum.
When you started, did you dream of growing this big?
No, I never envisaged that I will be this big, because when I started, I still wanted to be a banker. I loved banking so much that I thought the sewing business was just meant to keep me busy for a while. I was still looking for jobs in banks at that time and if I had known it would be this big, I wouldn’t have bothered looking for a banking job. At a time while I was doing this, I got a call that there was an opening in Standard Trust Bank, now UBA. So, I left all I was doing and rushed down because I was assured by the person who gave me the information that I would get the job. Immediately, I got there, there was a panel waiting and the interview began. They asked me all the questions which I answered well and I was so sure I really got them all impressed. Then, they asked me if I had worked anywhere before then, I said no. The guy further asked me, what I had been doing all these years since I left school some years earlier. I told him, I was running a call center in front of my house, where I sold recharge cards. I also told him I was learning how to sew. I didn’t know that was my mistake, the guy said, oh you mean you do all these things? I answered yes. Then I noticed they started whispering to themselves and the guy told me, he was sorry, I wasn’t the kind of person they were looking for. He told me I’m an entrepreneur that I would soon leave them and then he advised me to go and face all what I was doing.
What are the challenges you have encountered?
My major challenge is a dearth of skilled manpower. I will not say electricity is a challenge because it has become a way of life for everyone. Because vocational studies have not been made attractive, many people don’t learn it well to become skilled. Many of the people who try to learn, eventually, always drop out. For a long time, many of the people who do these trainings are usually people who dropped out from school. It is just recently that graduates are going into it. The vocational center set up by the government has many instructors who are not even professionals. Another thing is technology of the business. Take for instance, I want to industrialize my business and the machines that will make effective productions require regular power supply, but if there is no electricity supply, it will require diesel generator but many designers cannot afford that, so they will now settle for domestic machines. Some will then mix a little of industrial and a little of domestic in order to cut costs because the power to run all the machines is not available. But if you chose to run all these machines ,you will be running at a loss. Technology is a challenge, because if there is regular supply of electricity, a lot of designers will be bold to bring in these kinds of machines that will be dependent on power alone. Most of the machines here are industrial and it means I am in trouble if there is no light for 1 or 2 weeks. I have no choice than to run the generator from morning to night. But if the machines were manual, it means, I won’t have to rely on generator and this will affect my finishing quality and speed. But for good finishing and speed, you have to use industrial machines, so that you can compete in international market.
How lucrative is this business?
We all know the three necessities of life; food, clothes and shelter. Aside from the fact that we were taught in schools, these are real. No matter how bad the economy is, as long as you are doing your job well, you will still be doing great.
As long as your core goal for your clients is satisfaction, then you will have no problem of clients patronizing you always or recommending you to other people. This business is very profitable in as much as you know how to manage your skills very well.
If I want to go into this business, how much will I start with?
If you are starting this business and you are from a humble background like me, then you don’t need much. All you need is, a sewing machine, a whipping machine and then start off from your bedroom. However, if you have money, then it depends on how big you want to start. But because you don’t have an idea of how it is going to look like, you can start with just five machines. Also, if you are not the one managing it , maybe you want to fly in expatriates to come and work for you, then that’s another angle. So, you see starting point in this business is relative and so, if you ask me how much you can start with, I can’t really tell you.
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