I want to see many women realize their highest potentials in life -Olatorera Oniru

Olatorera Oniru is an assiduous entrepreneur passionate about all things Africa.

As the CEO of Dressmeoutlet.com, she currently leads initiatives to realize a pinnacle in Africa’s history whereby we would rely less on importation and innovate more with natural resources and citizenry capabilities.

Dressmeoutlet.com. is a Nigerian e-tailer of fashion products, health and beauty products as well as home goods.

Olatorera is a woman with an impeccable track record and her commitment to excellent service delivery and innovation makes her stand out from the pack.

Given her dedication to her business, she was recognized by Forbes as one of the World’s Top 30 Entrepreneur under 35 years.

Dressmeoutlet.com stocks more than 1,000 products from premium designers globally. They ship worldwide and currently boast of customers in different states across Nigeria, Uganda and the United States of America.

Enjoy her story below:

Journey to being an entrepreneur

I have always been driven to the entrepreneurial route. Growing up, my parents always spoke words that made me know they strongly believed in my leadership capabilities.

I garnered a strong interest in non-fiction leadership, entrepreneurship and personal development books at a very young age.

It wasn’t until I was in college that I realized my passion and strength for entrepreneurship and this can be partly credited to the business administration courses I completed at NC A&T State University in my undergraduate days.

Every opportunity to learn, for me, has always been, and continues to be, an opportunity to be greater.

What running an online business is like in Nigeria

Running Dressmeoutlet.com is fun, exciting and a lot of rewarding work. Everyday, we come up with innovative ideas and are currently building up our list of patents.

I enjoy how Dressmeoutlet.com’s operations can all take place under one roof and get to our customer’s doorstep in less than 6 days globally. Within Nigeria, it is less than 3 days and within Lagos, it continues to be same day.

Our customers are our foremost priority at Dressmeoutlet.com. Anything to make them fully satisfied, we enact. They want a seamless checkout process? Consider it done. They want immediate dispatch? Consider it done. They want drone deliveries? We are working on it!

It’s a daily continuous process of business development, process improvement and service maximization at Dressmeoutlet.com.

Decision to open an online store instead of physical fashion outlet

Dressmeoutlet.com’s goals are centred on using technology and innovation to provide the best and fastest delivery of fashion and beauty products and services to our customers.

We wanted a system that would be challenging and unique yet give us ample room to grow and innovate. It’s difficult to reach a worldwide audience with a physical outlet.

We wanted a growing undertaking that would enable us employ thousands of people, retail/export globally and expand Africa’s footprint in the global fashion gross domestic product.

Business challenges

These challenges range from corruption to lack of stable electricity to under-developed infrastructure to low standards of educational strength in graduates.

On being among 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa by Forbes

It feels great and I appreciate every step of this rewarding journey. The sleepless nights are so worth it, at the end of the day, I don’t need to be reminded why I do what I do. I want everyone around me to excel, I want Africa to boom, I want the African fashion industry to catch up with global brands.

Training young women who want to start their own organizations

I definitely plan and love to train other women leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs. Dressmeoutlet.com’s employees know that I do not want them to be me or be like me, I want them to be greater than me.

I want to see many more women realizing their highest potentials in life. With so doing, I hope for a trickle-down effect on leadership into younger generations.

Let’s move away from the only-I mentality to the all-of-us mentality. This is achievable. Additionally, in line with supporting aspiring female entrepreneurs, Dressmeoutlet.com recently established our Creative Entrepreneurs Program which provides business support, consultation and funding to high-potential creative entrepreneurs across Africa. It is a highly selective program to get into and we are continuously accepting applications on a rolling basis.

Advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs

Push your dreams; don’t let anything stop you from doing anything great for the world.

Whatever you want to achieve, go for it, let your desires come from your heart and then ride the waves steadfastly until you have achieved them.