Question: What has been your staying power in the past 2 decades? How have you been able to keep your brand afloat and remain a leader in the business?
God first. Then, I will say innovation. I improve myself all the time. At Rostal, we innovate to create value and drive the advantage of new frontiers. And as a person, I try to improve myself everyday.
Question: We learnt you just came back from school. Is that part of the improvements you refer to?
Yes, it is part of it. I just completed a course at OMP 37 (Owners Management Program) at Lagos Business School. Like I said, It is all about improving oneself. Learning is a big deal in this industry. You can't be in this industry and stay in one place. You need to improve yourself all the time. I also did some certificate courses abroad. As the CEO of Rostal, my dream is to build a brand and legacy that can live after me, I should be ready to do what is required for that.
Question: How have you been able to cope with growing competitions in this business, considering the influx of new people into the industry?
It is true that we now have a lot of people in the industry, but Rostal already has a name and the name has kept us flying up till this moment. Anytime or anywhere I work, I leave a signature behind and the signature is there for life. I make sure I satisfy my client. I give them best of the Rostal touch that you won't see elsewhere. This has kept us in the business. We deliver a value result in anything we do. We make sure you get value for your money. We are proud to say that we bring out new designs for every occasion.
Question: Success in a business like yours requires having good hands to work with. What role has having good teams played in Roatal's journey?
Working with the right people is the key point. When you don't have a good team, you are bound to fail. What has helped me is getting the right people to work with me. But it's not just that easy. We come across different characters. You keep getting new people till you get the ones that are right to work with. I feel so comfortable with people working with me. When you have intelligent, experienced and creative people as team members, you will most times be on the same page.
Question: The world came to a halt during the pandemic and your industry was one of the most hit. How did you cope and what effect does the new post-pandemic era have on the event business?
Interestingly, towards the later part of the lockdown, we had events. Although not the regular ones, but we were working. We had to switch to the new rules and style of having events. People still celebrated birthdays, weddings, but just not as elaborate like it used to be then. We were extremely busy.We had a lot of home parties and we were still charging. The pandemic created a lot of new opportunities. I was also going to school. I completed online courses in leadership and events. I took overseas classes on how to strategize. Today, we are better for it. The events industry has evolved with new technology and there are more opportunities.
Question: What would you say are the unique selling points of Rostal?
Our core values, services, respect, professionallism, creativity, integrity and team work. We deliver, we are known for uniqueness. We are known for good works and you get value for your money. The quality of our work speaks for us and keeps us relevant in the business.
Question: How have you coped with the advent of social media, many businesses now rely mostly on it to promote their brands and get jobs?
For over 2 decades, we have proven ourselves to quite a number of clients and cooperate organizations. If your job is good and you have integrity, it's your biggest advertisiment. The Rostal brand has built a good clientele over the years and we go beyond limits to satisfy them. The social media advantage is their for everyone to take and we re now focusing on doing more in that regard.
Question: As a key player, what is your impression of the decor industry today?
The events decor industry has come to stay forever! There is no how you will have any event now that you won't decorate. We now have a lot of young people with so many qualifications coming into the business. They also improve themselves everyday, which has helped the industry. To the glory of God, I work a lot. There is no breathing space, and it's the same for some other people too. A lot of younger people are coming into the industry. Some even want to work for you to improve themselves. The industry has come to stay and the the sky is not even the limit once you have the the right passion and creativity.
Question: What are the natural challenges you face as a big brand with experience?
There are are a lot. Like I said earlier, one of the major problems we have is 'not hiring right'', getting the right people is really difficult. For example, I can say in the industry now, I am a teacher and truly, I have trained a of people. All these people coming in now use people I trained, or sometimes, they employ staff that have gone through exclusive training with us. So, the challenge is we hire them as amateurs, training them and after training them, they move. The sad thing is that most don't go to stay on their own, it is our competitors that employ them. Some workers mishandle our equipments, they even steal some of them. I lost millions recently when some staffs stole my stage lights, mood lights and a lot of wires. won't believe who they sold them to? Our competitors! How will you be in an industry and someone will sell stolen things to yo you just because it's cheaper? So, we have a long way to go. Some people don't have integrity.They employ our staff, get information from them and also dump them. Have seen a whole lot. I was contracted for an event and I sent my staff there. After the event, one of them dropped her resignation letter. After I made my findings, I learnt she has gone to work with the event planner that we worked together with, who is a top event planner too.
Question: Aside decor, your brand is also known for corporate traditional engagement gifts (eru iyawo) for families having weddings. How do you evolve into that?
I am very creative and I love beautiful things. I believe in quality, not quantity. That is why I tell people when they compare prices sometimes. You can't compare a costume jewelry with 18karat gold. You can't compare a China lace with the exclusive HOH lace. Everything has class and quality. Rostal is known for quality. Clients know all I do is exotic, and always with a touch of class. So, when it comes to "Eru Iyawo' for clients having weddings, they trust the brand to deliver the quality they want. As a matter of fact, I started Eru Iyawo even before I started decoration. There is woman I so much hold in high esteem. She is my mentor. She is known as Satin&Lace. I love the way she packs her Eru Iyawo. So, there was a time she stopped doing the work. I have also started mine then but not as popular. So I had an engagement. The person that packaged the Eru Iyawo did a low budget job. I felt so bad and I so missed the woman. I said to myself that day that if she had stopped, I will start my own fully. That was how I started fully. Although before then, I was already much known for engagemt letters that I was even sending abroad for sales. I have people in the UK and US who buy from me in bulk.