Entrepreneurship Zone: 06 February 2023 :: Made-in-Nigeria furniture company catering to aspirational millennials

Mon Feb 6 14:52:03 CAT 2023

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Entrepreneurship Zone: 06 February 2023 :: Made-in-Nigeria furniture
company catering to aspirational millennials

·          

Taeillo, a Nigerian furniture manufacturer based in Lagos, was founded in
2018 by Jumoke Dada. The company sources raw materials locally and produces
a variety of furniture items, including sofas, beds, chairs and tables.
Taeillo distributes its products through its e-commerce platform, catering
to both individual and corporate customers. Jeanette Clark interviewed Dada
to learn more about the company’s early days, its growth, challenges and
manufacturing in Nigeria.

In 2018, Jumoke Dada, a trained architect, quit her job at a Nigerian
interior decorator. She became frustrated with the reliance on imported
furniture and decided to take matters into her own hands. Dada travelled
throughout Nigeria to gather inspiration for her goal of creating
Nigerian-made furniture.

She started by designing one item and posting her design on Facebook. “A
customer liked it and paid a deposit to have it made. I made 17,000 Nigerian
naira profit (US$37), which was used to make the next piece. It grew from
there.”

Today the company operates out of a 1,200m2 factory outside of Lagos,
employs just under 100 people, and has a 500m2 production facility in
Nairobi, Kenya. The factory has four different divisions: woodwork, welding,
upholstery and spraying.

Almost all of the materials used to manufacture the furniture and
accessories come from Nigeria; only some of the fabrics are currently
imported. In the beginning, Dada focused on local, vibrantly coloured Ankara
fabrics but the company has since incorporated more neutral colours to
appeal to a wider audience.

Covid creates opportunity

In its first two years, Taeillo saw slow but steady growth. The company
received seed funding of US$165,000 from a venture capital firm run by one
of its first customers, which allowed it to set up a factory. The
competition from established brands with showrooms and established retail
footprints proved to be a challenge. Then the pandemic hit. With some
guidance from its investors, the company pivoted from a B2B model to a
direct-to-customer sales model and built an interactive digital platform
that displayed its products in a virtual format.

Covid-19 lockdowns and mobility limitations led to an increase in remote
work among Lagos residents. To meet this new demand, Taeillo introduced the
Amakisi, a sturdy worktable with a lacquered wooden top and oak legs, and
marketed it through digital and social media channels. The product was a
hit, with thousands sold within six months, according to Dada.

Taeillo has seen significant growth in sales since the pandemic, now
shipping 800-900 units of furniture each month, primarily to other cities in
Nigeria. It has also opened an office and production facility in Nairobi,
and with $2.5 million in funding raised in 2022 from Nigerian investor Aruwa
Capital Management, it hopes to be present in Côte d’Ivoire by the end of
2023.

“The goal is to be in all major African cities,” says Dada. “Kenya will
become the hub for East Africa, Nigeria for West Africa and Côte d’Ivoire
for Francophone Africa.”

Overcoming challenges

Dada says the company faces the same obstacles as most manufacturing
businesses in Africa, which include a shortage of secure power supply and a
lack of skilled talent. Out of necessity, Taeillo must also control the
entire supply from beginning to end. Where furniture manufacturers in Europe
and Asia can source components from other factories and often only assemble
the final product before shipment, Taeillo has to produce every single part
needed to construct the items it makes.

The company also has to train its staff continuously. As demand keeps
growing, Dada is facing the reality that Taeillo might have to start its own
artisanal training facility to ensure that it has the right skills for the
future. “We want to create a Taeillo talent pipeline,” she says.

Target market

Dada describes the company’s standard client as an “aspirational millennial
who has travelled outside of Africa”.

“They might have seen what it is like to live in a flat in London and want
to replicate that lifestyle,” she says.

Through its e-commerce platform, the company has sold to individuals, but
also corporates, hotels and Airbnb hosts.

Larger factory required

According to Dada, the company has had to move to bigger premises roughly
every 12 months since inception due to growing demand. This has informed the
decision to rent facilities, rather than buy property to set up a permanent
factory.

In the near future, the company is moving into yet another facility in
Lagos, double the size of its current factory.

“As we expand to other geographies, we will set up a production facility in
that country. Africa is just too fragmented and logistics too tricky to try
and ship everything from one central factory,” says Dada. Inside the borders
of Nigeria, Taeillo has partnered with a third-party logistics company to do
the deliveries.

“We make to order at the moment and our lead times can be up to six weeks,
but I want to shorten this. Ideally, if we get the right processes in place,
we want to get this down to between seven and 10 days.”

Tapping Africa’s middle class

Dada is upbeat about the future. She says the growing middle class in
Africa is creating a market that Taeillo is only beginning to tap into.

“We are seeing young people earning good livelihoods, whether due to the
tech boom or other growing industries. They have more disposable income than
previous generations and they want to spend some money on quality furniture
and lifestyle items.”

Taeillo’s Amakisi worktable saw strong sales during the pandemic.

Howwemadeitinafrica

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