Oluwaseun Abioye is the Executive Director of Largelife Furniture Limited. An accountant who has worked for KPMG and UAC Nigeria PLC, Abioye pursues entrepreneurship to add economic value through superior service delivery. In this interview with ENIOLA DANIEL, she talks about her journey so far and her desire to make a difference.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got to where you are today?
As you all know, my name is Oluwaseun Abioye and I am the CEO of LargeLife Furniture Limited. I am a chartered accountant by training, husband and father of two and an ardent reader. I worked as a paid management staff for seven years, did two years as an analyst at KPMG, and five years at UAC Nigeria Plc, before I tried to become an entrepreneur in 2015.
LargeLife Furniture is an indigenous furniture manufacturing company based in Lagos Nigeria. We specialize in manufacturing all kinds of home furniture, office furniture, hotel furniture, restaurant furniture, etc. Our production is order based.
Since 2015, we have supplied over 1,600 homes in Nigeria and produced over 25,000 individual pieces of furniture. Our goal is to create affordable indigenous elite furniture that looks as good as imported furniture in time.
What sets your brand apart from others in the industry, what do you bring to the table?
LargeLife Furniture Limited is different from other similar brands in many ways. First of all, timely delivery is important to us. Quality is not complete when it is not delivered on time. No matter how beautiful the furniture item looks, if it is sent a month or a few months past the agreed timeline, then it leaves a sour taste in the mouth of the client. Armed with this knowledge and insight, we take on-time orders and projects seriously and sacredly.
The secret is to start work immediately the project is assigned and the advance payment is received. The factory staff and schedule manager deserve all the credit. He worked hard, putting in extra hours to make sure the production timeline was met. We are proud to be one of the medium sized companies making the best furniture in Lagos.
Our craftsmen are specialists who only specialize in the aspect of furniture making and not in general. Our procurement staff has years of experience in searching for fabrics, leathers, rare accessories, unique designs and more. In terms of local furniture in Nigeria, some of our clients have actually told us one of the best and we are humbled and honored for such review comments. We truly strive to make our customers happy at every opportunity.
What would you consider the main highlight of running LargeLife so far?
When we started in 2014/2015, I told all my family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, almost all contacts about my new business. I have high hopes that orders will start soon, just a few weeks. Little did I know that it would take more than seven months for my first order after constant and consistent marketing every day for those seven months.
Fast forward to 2022, the company has grown into a nine-figure annual revenue company. Over the years, we have significantly reduced the error rate, added talented experts and craftsmen to the production team, and improved the overall quality of input and completion of output. We at LargeLife Furniture strongly believe in this Japanese concept: Kaizen, which means ‘Continuous improvement’ and we apply it every day in all our operations.
You will interest that more than 50 per cent of our clients are Nigerians in the diaspora, mostly people in the UK and the US, who have homes in Nigeria, and it is proud that we can meet and exceed the expectations of these elite clients with an exquisite taste and international exposure.
What are the main mistakes people make when buying furniture?
The main mistake made when buying furniture is the failure to obtain express and executable written statements, warranty documents and guarantees for furniture items. Buying Furniture is an important decision and a purchase that usually costs millions of Naira.
For some reason, the furniture may start to develop some structural or minor defects after a few months of use. With a warranty, the client can legally ask the supplier to correct the anomaly or request a replacement in serious cases.
Second, direct sunlight has a negative effect on the durability and aesthetics of furniture items. The furniture is cheaper, but in 8 months, a sofa for example (which has been exposed to the sun by the seller for months) may be almost unrecognizable; fabric or leather is faded.
What lessons have you learned while running your business?
One of the lessons I learned was a genuine commitment to customer satisfaction. I’ve learned that when a business is so obsessed with making customers happy and satisfied, customers reward the business with deep loyalty in the form of patronage and referrals from friends, colleagues and family.
We are committed to genuine customer satisfaction. One way to achieve customer satisfaction is by committing to quality products.
I keep telling my people and staff that quality starts with knowing what our clients want. So, listening is very important.
Another key lesson is that your staff members are an important conduit for business growth. If you look after your staff and truly care for them, then they will be loyal to you and generate business.
Another thing I want to say is that integrity is very important in running a business. Just last year, we provided the palace in Abeokuta, the King (HRM) called me personally and said that someone spoke highly of me and the company and he wanted to talk to me directly to encourage me to do good.