WHY CHIOMA IKOKWU AND KIKA OSUNDE ARE THE IT GIRLS!
One thing is certain – Chioma Ikokwu and Kika Osunde are definitely on top of their game. The bosom friends are both co-founders and co-CEOs of the popular luxury hair brand, Good Hair Limited. Despite the odds of doing business in recent times, the Good Hair girls have managed to grow and scale the business to this point where they are the cynosure of all eyes.
Whenever great hair and beauty solutions are mentioned, the first names that come to mind are Kika
Good Hair and Chioma Good Hair, as they are popularly known in reference to their company Good Hair Limited. But it had not always been like that. Kika Osunde and Chioma Ikokwu have not always been in the spotlight. A number of traits, practices and behaviors are responsible for their seemingly meteoric rise. Let’s shine a light on some of them;
Both Chioma Ikokwu and Kika Osunde have always been careful with their looks from as far back as they can remember. Chioma says she had always loved to look beautiful, experimenting with beauty products right from when she was old enough to know what beauty was. Her partner Kika Osunde also says so of herself. The friends and business partners have always known themselves to be very interested in beauty and they cultivated their passion unapologetically.
Knowing and staying true to themselves indeed paid off handsomely as it is the seed that germinated
into their beautiful reality today.
Insight Kika Osunde and Chioma Ikokwu while students in university, used to get a lot of compliments from friends and family about their hair. Even though they had not yet started their business at the time, they were deluged by enquiries as to where they got their hair extensions and weaves from. Chioma and Kika were always glad to purchase hair on behalf of friends and family till it finally occurred to them that they could make a business out of it.
Market survey
Once Chioma Ikokwu and Kika Osunde made the decision to go into the hair business, the first thing
they did was take a good look at the whole hair industry – suppliers, products, distribution, etc. It was at this point they discovered through Internet research that they could actually procure great hair (better quality than they were getting from their suppliers at the time) and at cheaper rates too.
Since business is basically about sourcing a product or service at low price and selling at a higher price which people are willing to pay for, Chioma Ikokwu and Kika Osunde knew they had a workable idea on their hands.
Collaboration
Since Kika Osunde was very interested in wigs and lace frontals/closures while Chioma Ikokwu’s
predilection and expertise was more to actual hair extensions, it made perfect sense for them to team
up and complement their knowledge and skills.
According to Chioma Ikokwu, both ladies came up with 600 pounds each for the necessary initial capital.
This made perfect sense given the fact that they were both still students at the time with limited access to funds. Pooling together their skills and resources is one of the factors that took them a step closer to the realization of their dream.
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| Beauty & Brains, rare picture of Kika and Chioma of Good hair |
Started small
Even though a lot of people may not know this, Good Hair Limited was started by Chioma Ikokwu andKika Osunde in their hostel. Yes that’s right, their dorm room in the University of Birmingham! And their first office was located inside their kitchen in London.
The fact is that most glitzy success stories started out in pretty unglamorous circumstances. Waiting for perfect conditions never works out and Kika Osunde and Chioma Ikokwu seemed to be aware of this.
Education
Despite the come up of their promising business venture, Chioma Good Hair and Kika Good Hair never neglected their studies. Rather, they found a way to effectively combine both.
Kika Osunde bagged a degree in Business and Marketing from the University of Birmingham while
Chioma Ikokwu earned herself a BL in Law from the same university. Chioma went ahead to get awarded an LL.M in International and Environmental Law, and International Commercial Arbitration from the University of London. Chioma Good Hair went even a step further to get called to the Nigerian Bar after completing a year of legal studies at the Nigerian Law School.
No doubt their skills in business, marketing, negotiation and contracts have been gained and sharpened by the great education which they've enjoyed. Education as a means of empowerment can never be overemphasized.
Ambition
The first boutique salon Kika Osunde and Chioma Ikokwu opened for Good Hair Limited is located in London, and has been very successful. The business partners however did not stop there, but went
ahead to open up a branch in Lagos along with an online store. According to Chioma Ikokwu, they have plans to open stores in New York, Paris and a second shop in the UK.
Without ambition, they probably would have been content with the first shop they opened in London
and who knows, we probably would never have known them.
Network
It is said that you’re only worth as much as your network, and girl, have Chioma Ikokwu and Kika Osunde built and nurtured theirs. The hair entrepreneurs intentionally court polite society and decision makers in the beauty industry.
This single factor has gone a really long way to endearing them and increasing their relevance.
Quality – or in other words, Good hair!
When asked what the differentiator between Good Hair Limited and other hair businesses is, Chioma
Ikokwu wastes no time in saying, “it’s the quality.” The truth is that there is no substitute to good quality – premium quality always stands out any product or service.
Chioma Ikokwu and Kika Osunde go the extra length by travelling across the world to physically visit their hair donors and manufacturers to ensure the quality of their hair products never fall below par.
This list might not be exhaustive but it gives a snapshot into the inner workings that have contributed to adorning Kika Osunde and Chioma Ikokwu with celebrity status today. You can follow them on
Instagram: @kikagoodhair @chiomagoodhair @goodhairltd or visit the online store at
www.goodhairltd.com
