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Thursday 30 August 2012

Treading the unusual path - Interview with Ifeoluwa Olatayo Tryphena, CEO, Soupah Kitchen.


One of the students fronting unusual entrepreneurship at the University of Ibadan is Ifeoluwa Olatayo Tryphena; an English major and CEO of Soupah Kitchen. She's been able to make good use of her opportunities, ideas and leverage. As a student entrepreneur model, She shares with us her journey so far in sprouting a mountain from a magma.


What in the world inspired you to start a business like this?
Well, first is that I’ve always wanted to do something very relevant. Let me take you on my memory lane:  When I was quite young, before I sat for WAEC, my Dad bought Robert Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Dad Poor Dad and gave it to my brother, my brother in turn handed it over to me. I think that book was the spring board. I read it and never remained the same again. I just got hungry from then on. I think that was the genesis of my inspiration.

So your quest for relevance started then?
No. The thing is I’ve always had it in me from a very young age. My Dad is an entrepreneur. When I was about the age of 12, I’d sneak into his office, sit on the desk and act like the boss. I’ll pretend to press the caller bell and call for the secretary, I’ll re-arrange the files on the table, speak to myself as though I was having a meeting with some people, and all sort. So it’s been there all the while. My background and the book just exposed me better.

Is this your first venture?
No. While I was in secondary school, my aunt who was a caterer used to fry meat for me, and we’ll sell them. I also sold cakes for her.
 While I was studying Public Administration at Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, I didn’t necessarily sell anything, but I handled some responsibilities that have been very helpful in my business today. I was Administrator at Saxifrage Company, and was in charge of managing over 300 singers. There, I learnt Leadership.
After my Program at RGP and before I gained admission to study English here in U.I, I learnt to make knapsack bags for kids, and I sold many bags. That business was a joint venture and we made some good money.

So what’s up with the bag business?
I stopped the bag business when I got admitted into U.I because of logistic purposes and I ran a pay phone business. The pay phone business didn’t really work out very strongly and I also didn’t feel fulfilled or satisfied with it. So I stopped that one too.

You seem to have done quite much; did you start your current business afterwards?
Well, from then till my second semester, 200 level, I didn’t do anything. Though in 100 level, I did a bit of freelance marketing for Live Way TV and Salve Incorp. We sold magazines.
I held on to the idea of this business by ‘accident’. It was during our exam that semester. I was in a friend’s room at Queens hall to take a nap when a girl was announcing to her friend that she was going to Bodija market to buy some food stuff. Suddenly, on hearing the announcement, so many other ladies rushed out, begging this girl to buy them several things. She became fussy and could only take some.
That scene caught my attention. It immediately dawned on me that this could turn out to be a business opportunity. That was the conception of the idea.
I immediately garnered the money from the bag sales I had made and that I was saving prior that period, and I started ‘Mama Foods’ immediately. I sent out questionnaires to my potential buyers to sample their opinions. I got someone to get fresh farm goods supply from at Bodija Market and at a cheap price and I began to sell them in school, at Bodija Market price.

Wow! So you didn’t basically have any challenges to starting Mama Foods?
No o. There were enough challenges. People started mocking me somehow. They called me several names and saw me as very unserious. I didn’t get a place to put my stuff, but a woman at the basement of the Faculty of Arts helped with a little space. In fact, Mama Foods was a mobile business. I was delivering food to people’s doorsteps at Bodija Market Price, and so I had to sell my Laptop to purchase a bicycle to move around. There were so many challenges from finance to having the right suppliers, etc… I just kept praying and working hard.

Why did you change the name of your business from Mama Foods to Soupah Kitchen, and what’s the difference between both?
I wanted to register the business name at the Corporate Affairs Commission, and I was told that someone had picked Mama Foods so I chose Soupah Kitchen. Soupah Kitchen is not necessarily a mobile business, unlike Mama Foods. I now have a shop (this one) and people come here to buy.

So what’s Soupah Kitchen basically about?
Well, my greater vision for this company is to give a new look to the food industry in open convenience.  I’m basically passionate about providing food to professional women who have less time to cook.
You don’t spend much time cooking when you buy from Soupah Kitchen because our foods are all half cooked, so you save time, energy, and money. Our pepper is ground and parboiled, meats are parboiled too, Vegetables have been chopped and steamed, and then we sell food ingredients too, plus other services. We run a system here, and everything is timed precisely.
As a matter of fact, the name Soupah Kitchen was gotten from home. My siblings would, in a funny way, say Hahh! when they taste my soup. So we developed Soup…ahhh!
For me, I prefer the production line. My plan is not just to be the middle processor or retailer in this business; I actually want to have farms and then produce much healthy food. I plan franchising the business too.

How do you manage this business with studies in a school like this (U.I)?
It’s not been too easy. The major thing is that I understand myself, and I’ve learnt to manage myself in respect to time. It’s been challenging, but it’s been possible too. I don’t do the normal girlish stuffs. I don’t chit chat or do unprofitable things. I believe that there’s nothing that can’t be achieved. I know Medical and Law students who handle bigger businesses than mine.

What’s the worth of your business, currently?
#300,000 plus!

Really? Did all the money come from Mama Foods?
Not at all. While Soupah Kitchen was conceived, I was saving aggressively. I had to do sales for Etisalat during my holiday, I did some text book editing, I applied as an usher at some events, just to raise money.
A major character of an entrepreneur is discipline. While I was saving, I didn’t buy any single thing for luxury. My only belt got cut and I didn’t take from the money to fix it or buy another one. I’m used to changing my tooth brush every 3 months, but through that period, I used a single brush. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to spend from the money, I only nurtured the fear that I may not meet my target if I spent from the money.

Any exciting and embarrassing periods?
Well for me, I’ve discovered that every day here is always exciting. I’m always excited to see students, my colleagues, bring 10 to 15 students to my shop very often. They don't window shop, they always buy, and they admire what I do.
Many people always say that I’m quite old school because I don’t use the Blackberry or trend in the latest fashion, but I’m just sure of one thing: The ‘pingers’ of today will bring their CV’s to my office tomorrow. I'm focused on reaching my goal and adding value to lives and to the economy of this country.
Embarrassing as it may seem my last accident, to me, was just another avenue to become enlarged. I was making pepper for sale when the pipe running through my gas cylinder began to lick. It resulted in a terrible inferno that put all these scars on me and I was admitted at the UCH for a while. 
My business still ran during that period because I have two workers, but I demanded that they stopped afterwards.
My parents and siblings have been very supportive. In fact, they prepared the first set of foods for sale when we re-opened. Now, I’m back, bigger and better.

Any advise for students who intend to go into business like you?
I believe Passion, Poise and Prayer are key if you ever want to venture into anything meaningful. They have been major ingredients to whom I am today, and they will take anyone to any length that they desire to reach. Nothing less.