The founder of ClozetSales, a Lagos-based company, Chikere Onyinyechi Breakthrough, got an early education in finance, which, amongst other things, sparked the development of her entrepreneurial spirit. Chikere Onyinyechi Breakthrough is the name behind the company.
She is of the opinion that despite the fact that the Nigerian startup ecosystem is confronted with a multitude of hurdles, the problems of fashion waste management and a booming thrift industry have been disregarded.
“I didn’t want to do Environmental management, I wanted to do Pharmacy so I was like if I am not doing what I wanted to do, I might as well find something to align it with so that I can know the reason why I am here. I think that was the thing that formed my entrepreneurship journey generally.” she remarked.
With the launch of ClozetSales, Chikere Onyinyechi Breakthrough intends to completely transform the fashion business in order to achieve their mission of reducing the negative effects of fashion waste through the application of technology.
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The beginning of her venture
Onyinyechi discovered her calling in owning and managing her own business, a route she eventually embraced thanks to her early exposure to financial knowledge during her formative years. While the traditional 9 to 5 job appealed to many people, Onyinyechi found her vocation in owning and managing her own business.
Onyinyechi was given a “kolo,” the traditional piggy bank, when he was a child. This piggy bank functioned more than just as a place to save money, though. It shed light on the significance of responsible financial management, a skill she picked up from her enterprising parents and from the experience of being the oldest of seven siblings.
“I used to do what my father called ‘check’ with his boys so most of the time, I was the one recording the financial statements.” she revealed.
When Onyinyechi arrived at university, she maintained her customary practises of conserving money, which peaked the curiosity of the other students in her dorm room. After providing some suggestions on how to save money, she came up with the concept of Ajo, which is a sort of group savings. She began acquiring more customers when she began offering her pals a personal savings account through her business. It wasn’t long before she had pals who were willing to help her collect donations from a variety of hostels.
The endeavour was successful, resulting in the accumulation of over 300 clients and enterprises that collaborated with her, each of whom entrusted her team with their financial resources. Onyinyechi would help her clients save up to a staggering sum of 500,000 Naira on a monthly basis, making her services extremely valuable.
However, despite the amazing success of her business, she was unable to get investment due to the limits imposed by the location of her firm, which ultimately resulted in the failure of her business. This was the cause of the failure.
“I think if I was in Lagos it might have been a different conversation. Uyo was not that place where you pioneer some new projects. I was not in the right place… Also as a student, I saw the big picture but I probably didn’t position well.” she said.
The origin of ClozetSales
Onyinyechi considered new business ventures while managing university obligations. She sold garments sideways. She visited Onitsha to buy fashionable goods for her hostel.
Onyinyechi began selling clothes with 30,000 Naira. However, her exposure to thrifting’s limitations and the growing fashion waste problem made her realise she had to pivot but wasn’t sure when or how.
“It was even a customer that came and said, oh she has nice stuff she wants to sell and do I do that? I said no, not yet, but you can just add your stock to the normal stock of clothes.’
The buyer sold over 150 of his 200 things in a month, marking a turning point. Onyinyechi thought it was fine and a potential business prospect.
“My father does not like the idea that I am doing business, he feels like it is not stable, like there are a lot of hiccups that come with doing business, and it is not what I should be doing. I am supposed to be like his brilliant child.” she said.
Onyinyechi took a sustainable fashion certification course to spread unfamiliar concepts and themes. She wanted to create a viable business that promoted awareness of fashion’s environmental impact and provided useful tools.
As a sustainable fashion advocate, she witnessed a reduction in thrifting quality due to quick fashion firms flooding the market with low-quality inventory, resulting in fashion waste dumping. She launched a second secondhand fashion marketplace to address it.
How does ClozetSales work?
ClozetSales is a fashion waste-fighting internet marketplace. Clozetsales’ multimodal strategy for changing fashion consumption and disposal in Nigeria aims to reduce the fashion industry’s environmental effects.
They meticulously pick and sell used fashion products. Then distributive and secular fashion talk about fashion waste’s harms.
Onyinyechi Breakthrough is using ClozetSales to promote a circular economy, secondhand fashion, and responsibility through social media, declutter kits, and educational content.
“We also want to push our declutter kit. I think it is the first in Africa and also the first in Nigeria. The kit comes with a guide on secular fashion, and then we have repair tools and declutter bags. It is just to be able to push more conversations.” she noted.
ClozetSales simplifies fashion selling. Registrants receive a declutter kit and have their stuff collected. The team sorts by quality, market worth, and other factors.
Customer feedback approves sales. Payments are monthly, although buyers are informed if things remain unsold after 8-12 weeks. Customers can return their clothes. The company takes 25-30% of sales.
Onyinyechi’s future plan for ClozetSales
Due to strong advertising and retention, Onyinyechi said the site produced 13 million in revenues last year. Onyinyechi and her team upcycle and patchwork unwanted garments. They reuse rejected fashion articles to make rugs and other clothes.
ClozetSales is investigating new upcycling methods for the future. Cloth shredding would help turn unwanted clothes into new fashion items. Onyinyechi values collaboration and is seeking partnerships with major fashion companies to offer resale services to their brand clients.
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Challenges faced as a female business owner in tech
“Logistics has been a challenge. I thought money was our problem until these logistics issues”.
E-commerce, like many others, has struggled with logistics. This vital part of the corporate ecosystem faces its own specific issues, which unavoidably affect other business activities.
As a woman in the startup tech sector, Onyinyechi said that while she has worked with some male bosses, female bosses are the most encouraging and understanding.
