Bosah Chibuzor Felix is the Creative Director of PushXclusive Limited, a company that specializes in bespoke footwear production.
With over four years’ experience in the industry, many celebrities like Ice Prince, Waje have modelled his shoes.
In this interview with the Herald, he talked about the intricacies of shoe making and how his company which has grown to become a multi-million naira investment.
Shoe Making
It involves a lot of things but I will just state the basics which are passion, craft, creativity, uniqueness and vicarious imagination. The God factor and patience are also very important requirements.
How It All Started
A lot of people stumble upon or into their God-given abilities when challenges arise but I wouldn’t say that was the case with me. I had a hobby of drawing when I was a lot younger, hence, the sketching isn’t much of a big deal. With my broad and vivid imagination, I combined both which ultimately resulted to “creativity” and a little bit of experimentation to see what mixing (in terms of shoe concept and design) would result to.
One needs to study the market and overtime I realized that Nigerian fashion-oriented individuals are willing to patronize Nigerian-made products provided they meet necessary requirements such as proper details such as quality, value for money, precision, durability and ultimately comfort.
We all know that these are what we get from foreign brands so I thought that I should infuse these concepts into my brand and improve the concept of locally made shoes. That was how I ventured into proper shoe designing.
Challenges
The sad reality is that there are still challenges, day-in day-out. It’s never a smooth sail but I’m thankful to God because he has been there all along. There is no business venture that have the objective of providing and maintaining high levels of standard in terms of service delivery without challenges.
Some of the challenges encountered include availability of raw materials, inconsistency in quality of raw materials made available, acceptability, trust and exchange rates.
Popular Belief that Shoemakers are Illiterates
I never really encounter such but I often get the notion that anything handmade from Nigeria is of low grade quality. Shoe designers aren’t always illiterates. I bet a lot of people don’t know that there are schools for cobblers/designers. Communication is key which means the basics are been taught same as other disciplines in a tertiary institution.
Relationship with Customers
You can’t satisfy everyone, that’s an important aspect every service provider must realize but you must ‘do your best’ because once you are a service provider, it’s your responsibility to render the best service with the hope of a satisfactory feedback from clients and customers.
Though there will always be tough clients who are perfectionists but learning how to satisfy these type of clients involves patience. You have to be humble as possible because every satisfied client is a referral to another and that’s the best form of marketing but it’s not easy staying patient.
Shoe Design Imitation
It’s not a new act, people will always want to imitate a good design but it’s always tough because you can never really know how much detail is involved unless you were present during production. That means, if one takes his time to design a masterpiece; by looking at it, one can easily differentiate the original from imitation. So the answer would be ‘yes’, but it hasn’t really bothered me much because it would require a lot to imitate my design.
Shoes as First Impression
I think that is quite accurate, the right outfit begins from a good pair shoes. Obviously, it doesn’t end there. Good shoes speak volume, it might not accurately define who you are but it can sure give an impression of how fashion-oriented and ‘polished’ one is.
Clientele
The word “unique” has never been for just a certain class of individuals, it is for all class of people, no one was created different, hence I would rather say that my shoes are for “You-niquely” fashion-oriented individual with a high taste and regard for quality Nigerian hand-made shoes.
For every level of growth or success, I would say it’s been God. For as much we work hard, there is always the divine purpose. We can only do our bit and hope for the best. Getting celebrities to rep the brand was God’s favor upon a brand that worked hard to relay a message of quality standards never seen before. There is a saying that Heaven helps those who help themselves.
Training Sessions
At the moment, no, but I did a few in the past, looking forward to getting better structures to facilitate such and empower youth in learning the craft and also becoming better individuals in the nearest future.
Advice for Upcoming Entrepreneurs
My advice would be ‘brace yourself’ because it’s not a bed full of roses. There is no successful entrepreneur without a story of trials and tribulations. With humility, patience, ability and willingness to learn and be corrected, I believe you can achieve success even in difficult times/seasons.
Equip yourself mentally, physically and spiritually, for all these work together. Remember there is no fast route to success. Always follow due process, that would give you a sense of pride and accomplishment in the future.