Nneji Rose Chinyere is young, intelligent and quite industrious too. She speaks to Elora’s Blog in this interview.

Please tell us about your background?

My name is Nneji Rose Chinyere i studied Public Administration at University of Nigeria. I am the 2nd child and first daughter of a family of eight. I am from Abia state.

You’re an Entrepreneur, tell us more about your business?
I am actually an agropreneur and agric consultant.
I am into mushroom, pumpkin and ewedu farming.

Photos of Nneji’s Rose farming work

What inspired you to start up your business?

I cannot mention adorable farms without mentioning my dad for the role he played in raising us. My dad has always believed in farming though he never practiced it on a large scale but currently he still own one.

I said my dad because he opened my eyes to opportunities in agriculture. I have always been a lover of mushrooms even when I knew nothing about it. I was in a mall one day when a woman came looking for fresh mushroom to prepare soup for her sick child.

So I got curious and started making research only to discover the wonders of mushroom. Its benefits are enormous so
I decided not to enjoy mushrooms alone but help others enjoy it too. I located suppliers and business kicked off.

That’s how we started, prior to this time I already grow pumpkin popularly called ugu and ewedu leaves.

How were you able to raise fund for your business?
Fund raising wasn’t quite so difficult, I used wisdom and the power of leverage then I grew from there.
I got somehow introduced to a mushroom farmer by a friend so I usually buy and pay later until I was able to raise enough money. Not everyone will agree to that so I could say I was fortunate.

Over time I attended more training and I started growing some on my own though I still buy some variety of mushrooms from him.

How do you advertise your business?
We go to supermarkets, eatries, hospitals, schools and church to advertise our products. Many of our clients are by referrals. People enjoy our products and refer others to it.
We just started facebook advertising not long ago.

Its been a great experience since inception but not without challenges.

What are the challenges you’ve faced while running your business?

Our major challenge is that many people don’t know the benefits mushrooms offer. A lot of people are miss informed about it,they believe all mushrooms are poisonous so they avoid it.
Most people don’t know that mushrooms are great ingredients for scrubs, hair and body creams.
Eating mushrooms are great for antidote for vision, strong immune system,memory loss,depression amongst others.

Hence getting the final consumers to know this has been challenging.

Another problem is preservation. Fresh mushrooms are best kept in chillers,selling to supermarkets without chillers has been challenging so we had to introduce dried mushrooms.
Dried mushrooms are also great,we preserve it in a way to retain its fresh aroma.

How does it feel being your own boss?
This question makes me smile
I feel great being my own boss. Having my own business have opened me up to people, I used to be a very shy person so starting my business has given me an opportunity to come out of my shell and grow.

It also made me add value to my environment, offered me opportunities I wouldn’t have ordinarily have. My business gives me opportunity to network with other CEOs build friendships and make my business stronger.
Its been a blessing in disguise.
We are not yet where we want to be but we are greatful.

Has it been financially rewarding?
Considering when we started, measuring our level of growth I would say its been rewarding.

Where do you see your brand in 5 years?

Where do I see us in five years? I see us somewhere higher than the sky

I see us becoming a household name, we will be in major and minor malls,eatries,pharmaceutical and beauty companies across Nigeria.

I see us as one of the big players in the stock market, providing employment to both indigenes and foreigners.

I see us networking with various NGOs to prevent and curb health related issues. I also see us raising agricultural giants via our academy.