Interviews & Hype: Meet Entrepreneur Doreen Moses Okon; CEO, Lorre SkinCare (Pt. 1)
Welcome to another ‘Interview with an entrepreneur’, a series where we talk to entrepreneurs & industrialists and delve into their business mind. Today we interview Doreen Moses Okon who is the Chief Executive Officer of Lorre SkinCare.
Lorre SkinCare is an independent consultancy concentrating on Body Creams. Enabling Client’s customers to drive service requests using the solution of choice today, the Creams! Successfully driving up revenue opportunities whilst keeping costs down by innovative use of resources within the organisation.
Enjoy..
What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture or to make significant changes in an existing business?
After learning from a well-trained skin therapist in Germany, the timing was write for me to start my own. I did a lot of research, and I found out that the Philippine has the best skin colour in the world, to make believe, I took a trip to Philippine, did more research and came back home with positive results after several months. Then I asked myself "...if the Philippines can have that beautiful and flawless skin colour despite the daily stress and hardship they face, why can't we African women have same?"
How did the idea for your business come about?
I was inspired by my mentor, Mrs. Rosabel Ufanete Ubong; CEO Rosabel Skinworld. Back then, I watch her on TV, on how she makes different treatments, creams for the skin with pure natural ingredients, I don't miss any of her episodes. At a time, I became very conscious of what I use on my skin, I just found myself imitating her, doing exactly what she does after every episode, it didn't really worked for me then, but the more I practice, the better I learn. Then I decided to push and make something out of it.
How do you find people to bring into your organization that truly care about the organization the way you do?
Well, it's not easy to find people to care for your organisation just like that, it takes a lot of measures, training, hardwork and encouragement to master people to care for your organisation.
How important have good employees been to your success?
I have worked with educated and uneducated people. Common sense and passion are never learnt in school, it is instinctive and often needs to be cultivated by an employee, you never know the capabilities of a person until you hire them, I have been pleasantly pleased along the way as well as gravely disappointed.
What three pieces of advice would you give to college students who wants to become entrepreneurs?
(1) Create an idea and be passionate about it,get people to work for you and sell this idea, (2) seek financial help from successful organisations and push your idea to its peak, but remember success is not built over night, it takes endurance and (3) believe in yourself, work hard and have this in mind; with God, nothing is impossible and never give up.
If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
I will start with a strategic plan instead of just a business plan, and I'd spend a great deal of time upfront defining my vision for the business, such like; were do I want to be at some point in the future, how would the business serve the lifestyle I want at that date, who are my target customers and what do they say about me and my business?
What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Hmm.. Networking, learning ability and problem solving. Yes!
What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
I sure failed in things, which I need not describe here as they are not meaningful to me now, but in all, I learnt how to take my decisions right and often, hearing and obeying others too much in a way might peg you, also to make my failure my another opportunity.
How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
If you get involved in a business, you must succeed. I have never given up on anything yet, those that quit will never know how close they were to success, that is not to say your original idea for a business won't change, your plan is always changing and the company you thought you started may end up being something completely different.
How many hours do you work a day on average?
8 hours....... to be continued
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