Abikeola Makinde is a creative designer at Pearl and Emerald Homes Ltd.
Pearl and Emerald Homes Limited is a real estate and interior design firm with a focus on construction, remodeling, property management, and, of course, interior design.
Established in 2017, Abikeola, says part of Pearl and Emerald Homes Ltd.’s objective is to assist individuals in creating a house that reflects their tastes while spending the least amount of money.
According to her, the business started as a result of compliments she got from people whenever they came into her house. “Oh, your home is so different in a beautiful way. Who designed it for you? They always asked. But after a while, some of my friends began to ask me if I could help them design or redesign their homes, which I did for a fee, which they liked.
“Along the line, I asked my husband one day if he could join forces with me to start a real estate company because I believe his knowledge in the field of estate management will help improve our team and business and also because he works for a commercial bank, which makes him leave home early and return home late, and having our business will eliminate that, and as a bonus, we can see each other more often,” she stressed.
Lucrativity
Makinde believes that, although the business is lucrative, it also necessitates a lot of hard work, networking, and the proper marketing approach. On top of that, she said, it helps to employ the engineers, plumbers, electricians, and bricklayers who are needed to finish a building.
Challenges
To her, “the constant increases in building materials are one of the biggest problems this industry faces. You can never be completely certain that the cost of the building supplies will stay the same as when you last bought them. Additionally, some tenants’ ability to pay their rent was impacted by the economic difficulties, and some landlords’ lack of cooperation with us as their property managers was another difficulty we faced.”
Advice
She said: “My advice to young entrepreneurs is that for any business they want to start in Nigeria today, chances are someone else is already doing it. So, use your SWOT analysis to decipher your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. When you do that, then use your result to find loopholes in the existing field and build on them. Also, believe in yourself and be confident in the strategy you have in place after market research and surveys.”
Biography
Abikeola Makinde is the co-founder of Pearl and Emerald Homes Ltd., a real estate and interior design firm with a focus on construction, remodeling, property management, and, of course, interior design.
Makinde, who is based in Lagos, is a graduate of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism’s programmes in Mass Communication (HND) and Public Relations, and Advertising (PGD).
She took a course in interior design and 3D modeling at the Maven School of Interior Design to advance her career and master her craft. She is the founder of a Virtual Literary Club (VLC) because of her love of stimulating conversations with others, reading books, and writing book reviews. She is married and the mother of an adorable son.
