By Amaka Agwuegbo

The increase in both corporate and social events like corporate luncheon, weddings and parties, has led to the boom of party support services providers such that a lot of employment opportunities are being generated leading to increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Though the contribution of this sector to the GDP has not been officially captured in the country’s GDP, it is certainly making contribution to its growth. One of such party support services providers is Kwara State born Mrs. Bolaji Abogunrin who is the Managing Director of Idrink.com, specialist in cocktails, fruit smoothies, milkshakes, punch and other such drinks.

According to this mother of two, she went making cocktail drinks out of the love and passion she has for it and also to give Nigerians the opportunity of savouring the unique taste of quality and hygienic fruit_based drinks.

“I went into this business because I found out that anytime I travelled abroad and went shopping in the malls, their smoothie making machines, and the chilled natural fruits smoothies is so inviting and tempting. Naturally, I ended up loving smoothie. As time went by, I tried to get to know more about it by learning to know how the drinks are prepared. I first started with the cocktails and it’s been fun all the way.

“My first public exposure was when one of my husband’s friends was getting married and I thought about doing some drinks for him for free. I must confess that I did not know it would entail a lot of things and details because prior to that day, I had never seen a cocktail setting. After that, I knew this business was not a joke and if I intend to make it big, I had to put in certain things in place by getting more machines. Since then, I have been buying anything that would add value to the business.”

Pointing out that most Nigerians have the misconception that all cocktails are chapman, Bolaji says she is out to correct such people with her products since making cocktails entail a lot of more than mixing a lot of things that are not supposed to.

“The most important thing is for the finished products to be hygienic and tasty. If you are taking any particular cocktail that is fruit_based, you should feel the natural fruits in the drink, which is what we offer. So it should be more of fruits and less of water.” Though her client base is mostly brides_to_be, the Idrink.com boss reveals that she has some corporate clients who demand for her products.

“Though I started providing these services two years ago, business has been good because most of my clients are brides_to_be and some party people who want to add a touch of class to their functions. I also have some corporate clients especially during official luncheons and the likes and this is in high demand as most people do not want mineral water at their events.
“My fees are affordable and customers are assured of getting value for their money because I serve a bouquet of 100 glasses of four different drinks. This is to give the guest an array to choose from and not restrict them to a particular flavour or drink.

“So, depending on the guest strength, the bouquet of 100 glasses go for N45,000. So, people can get real value for their money and also know that other drinks exist apart from chapman. There are smoothies, milkshakes, cocktails, punches, some alcoholic drinks and a lot of fruit_based drinks as well that are not chapman. I thank God for the patronage, which has been good as we have jobs every weekend of the month. But sometimes, it does  not come at all, especially during the raining season. Aside the raining season, we are almost always choked with jobs.”

What stands Bolaji out among her competitors is her total packaging and presentation as, according to her, when you love what you do, the cost of adding value to your services should not deter you.

“I love what I do, and I keep looking for ways to improve on them and this influences how the customers would perceive me and my services. How I set the table, the neatness of my wares and the equipments used go a long way in selling my services.

“Also, in other to ensure that I produce healthy drinks, especially to the health conscious clients, I use skimmed milk, low fat yogurt, natural fruits and honey instead of sugar to sweeten the drinks.”

Despite the boom in business, there are some challenges to be contended with in her line of business, particularly the equipments used in producing those sumptuous drinks.
“Most of the things I use for my business can not be obtained here, so I have no choice but to get them from abroad. If I buy something for $500 and import it into Nigeria with $1,500, how am I expected to make a profit and still provide affordable services to my clients?

“Some of the fruits can be gotten here, but some are not and even when you see them in big shops, they are very expensive. An example is strawberry, which is not always available and is expensive when seen. So I complement what I can get here with the fruits I import from abroad, which is costing me a leg and an arm, but I have no choice for now.” She admits that what keeps her going is the fact that Nigerians generally love to have that extra something at their parties and functions and do not mind paying a little extra to get it.

Despite starting two years ago, this Idrink.com boss dreams big as she intends to have a bar that ladies can freely come into and have drinks in the next five years.

“This is because in Nigeria, any lady that is seen in bars is termed a prostitute, which is not supposed to be. I want a place where ladies can have meetings, drink and generally unwind without being scared of being called prostitutes. I want to make Idrink.com a big household name because my products are healthy.”