By Ebele Orakpo
Perhaps giving heed to these words from author T. Alan Armstrong, “If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived?

Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen for you, to you and because of you,” Mrs Winifred Njideka Okafor, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Benkol Bridals now Wedding & Events, left the world of chemical engineering to follow her passion in the fashion industry. In this chat with Vanguard in her office in Lagos, Mrs. Okafor speaks of the journey so far. Excerpts

After her first degree in Chemical Engineering from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Mrs. Winifred Okafor went on to Ambrose Alli University where she obtained another degree in Business Administration.

Not done with her quest for more knowledge, she got a master’s degree in International Marketing from the University of Liverpool in London and also runs the ‘Owner Manager’ programme at the Lagos Business School.

However, as Terri Guillemets, the American quotation anthologist had admonished people who want to succeed to, “Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night,” Mrs. Okafor’s passion for fashion led her to train as a fashion designer in London.

“I have been in this business for the past 25 years. I started in 1986 with Benkol Fashion. When I finished my Youth Service, I went for a course in Fashion and Designing because I have passion for it and I started as a designer and then pulled up to the bridal level where my bridal arm somehow overshadowed the fashion arm but I am trying to come back to the fashion arm gradually,” she said.

Like Japan’s Hoshi Hotel, a family business started in 718AD and still running or RJ Balson and Sons, Britain’s oldest family business, Mrs. Okafor wants to preserve her family’s business and to help her achieve that, she registered in Harvard Business School for a business programme called Families in Business “so that we can be able to know how to move this business from the second to the third generation,” she stated.

Continuing, she said: “We’ve been in Events but not on a large scale. We went into Events management on a large scale because of the strengths and capabilities involved here. We’ve trained a lot of people who are in bridal business and they are doing well.

A lot of people who are in events management especially décor, came out of here and we felt that it was time for us to go in. Even when we went in briefly, we had a lot of challenges – people who were there before and all that stuff.

* Mrs. Winifred Okafor....we will revolutionise the Events industry just as we did in bridals

But we were not moved because if you have something to showcase, you will not be moved by whatsoever challenges you get at the initial stage because we have something to give to the public. We are sure we will revolutionise the Events industry just as we did in bridals.”

In her bid to expand the business and place it in the league of global players in the industry, an outlet was opened in Dubai, UAE. According to the Wedding &Events boss, the outlet in Dubai was supposed to be the head office because of the facilities available there which makes things easy “but somehow, home is still home. But then, it is helping our business a lot because most of the things we need are just one button press away in Dubai.

Again, when they move things from any part of the world, they move it into Dubai because of the duty-free nature of the country and from Dubai, we get it here. So I would rather say that my logistic end is Dubai because there is nothing I need for either bridals or events that I cannot get easily because of the existence of our Dubai outlet.

So we have everything it takes to plan and manage a good event. The skills and the knowledge base are strong. When you talk of planning, we can plan a wedding from the bride to the groom before the event. What they will wear, how they will wear it etc.”

The outfit which has about 30 people in its employ, plans to open an outlet in Abuja.

Speaking on the price range of their goods and services, the mother of three said: “You know I am a designer. The problem is that the gowns we make are more expensive than the ones we bring in because it takes a lot of time and requires attention, what is called designer’s attention approach.

China gowns are all over the place so we have classes of gowns. We have the ones made in China and those not made in China. The ones that are not made in China go for between N150,000 and N250,000 and the ones that are made in China go for a maximum of about N90,000 – N100,000. We also have the locally made gowns. For us to make a wedding gown for you, you will pay a minimum of N180,000. We’ve made one for N700,000.”

Asked if the huge difference in price has to do with quality, she said: “No, it’s not only quality, they are mass-produced in China. The ones that are purely English, China cannot make them.”

On how she gets her clients, Mrs. Okafor said: “Most of them are by word of mouth which is the best marketing strategy. There is no way you can serve a client well that the client will not refer you to friends and family members, it’s not possible.”

On infrastructure, Mrs Okafor stated:“Power has been a big challenge. Everyone has a backup. Your backup is the Power Holding Company of Nigeria while your generator is your primary source. You have to devise ways of coping with whatsoever challenge you face. It is really disturbing.”

On how much it costs to plan a wedding event, she said: “We are a budget wedding planning company. You come up with your budget and we tell you what that money can do for you. And of course, we will assist you by letting you know what to do to fit into that budget, especially for people with small budget.

There are people who have small budget – below N1 million. All you do is to look at the choice of your hall. It takes a lot of money. And outdoor is even worse because of lack of security especially now that Nigeria is becoming security-conscious.”

Asked if the business is lucrative, she replied: “Once you know what you are doing, every business is lucrative. Even people who are selling groundnut, once they are dedicated to that, it will be lucrative and then they build up from there.

She said the University of Liverpool impacted something in her that is helping the business a lot. “Liverpool will make you a global player. Planning was a course I read throughout the time I was reading Business Management but in Liverpool, I saw it in another way.

The definition of Planning in Liverpool is this: “Planning is the beginning of the process of turning an empty dream into a reality.” The instructors would tell you to go ahead and dream. Who will not be challenged by that definition? Just go and dream dreams and come up with your plans of fulfilling the dream.”