I brand natural products to appeal to modern-day consumers —Onibiyo

What is your business all about?

MNBP deals with the production and sale of natural beauty products. It takes a green turn to make sure we have earth-friendly products. This is achieved through the use of herbs, plants, spices, oils and other natural essence and liquids to achieve desired results.

MNBP also deals in the sales of natural spices in their pure forms from the farm. The tale would be incomplete if we don’t state our MNBP tea business. This basically deals with the brewing of natural teas with our everyday kitchen spices. Some of the teas includes ginger tea, turmeric tea, blackseed tea, coriander tea, among others.

I would say MNBP turns away from the popular over-the-counter beauty products which are mostly chemical-filled. It focuses on combining the greens of nature and the techniques of indigenous communities to produce healthy products which are immensely beneficial.

What inspired you to start your business?

There are toxic chemicals in many of the skincare products that we are familiar with. Some of these chemicals have a tendency to increase a person’s chances of developing cancer. If you look around, you will find many of these products in beauty stores around. Many of the users are unaware of this danger and this was of great concern to me. So, I decided to do something about it.

I was in the university when the idea sparked. I used to have serious issues with my skin and it made me test a whole lot of products that harmed me further, I had to put a halt to all and started mixing fruits and plants such as aloe vera and some fruits to my soap. The result on the skin was encouraging and I made a decision that the natural plant is a worthy adventure to give a trial. After making this discovery, I started with making fruity soaps for myself, friends and family. At this point, I vowed that I was going to change the trend by drawing people’s attention to the danger attached to these toxic chemical products and the benefits of natural skincare products.

I visited different tribes in the country and studied their traditional techniques of producing natural skin and hair care products. The stories I encountered were fascinating and I made a lot of discoveries that inspired me to pursue this path of producing natural skincare products and branding them to appeal to the modern-day consumer.

What do you produce?

As I pointed earlier, the mission is to be as natural as possible. I produce natural essence soaps, glow oils, oil blends, body creams, body butter, stretch mark gels and so on. We also make hair care products like shampoos, hair creams, hair treatment kits and many more. All these products are produced from natural ingredients that enhance and protect your skin.

I do spices combination which involves mixing of different natural spices to give an enhanced taste to dishes, teas, drinks, hair and body care products.

I make natural tea drinks by brewing spices and leaves together to get a fascinating healthy drink.

What is the number of your current employees?

I have three persons and quite a number of distributors.

What are your expansion plans?

One of my goals is to spread the benefits of natural beauty products across the country and beyond. I hope to have a beauty parlour that produces beauty products that can meet the needs of our growing population. I believe that the affordability of natural products makes it more accessible to the common people hence, having stores in every state in Nigeria where my products can be purchased easily is core to my expansion plans. This way, I would be able to serve society and reach out to more people.

I also plan to have a natural beauty training school where people attend classes to know more about the benefits of plants and natural condiments and learn the art of making same.

What are the major challenges you have faced since you started your business?

Getting people to trust natural products over their usual skincare products was a herculean task when I started. Convincing my friends and family was the easy part; outsiders didn’t reckon with it. This changed overtime as the results began to manifest. Friends referred friends and we started getting more people on board.

Beyond that, access to start-up funds for SMEs is a major challenge. Also, the harsh economic conditions in the country slow the performance of small businesses like mine. As an undergraduate, I had to rely on my monthly stipends to fund my business.

How do you think the government can address these challenges?

Creating a stable macroeconomic environment where small business can have access to credit facilities, provision of adequate infrastructure and removal of multiple taxations is crucial to the growth and development of SMEs.

How many awards and grants have you won so far?

None yet.

What advice do you have for other young people that are interested in what you do?

My advice to natural beauty producers is that the market is a very sensitive one, we should try to make it as clean as possible. Consistency, hardwork and dedication are also key. I hope people also learn more by relating with people, reading books and exploring the culture and traditional way of enhancing beauty. It helps alot and it is a beautiful exploit.