Today we’d like to introduce you to Chioma Olekanma.
Hi Chioma, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
ZanDoú started as an online platform method to create awareness about our products (Ankara Clothing) and also increase sales. The company was Formed to help boast sales for my mom’s and aunt’s tailoring/design back home in Nigeria creating a presence for them in the US. Eventually, we took the company as our own as an official Ankara clothing from sewing with my mom and aunty back home in Nigeria, to marketing, branding, advertising, and quality assurance here in Dallas. It has been a great journey and definitely a learning experience. We believe in affordability and quality. We wanted to create a brand that’s not just of high quality but also very affordable to everyone hereby bring the motherland here in the US through clothing. Our passion is to create an Ankara Clothing that is Modern, Chic, exceptional quality, classy, versatile, and affordable. Therefore, taking away the stigma and limitations that comes with wearing Ankara as an African. We have 3 cofounders at ZanDoú who play different roles and we are black-owned family business.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road just like any small business that struggles with capital but it has definitely been a great learning experience for growth and we strongly believe in our product. Our clothes are shipped from Nigeria which is sometimes a struggle in terms of lead time, cost, and delays especially due to Covid. In the past, my dad will bring the clothes for us from back home but with how difficult it has been to get Visa in Nigeria due to covid we have had to seek other methods like DHL or delta cargo which is expensive or a struggle in general. We have a huge presence on Instagram we try to post regularly, our online platform for sales right now is Etsy and that has been great so far. We do want more sales, our 2022 goals are pop up shops which we have never done before hopefully this will help increase revenue and enable more people to see our brand not just through pictures or videos online but physically because the way people get so surprised or excited when they wear our outfit or see it, is amazing. They are so surprised at the quality and fit… We really appreciate all our customers that have shopped with us and believed in our brand because that is our number motivation, just getting one sales gets us super excited we literally do a happy dance, Thank you our DoúLadies.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
ZanDoú is a black-owned family business. We have 3 cofounders 2 are originally Nigerian and one is from Sierra Leone. We started this business in 2016 but 2021 was really a year of growth and real investment into the business for us. We are an Ankara Women’s Clothing line, we sell unique, modern, chic, trendy, high quality, and affordable clothing. We believe what set our business apart from others is our high quality with affordability which is unusual for most African wear clothing line, we also have exceptional customer service because we strong believe in our clients, our 5star ratings on Etsy says it all. We also have 1-3 days processing time which is excellent for a small business, we offer same-day pick-ups or drop off in the DFW area… Our prints and style are unique and are most times hard to see anywhere else on the market…
What makes you happy?
Sales makes me happy. Noticing that people want to buy our product or try it makes me happy because it’s the driving force in our business.
Pricing:
- Our product usually ranges from $20 to $70 depending on the style
- We offer lots of sales
- Free shipping on orders over $35 nationwide
Contact Info:
- Email: zandoufashion@gmail.com
- Website: www.zandoufashionhouse.com
- Instagram: @zan_dou
- Facebook: @zandouuu
- Twitter: @zandou_
- Other: Tiktok @zan_dou
Image Credits:
filmboycalz
Mophotography
