@greengrillhouse / ☎️Lekki: 0803 473 5887. ☎️Victoria Island 0818 968 5298
She is a trained lawyer who found a niche in producing healthy food for the health conscious individuals. She started out in her home kitchen, by being consistent, dedicated and focused on her brand’s quality and packaging. She has grown the brand to 2 locations and a major distributions in various states in Nigeria…
Podcast Keynote
Can you pleases introduce yourself and tell us about your background –
My name is Madey Adeboye. I run green grill house and the brand is about 7 years old. I am a lawyer by training but I don’t practice any more; I studied at A.B.U Zaria and I worked in one of the telecommunications companies before I started my business. (Listen to know how she started)
What’s your typical work day like?
Compared to when I started up, I don’t really do much of the physical work now that I have 2 locations. Once in a while, I go into the kitchen to see what they are doing. I mostly go into the kitchen to do the cooking and training when I hire a new staff. So my normal day is like I get to the store say 10 O’clock and focus on Management, business development and problem solving. I used to get there before say 7:00 or 8:00 am, but now I have competent staffs.
(Listen to her podcast to learn to plan your time and schedule for your locations)
What’s your Staff Strength?
When I started it was myself and my home chef. We both cooked but I was in charge of the operations. I later on added-on more staff as demand grew. Now, at Green Grills Lekki, I have 16 staff spread over our locations.
Listen to the podcast to find out how her brand has evolved into other products and locations
Where do you see your brand in 5yrs?
I see my brand everywhere in Lagos.
Can you tell us your most Challenging experience as a Chef?
I would say difficult customers – a customer once threatened to go on on social media about a poor service she received from us, her salad wasn’t properly washed, I apologized but I really felt bad and the experience made me consider shutting everything down. After that experience, I hired a staff specifically for washing vegetables.
What has been your worst entrepreneurial moment?
The worst experience I have had is with dealing with Lagos state government officials. They once came to my store and gave me a bill of N700,000 whereas, I pay all my taxes but they came up with some other charges I wasn’t aware of. Imagine local government agents sometimes coming with bills of 150k with claims that I owe them for radio and TV licenses when I don’t eve have these.
What’s the Secret to your success?
I would say our consistency. I focus a lot on our branding and packaging. You have to be obsessed with your brand. When I travel abroad, I take time to see and study how they do things and I bring that back into my business.
What advice would you give someone starting up?
- You need to be passionate and know what you are doing; not just doing it because everybody is doing it and you think there’s money in it.
- You need to dedicate time because it’s a very sensitive industry.
- You need to get trained.
- You need to gain trust from patrons and you need to pick a particular healthy food product – juice, salad, smoothie…
- You need to be original and find your own niche. Don’t copy others.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I should’ve started much longer than I did.
Tell us one thing about you people don’t really know?
People don’t really know I’m not Hausa. I’m from Kogi state but grew up in the north and speak Hausa.
Recommend Book / Resources:
Google is my go-to resources.
Rich Way To Drive Your Business by Lynn Brittney – a book.
The Smoothie Boss – Book by Madey Adeboye
Key Takeaway Points
- You have to be obsessed with your brand – be consistent and dedicated
- You need to be passionate and know what you are doing; not just doing it because everybody is doing it and you think there’s money in it
- You need to dedicate time because it’s a very sensitive industry
- You need to get trained
- You need to gain trust from patrons and you need to pick a particular healthy food product – say juice, salad, smoothie. Don’t do everything
- You need to be original and find your own niche. Don’t copy others.
