Yeaaah. Honey is therapeutic to the body and its value cannot be overemphasized. Today, we have on our platform a “honey man”. I am a lover of pure honey. Please join me to welcome him.
Our honey man🌸. Very welcome sir, please can we meet you?
I’m Habeeb Issa Abayomi an indigene of Ilorin, Kwara State. I am a graduate of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology LAUTECH, Ogbomosho where I studied Environmental Biology.
I love traveling, exploring nature and I’m an ardent reader of Islamic literature. My brand is Ambrosia Honeys, an agro-allied venture that specializes in the production, packaging and sales of honey and other bee products.
Excellent. How long have you been an entrepreneur?
I’ve been an entrepreneur for 4 years. I started entrepreneurship during my undergraduate days in the university.
Wow, great. What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
I was inspired to become an entrepreneur (or honeyprenuer as I prefer to call it) because I was passionate about solving people’s problem regarding access to quality unadulterated honey. I have experienced first hand the negative effect of consuming fake honey which was as a result of lack of access and unavailability of quality honey. This gave me the resolve to go all out to solving this problem by providing access to quality honey to all and sundry.
Being an entrepreneur, can you say it has brought fulfillment to you?
The joy on the faces of my customers when I make deliveries to them cannot be quantified. The fact that I’m solving a problem and improving people’s life is enough fulfilment and motivation for me. Also, I have been able to create a means of employment from myself and also become an employer of labour. Most importantly I’ve been able to contribute my quota to improving the dwindling population of honeybees in the wild thereby maintaining biodiversity and protecting the environment.
Fantastic. What problem are you solving with your skill?
The problem I am solving is multifaceted. The major one is with regards to food security. Bees are important for pollination thereby improving food security. Secondly, accessibility to bee products. Bee products such as honey, propolis and beeswax are of great nutritional and pharmaceutical value. Honey is usually recommended as a home remedy for several ailments and diseases.
Unfortunately, despite the huge medicinal and nutritional properties of human it’s not readily available due to low production output, high cost of purchase and high prevalence of adulteration.
You are a great problem solver sir. What has been the major challenges you have faced as an entrepreneur?
The major challenges I’ve faced as an entrepreneur is access to funding opportunities and high rate of insecurity. Access to funding was a major problem when I started out because as a new business owner with a long term track record people rarely trust you with their money. I was able to raise funds through personal savings, sales of bee products and donations from family and friends. High rate of insecurity is another major problem which we’re still battling and this has and continues to affect the beekeeping industry all over the country. Cases of vandalism are rife and several measures to curb it hasn’t yielded much positive results.
Wow, huge one. As an entrepreneur, what strategy (ies) did you employ to overcome the challenges?
As for the challenge of funds, I was able to raise money through savings, sales of bee products and donations from well wishers.
Recently I’ve turned my focus to applying for grants opportunities and the results have been impressive. Regarding insecurity, we’ve tried to implement several measures such as use of more secured hives, change of apiary location and recently, employment of security personnel. There have been varying degree of success to the different measures employed. Things are however getting better and I’m optimistic it’s going to be a thing of the past.
I love your drive sir. Can you say your customers have derived maximum satisfaction thus far from your services?
Yes, I can boldly say that. The positive reviews I get from time to time are a testament to that fact. I put my heart into my business and I leave no stone unturned in delivery of the best possible service.
Virtue. Where do you see your business in the next 10 years?
In the next 10 years, I see my business as the foremost beekeeping brand in the country and among the best in the globe.
I see my business consistently making delivery of honey to all the corners of the world. To be the Amazon of honey where people can have access to tons of quality honey delivered to their doorstep hassle free.
Quite a vision! What are your advices to younger ones that would want to take up your line of business?
My advice to the younger ones who are interested in beekeeping is to take their time to learn and becoming proficient in beekeeping before venturing into it. Also, beekeeping shouldn’t be about you it’s about the bees. Our survival is hinged upon the survival of the honeybee. If they go extinct so would we. So we need them more than they need us. So by venturing into beekeeping you’re taking up the mantle of pushing for human survival. We’re counting on you 😁.
Quite an inspiring interview sir. Thank you for coming.🌸
