More than ever before, small businesses are contributing to the Nigerian economy in a huge way, as an increasing number of entrepreneurs take on the challenge of providing much needed products and services. Eniola Suley, an Industrial Engineer specialising in manufacturing automation, talks to Connect Nigeria about her domestic services business, AnyWork Services and the spirit of the entrepreneur.
CN: What is the story behind AnyWork Services and what inspired the name?
ES: AnyWork was born out of necessity. My father has always been uncomfortable with the idea of live-in maids and we have done without one for more than a decade now. After I started working and my sister was in another state for her NYSC, it became really hard to keep up with the housework. I decided to find a non-live-in maid to help out every time we needed help around the house and tada! The idea for AnyWork was born.
The name was pretty easy. I attended University of Lagos (UNILAG) and lived in the school dorm for a year; anyone who’s lived in one of those can easily recall the constant “any work” calls down the corridor by women who would run errands for you.
CN: What exactly are the services your business offers?
ES: Our current services are primarily domestic: home cleaning is our major offering. We offer spring cleanings that are very detailed (under N10, 000 for a 5-bedroom house) and routine cleanings which are more general, the kind most people perform weekly (under N20, 000 monthly for a 5-bedroom house). We also offer laundry services where we come to your house to wash and iron your clothes. There are also our speciality services like home moving and new home cleaning; this entails helping you pack up your old home and then cleaning your new home thoroughly (for about N17,500 for a 5 bedroom). We offer an after-party cleanup service (for less than N8,000); this service is especially designed for people who have home parties like children’s birthdays, Christmas parties, anniversaries, naming ceremonies, eid parties and so on.
My favourite service however is the rent-a-maid service where you can get a maid to come stay with you for as much as 12 hours (for just N5,500) to help you with whatever you need. For instance, imagine you have something important like an exam or interview the next day and you need someone to keep the kids out of your way, cook, clean while you get a 6-hour read, this service is perfect!
CN: Who is your business aimed at?
ES: AnyWork is aimed at the very busy bachelor/spinster who isn’t living with parents anymore but is writing exams, improving himself/herself, working every day and strapped for free time. It is aimed at working parents who are not comfortable with live-in maids, the house wife who is overwhelmed and just needs a little help. AnyWork has services for everyone. Even if you have a maid or you do not need someone to constantly help you, we have services like the after-party cleanup and the moving services that will get you out of a bind just when you need it. All of our services are very affordable for the typical person.
CN: What challenges did you face in starting out?
ES: The main challenge was in employing people; our services are very sensitive and require that we hire only trust worthy people. It took a long time to figure out our current employment process. We are extremely happy and proud that so far we have never had any incident involving our clients’ properties.
CN: How would you rate the customer satisfaction level?
ES: We get varied responses to be honest; but that is because different people have different expectations. All in all, I would say we presently have a 90% customer satisfaction level. However, as an industrial engineer my goal is a 99.99966% target customer satisfaction level.
CN: If you could start over, what would you do differently?
ES: I would have started earlier, I waited too long to start out. The business may have been bigger by now.
CN: How do you source clients?
ES: We use different methods; internet ads, referrals, text messaging services. Our major source is actually referrals; we are very proud of this.
CN: Which books have changed your life?
ES: I am an avid reader and I read almost everything so this is an interesting question for me. But, I would have to say Richard Branson’s “Losing My Virginity” and Jack Welch’s “Straight from the Gut” are two books that have impacted me when it comes to business and business decisions.
CN: What role has the internet played in building your business?
ES: A very large part; the internet is AnyWork’s office, its home even. It is where you can find us; the website: www.anywork.com.ng has a full list of all of our services; it also has an online store so you can set up appointments without calling us. The internet is how we find our clients, using social media and other websites for advertisements.
CN: What is the most challenging aspect of your work?
ES: I would have to say coming up with fresh ideas; our business is still quite unique, at least in this part of the world, so it is really hard to be innovative. We have launched and killed at least a dozen different ideas in the last year since they gained no traction. But I am not a quitter by nature, I’ll keep working.
CN: What is your long-term vision for Anywork Services?
ES: It is to provide literally “any work”. We want to do it all! We want to have reliable handymen – mechanics, plumbers, electricians and so on, every one that any person may need on standby ready to work at affordable prices.
CN: What advice do you have for Nigerians who long to start their own businesses?
ES: Please just start it. There will always seem to be a better time, you will always need more money, obstacles will not let up so just dive straight into it. The sooner you start, the sooner you can begin learning and improving.
