Inspiration behind Declutterdotcom
My passion for finding unique quality items at affordable prices led me to venture into the world of household item resale. Growing up, if there was ever a bargain out there, I was the one to find it. That sort of shaped my perspective on pre-owned items and it continued till I started my first-grade thrift (Okrika) business in 2018, which quickly expanded to household items in 2019. The goal was to bridge the gap between the price of new items and used ones and create a convergence platform for sellers and buyers. It’s inspiring to see how my passion and vision led to the creation of Declutterdotcom. It has since grown to be the foremost declutter company online helping owners sell their used items and allowing buyers to save on quality household items.

Building a clientele of over 60,000 customers for Declutterdotcom
When we started, this idea was very new, and so a lot of background work went into getting clients on board. Even though there were numerous brick-and-mortar (off-line) shops that existed at that time doing this, there was not a lot of online presence and education. We had to re-educate people about used items by making sure that we created a niche market; one that resold only barely used items thereby debunking the popular belief that ‘cheap was trash’. I made sure I sourced only quality used items and leveraged my immediate network, who quickly became my ambassadors. Most importantly, our clients believed in our process. It has been 4 long years of consistently building relationships and trust in the online space. Our integrity is unparalleled; one true testament to this is that even though I no longer live in Nigeria, the business is still purely online without a physical location, thriving and doing what it was set up to do. These strategies have quickly become a road map and inspired a lot of new entrants into the declutter resale space.

The impact of six years in IT sales and digital marketing on Declutterdotcom’s growth
My sales experience improved ability to negotiate, bargain and get deals over the line. Market intelligence is a big part of the business: understanding trends, pricing, customer behaviour, and product specifications is a core part of succeeding in any business. Leveraging the exposure from previous roles gave me a head start to launch and grow my brand. Currently, I am pursuing a postgraduate study in business analytics in Canada; a skill, which will help me identify new opportunities for growth and expansion.

Empowering aspiring women entrepreneurs to challenge industry norms and lead with confidence
I really do not think or believe I have accomplished as much as I believe is possible for me, and women should always strive to be more than what society or lived experience tells us. With that said, Just start! If you find something that you love to do, please by all means start that business. Success is a journey, not a destination, so you learn the most from your experiences. Find a mentor along the way to guide you but the real game changer is consistency. You must constantly believe you can do it.

As the saying goes, “if you believe you can, or you believe you can’t, either way, you are right.”

Drawing Inspiration from two exceptional women
My mum. It may sound cliché, but she is my biggest support and cheerleader as a person and business owner. The values she imbibed in me define the values for my business. Integrity is my watchword because when all is said and done all you have is your name. Then Mrs. Chioma Ekeh. She was my first boss and mentor is an inspiration to me. I watched her handle her home and grow her business with poise, challenging traditional norms and shattering them. Starting my career with her gave me the confidence I needed to pursue my dreams and have my own family. I owe a lot of my success to her.

Insights into the hurdles faced in Vivian’s professional journey
The challenges I faced are not particularly new, however, the nature of the business amplified the resistance of the market to accept our proposition. Trust was one I had to overcome early, building a relationship with clients and customers, I achieved this by having a very transparent business model and not compromising on our refund policies, “you do not like the product, you get your money back instantly.” This was one of our Unique Selling Points (USPs). It grew our client base and built confidence in the brand. Local logistics was also a bottleneck; the famous Lagos traffic meant deliveries were either late or unpredictable. We had to partner with several logistics firms, and this has helped foster collaboration and expedited our deliveries. But by far the biggest challenge we encounter would be the ever-growing increase of online scammers posing as legitimate declutter vendors and defrauding trusting clients. It has taken several shapes and forms with a lot of them impersonating me and so we are constantly educating our clients to beware and watch out for the clear indicators. It must be a collaborative effort among legitimate vendors, so our clients do not suffer for trusting us.