Innovative Adventures in the Hair Business: An Entrepreneurial Perspective

By Ella Okechukwu

The importance of skill acquisition in Nigeria cannot be overstated, as it is critical for a nation’s economic independence. We must diversify our economy by encouraging young people to pursue self-employment through skill development, entrepreneurship, self-reliance, and financial empowerment.

The hair business is quite broad which includes, the sale of human and synthetic hairs, managing a salon, and having the skills to braid or treat and revamp hair.

Any of these businesses can work for different people with different goals and objectives. As a stay-at-home mum, you can own a salon but not as a working-class mum. However,  you can have the skill of braiding or hair treatment (revamping) as a side business. This can work for people with 9-5 jobs, students, as well as the unemployed.

According to Vivian, a Nigerian Tertiary student who ventured into the hair treatment business part-time and has been in it for 5 months now, in her words, she said “I am glad I took on this part of business because it has been paying my bills. And at times when I get broke, I’ll just have a friend call me to refer a friend of hers who needs my service and in a matter of hours, I get to make some money. The business is really lucrative now because Ladies prefer to buy wigs as its easier to wear, it is cost effective and it showcases variety

Hair treatment and revamping is a skill you can learn from the comfort of your home or at leisure and can start earning from it immediately after you’ve acquired the knowledge. It is a very lucrative business because, with the present economic crisis, most ladies would rather have their wigs treated and revamped which will last them for weeks or months, than having to get their braids done which can’t last for 2 weeks or 3.

Introducing hair revamping as a lucrative business
Hair revamping simply means restoring, reviving, and bringing back your old weaves/wigs back to life with the hair looking brand new and beautiful. Processes include Washing, Deep Conditioning, Coloring (optional), Lace Cleaning, Restyling, Replacing Combs, or even Elastic Bands

Steps:
 Detangle the wig
 Have your lukewarm water ready
 Add shampoo to the water and soak the hair for about 30-35 minutes to allow the dirt to settle. Then wash out and rinse.
 Immerse the hair in deep conditioner Soak the hair in a very large quantity of deep conditioner.
 Brush and apply conditioner again
 Put the hair in a plastic bag without rinsing the conditioner out and leave about 20 to 30 minutes as the heat from the plastic bag moisturizes the hair faster.
 Rinse and apply leave-in conditioner Rinse the wig with lukewarm water then apply your leave-in conditioner.
 Air-dry the hair 9. Brush out
 Use a straightener or curling iron If your wig is straight, you can use a flat iron to smooth it out.

Products required:
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• ⁠Hair Treatment milk

Acquiring profitable skills is useful even if you are not yet looking to start your own business. This is because you get to take on the challenges of work and life from a more innovative mindset, which will empower you to solve problems that would have seemed difficult or even impossible to solve without the help of those skills.