Startup Story
Chika Ruth Nwajoku is a women and youth entrepreneurship advocate and the founder of NCR Design Limited (NCR Design Shoemaking School) in Nigeria. The business was created to foster socio-economic growth and reduce youth unemployment in Nigeria through footwear making. Chika is a graduate of soil science from the Federal University of Technology Minna and an experienced salesperson who has built her career in a variety of industries for nine (9) years. She is passionate about empowering women and girls in the communities who are denied access to education because of poverty, early marriages, and the patriarchal nature of the society, and unemployed youths with vocational training, and skill acquisition programs in footwear making. Her business model empowers them to be financially independent, and contribute to economic development.
LoA learned more about this fascinating and high impact business from its founder, Chika Ruth Nwajoku.
About Chika Ruth Nwajoku
Chika acquired her footwear making skills during the annual mandatory National Youth Service Program in 2012. She has since used her work at NCR Design Shoemaking School to improve the lives of women and youths in Nigeria by enabling them to produce and export standard footwear products through training, job matching opportunities, mentoring, and access to quality and affordable raw materials.
In 2017, she participated in the YouWin (Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria) scheme, an initiative that finances outstanding business plans for the young, aspiring entrepreneurs in Nigeria. In 2018, she volunteered to train 20 graduating students at Kaduna State University in footwear making, in the Project Rising prime initiative in Kaduna state, Nigeria, organized by Television Afrik (TVA). In 2019, she emerged among the top 100 semi-finalists in the Access Bank Womenpreneur pitch-a-ton competition. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a lockdown and restriction of movements and social distancing, as well as an economic recession that resulted in loss of jobs, hunger and insecurity, Chika took to training 36 students (2 students each month) in the art of footwear making for free. She organized virtual meetings to speak on the importance of vocational skills and handiwork in these days of uncertainty when nothing is sure, with regards to securing a good job.
Since January 2021, Chika has been collaborating with the Foundation for Resilient Empowerment and Development (FRED), a non-governmental organization set up to empower young women economically, on a project tagged, “End Violence Against Women and Girls (EndVAWGs) Project”. As part of the project, she trains women survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in the art of footwear design and production. She was further invited to attend the private sector training under the joint UN-EU Spotlight Initiative, organized by United Nations Women and WIMBIZ. The aim was to strengthen understanding of the importance of investing in measures to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV and harmful practices (HP), including the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace and communities. This earned her a certificate in private sector training in May 2021. She also recently got shortlisted as one of the top 20 female entrepreneurs to participate in the She Leads Africa High Growth Coaching program. Chika is recognized by the National Art in Health Conference Nigeria (NAHCON) for her outstanding contribution to community development. She is a member of the Bell-Africana community, YALI West Africa, She Leads Africa, and currently signed up for Female & More Africa in collaboration with Ford Foundation. Her designs have been featured in publications, and have been worn and commended by reputable icons.
Since the incorporation of NCR Design in 2018, Chika has through the business provided the needed skills that have pulled 1000 beneficiaries of the footwear making programs out of poverty and given them a new lease of life. Chika is working towards expanding the business to accommodate varieties of courses to enable the participants to opt for the one that suits them best.
“The plan and aspiration is to be the leading vocational institute in Africa. This we hope to achieve by imbibing the spirit of entrepreneurship in the minds of Nigerian Women and Youths through personalized hands-on training and production of footwear and other leather crafts.”
What does your company do?
NCR Design Limited is a company created to foster socio-economic growth and reduce women and youth unemployment in Nigeria through footwear making. It was incorporated in 2018 with the sole objective of offering its students bespoke hands-on training on the different aspects of the art of footwear, from appreciation of equipment and materials, pattern drafting and design, lasting, stamping, threading, dying and quality controls, etc. Its courses are known to combine design talent with technical knowledge of footwear models.
The company’s footwear-making skills acquisition and empowerment training are built on active, experimental, and practical learning sessions, and delivered by instructors with demonstrable practical experience in the field of footwear production. Courses are held in Lagos State, but NCR Design could provide the training services in the trainee’s premises, or at another mutually agreed location. The know-how of its trainers and quality of training materials and footwear are some of the key elements for the company’s reputation in the field of footwear production.
What inspired you to start your company?
What inspired me most is my desire to help others by using my business to provide jobs for those with special needs. All I have ever wanted to do in my life is to help people especially women who do not even know why they are suffering, who are denied access to quality of life, who are willing to work to get those two pieces of bread for themselves and their families, who should not suffer what others have created for them. I draw my inspiration from the hardships of these people, it inspires me to work my way out somewhere through which I can really help them, it keeps me pushing towards avenues that might be able to change the life of at least one person. There are some pictures that I have saved for myself. I keep on updating these whenever I get the chance, these pictures sometimes break my heart as well, but this is the world we are living in, and we have no clue about things around our own self.
“With teamwork we have achieved higher levels of performance than working alone because of the combined energies and talents of the members.”
Why should anyone use your service or product?
We provide students with enough training skills and support that will enable them to establish a career in small and medium size businesses. NCR Design provides mentorship and internship opportunities, free accommodation and makes its training facility, tools, and equipment available to students who completed their training fin the school.
• We still focus on the technical development of footwear which is a fundamental background for those that work in this field.
• We train from the scratch, i.e., from machine handling/paddling, pattern cutting/design, clicking/leather appreciate, closing/edge treatment, lasting, soling and finishing of footwear.
• Our training is strictly manual, handcrafted to encourage students to startup with little funding.
• Courses are full-time intensive, and students do not need a specific background to attend. Our training program is open for the educated and non-educated.
Tell us a little about your team
Each member of the team has skills, talents, experience, and education which they contribute, and while work may be fun or engaging, it is a combined effort and commitment, as there is a schedule for training with individual and group responsibilities. Each member fulfills his or her own obligations for the team to succeed, and the team, like a chain, is only as strong as its weakest member.
With teamwork we have achieved higher levels of performance than working alone because of the combined energies and talents of the members. We have collaborated with other organizations including NGOs which has produced motivation and creativity that may not be present in single-contractor projects. Every team member has a sense of belonging to the group, and the range of views and diversity can energize the process, helping address creative blocks and stalemates. By involving members of the team in decision-making, and calling up on each member’s area of contribution, we produce positive results.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I do not come from an entrepreneurial background, as a matter of fact my parents are disappointed that I chose Shoemaking over Medicine, Engineering, Law etc.
I wanted to create value with something that I was passionate about. I have always loved shoes but became increasingly interested in shoes when I joined shoemaking CDS group during my days as a Youth Corp member in 2012. I started to dig deep into the art of shoemaking, read about master shoemakers, the business of shoemaking, its rewards, the challenges, and opportunities… just everything about it. It was fascinating to say the least. It had never occurred to me that I could make a living out of it because interestingly, I am a graduate of Soil Science so academically, nothing really linked to the career I have now. But growing up I loved making things. I loved art. I loved creating, but somehow had forgotten about it during my years as a student. My joining the shoemaking CDS group made me remember how much I loved crafts.
“What gives me the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur is knowing that I am contributing something larger than myself. That I am solving problems and bringing a product and service to the world that people need.”
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
The plan and aspiration is to be the leading vocational institute in Africa. This we hope to achieve by imbibing the spirit of entrepreneurship in the minds of Nigerian Women and Youths through personalized hands-on training and production of footwear and other leather crafts. To increase investment, improve production and productivity of output so that we could not only have goods we could trade within the country, but also outside the country and earn the needed recognition, reputation and foreign exchange that many of us need to make our economy work better.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
What gives me the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur is knowing that I am contributing something larger than myself. That I am solving problems and bringing a product and service to the world that people need. Sure, I will have the opportunity to get paid, but giving livelihood to others and crafting the world I want to see is way more fulfilling. Having built a business that takes cognizance of the debilitating effects of unemployment and the need to provide vocational skill acquisition opportunities that will empower people to be self-reliant gives me all the satisfaction.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
You can be anything and everything you set your mind to, with the right amount of ambition, commitment, dedication and of course, hard work - you will do it. First things first, you need to realize what that best version of yourself looks like. What does this woman look like to you? Who is she? What does she do? Did she build a business from the ground up? Or is she an amazing advocate for female empowerment? There are certain questions you must ask yourself to get to know yourself. Figure out her traits and see how many of them you have yourself. Chances are, you have a lot more in common than you may have originally thought. The only differences might be that this woman is recognized for her work and gets to do it on a larger scale. That is how you need to figure out how you can take the next step.It is all about your mindsets and reprogramming your mind for success. The women we admire and look up to and aspire to be all each have different mindsets.
Contact or follow NCR Design Limited
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | EMAIL chika.nwajoku@gmail.com
Why LoA loves it…
We always love hearing about women entrepreneurs who are creating businesses that positively impact the lives of others, particularly through training and development. Chika Nwajoku is doing just that by developing skills in the manufacturing of footwear, which in turn leads to job future opportunities for trainees, and also entrepreneurship by harnessing those skills. It is good to see businesses like this being created to make a real socio-economic impact, and also to contribute to the development of local manufacturing businesses of the future. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa