Name of your website?Naijamaican Quality Catering & Goods
Your name?
Ms Jones
Your Location (city, etc)
Lonodn
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Naijamaican.co.uk provides a catering service and soon to launch online store complete with a secure online payments system for all services.
You also have access to our food gallery, online discussion forums, news and links to educational, entertainment, sociocultural and historical sites of interest.
Professional and small caterers in Canada, UK, USA, Jamaica and Nigeria can also sign up and have their details advertised for free on our new catering network.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
Cultural and historical continuity, i.e a desire to pass on knowledge and information to others living and growing up abroad with Nigerian and caribbean roots.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
April 2007, naijamaican.co.uk went online starting with a few photos of foods, links to sites of interest and general information.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Naijamaican, ..... provides and was primarily founded to provide a combination of nigerian and jamaican catering. The name was also chosen because of its catchy ring and of course the need, desire and interest in encouraging others to bridge the social and cultural gaps and divides between these two tropical countries who have so much in common.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
Sociocultural niche, its for everyone. Black British, Black African, caribbean, indian, everybody
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Naijamaican is destined to be an income earner, but it is also a hobby, will as we grow try its best to keep up with mainstream media offerings and generally maintain the focal point which is the promotion of black and ethnic minority businesses in the UK especially those owned by Jamaican and Nigerians, highlighting the efforts we make to retain professionalism, project positivity and eradicate stigmas and negative relations within the black community.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Success....... is knowing that people visit the site even if its just to peek at the food gallery or to find out about spices or nigerian foods. Success is the happiness and pleasure I get in the responses from visitors who tell me what they thought of the site. Success is seeing it all come together slowly but surely.
Being a one man show is not easy, it means you are director of everything all the time, improvement and progress is not as fast and time and money need to be closely managed to make it all work.
Does it balance, ...... most small businesses in the UK generally work to a general rule, the first year to 18 months, you keep(sustain) the business, the second 18 months, the business keeps(sustains) itself and the next 18 months the business sustains you. But it is hard work, long hours and needs a lot of commitment.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would probably leave things as they were for at least two months and stick with my current project outline.
I would at the same time begin to draw up a strategy plan on how to administer the funds depending on the areas of need I identify within my current plan.
Too technical......... The site goes hand in hand with a lot of things, office premises, scope for staff and more malleable catering premises would be on the list. And some rest too!!
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Demand and supply....economics.
The idea behind naijamaican is to network and build bridges so that would be the first area of referral if the work demand increased dramatically within the catering side of things.
For all other areas, I have taken the time to set things up and develop things the slow and steady way so that when the e-store fully launches, the business will be geared up to deal with demand as it increases.
Generally, naijamaican only advertises services within capability and work closely to a diary management system to ensure that we meet all needs as best as possible.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Headaches......not many, costs.... just the usual.
Sounds too easy,....!!?? Naijamaican has taken a lot of time to plan carefully, slowly and thoroughly research all areas that are important to success and worked to navigate each ream of red tape one at a time.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Learning how to build my own website, manage my life, manage my family, cook the dinner, wash the dishes, do the laundary, clean and maintain a home, do the dishes, register with all statutory bodies, comply with the law, do my taxes, build and integrate the e-store, surf and search for choice links, do the shopping, run errands, pay my bills, find and secure suppliers, save and manage funds being pumped into the busines and those allocated to essential personal needs including remembering to get some sleep all by my self.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Multiple.
Careful webpage building, using clear communication patterns and accurate informative detail.
Utilising keywords and adhering to search engine optimisation rules.
Submitting to search engines and using search engine submission tools
Exchanging and including links to other sites.
Researching and maintaining integrity of information integral to the business.
Making sure it all meets legal requirements as best as possible. eg terms and conditions and so on.
Registering with and linking to online directories.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
Not much, its hard work,it takes time and the only difference is that I thought no one would visit the site but of course a fair amount do.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
1 year now and there is no harm in continuing to try.
My Final Note?
The UK is a country of stigmas, stereotypes and strange ways. Born in the UK and bred in Lagos, living here can exclude one from what is considered living your life to finding yourself just going from day to day wondering what may come and hit you in the face with a big smack.
Hard Work, Determination, Dedication, Positivity in adversity, have helped me to get where I am. To many I have got nowhere, but for our children and future generations, I feel unequivocally that I have managed to pass on as much of what I learned fanning my Grandma's coalpot and stirring those huge cast iron pots. Most of all,..... I am happy that for everyone who takes the time to drill through the site, they get a clear overview of what Lagos Islanders (Isale Eko people) are,...... succinct, hardworking, respectable, sensible, commited, steadfast, enterprising and special people; and of course they get to share in my pride and respect for my parents who I will always be grateful to, repatriating to Nigerian when we were young was the best gift they gave to us all. Nothing compares,...Lagos Rocks!!
What is your website address?
Naijamaican Quality Catering & Goods
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