“Just under two years ago, Sheriff Shittu started Showroom.ng after stints at Konga (as a business analyst) and Zima Fashion (as COO). His big plan was to make millionaires of up to 100,000 Nigerian carpenters, and try he did. He’s just announced that he’s shutting down the business at the end of the month, and in the…”
1 Like
He was very truthful about everything. Many have been and still in situations worse than His.
But then he is bold enough to speak out, I see that last strength that can be used to achieve still present in Him.
I wish Him Good luck.
3 Likes
Sad…Sad…Sad…
Showroom had always been among those startups to watch out for.I wish him good luck.
I expect him to come back with something bigger
Damn. I was rooting for him. This has made me unbelievably sad. God speed @Possicon.
1 Like
Now I’m more afraid of this bitch called entrepreneurship , its always easier to switch from being an employee to being an entrepreneur than switching vice versa, so if I fail I start all over or join the labor market , will it even absorb me into its folds? Let me ponder over this again.
1 Like
Terrible news! Situations like these just make you want to stick with the regular 9-5
So Sad Showroom.ng is shutting down. There are few things I wish to point out here and would always stand on.
Startups need to master content marketing and the act of bootstrapping; Furniture sales is a very big and lucrative business in Nigeria. I have written articles on that niche and are still making sales on Jumia.
I once had a chat with a Showroom.ng staffer and recommended SEO which, from firsthand experience, can deliver quality customers to their door step at no cost. Showroom.ng can’t be profitable in 2 years with the business model they adopted.
They’ve got a nice look, nice inventory collections but the marketing was poor (pardon me). I had wished I own that domain name; I will use my first six months to develop content that will rank for all furniture keywords, optimize the site and explore drop-shipping model (zero inventory), test the market potential by focusing on Lagos market (go niche) and channel my energy to what’s working.
Just my 10 kobo idea.
14 Likes
I am sure @Possicon will be more than willing to donate the showroom domain + other IP assets to you. You can always pick up from where he dropped the ball.
14 Likes
Hey @possicon I dare say thank you for failing and sharing. Your story is a much needed balance to the dangerous single-sided story of tech, that is now commonplace.
Equating a business’ ability to raise funds to its success at the marketplace…positive radar reviews to the depth of it’s potential…and a few months of home run to lifetime success.
Truth is, while some may be better equipped to succeed than others, by virtue of education, experience or exposure, the whole Entrepreneur shit is still as primitive as throwing unloaded dice.
In the end, we all just need to keep failing forward!
6 Likes
@Possicon, thank you for bringing us a lot of awesome things in the tech space. I remember WebTrendsNG.com and the camps too in the early days… way before Konga and other recent initiatives.
Your wife’s peppersoup also has a great taste as I was telling you this when you brought Vireola peppersoup over to TP.
My heart goes out to you as I remember wasting a big part of my life between 2010 to 2013 before I got it back while chasing Internet Marketin programmes. Can you imagine, I resigned my well paying job at that time to “make a fool of myself” for almost 3 year, or so it seemed until it eventually turn out fine. 
You have got a lot of great advice and love already…I think one of the most actionable recommendations you can follow after your 3 months break is from @Ogechi_Daniel_Ndukwe.
While I was reading Kamdora’s about page I discovered that they ditched eCommerce to go content marketing, maybe as a result of market realities too.
Whatever you wish to do next, I wish you Godspeed.
3 Likes
Great mind with forthrightness. Sad to see the business closing down. Sheriff is not done yet. He will rise again. That’s for sure. This is just a phase that has happened to great minds and most went on to build greater things. All the very best 
1 Like
Ongoing orders still get fulfilled, right? @Possicon
@Ogechi_Daniel_Ndukwe, I always felt like you was one of the bonafide hustlers on here. I still think that the article/post when you compared Boko Haram to Startups was pretty good/intuitive. My thing is this though, like when you knew the mistakes @Possicon was making, why didn’t you pull him to the side after the first time you had a chat and tell him? You could’ve been the hero. Matta fact you would’ve probably saved his career/company/startup.
1 Like
IMHO online furniture is harder than selling clothes online and Nigeria wasn’t ready. But hope sheriff doesn’t shut down the base idea and thinks of how to do it offline. Furniture retail in Nigeria is woefully underdeveloped.
@Nwabu, Furniture business is developed; You don’t have to stock before you make money; With Drop Shipping, you collect orders and specifications, give the customer a deadline and get them to pay like 20% of the cost as initial deposit, have a pool of carpenters to do the work and deliver.
I am not the perfect business growth advisor here…you can sort one from @spokentwice He’s got great post on his blog.
@Possicon shouldn’t give up on this business!..You can do it bro.
2 Likes
Ogechi I meant RETAIL. In other countries you have specific RETAILERS that sell furniture. In Nigeria furniture is sold on the sides of roads or in primitive showrooms. The furniture business in Nigeria to me has a finance problem. The banks are too busy bankrolling luxury apartments in Ikoyi to notice the needs for beds, sofa sets, Dining tables etc for the over 50 million consumer population. Otherwise it’s obvious there is a need for equipment finance, consumer finance and even inventory finance.
Shittu should take his insights and tackle any one of these areas.
1 Like
Anyone that wants to petronise a retail online furniture shop cares so much about speed of delivery.
Furniture biz at a decent scale is largely a corporate play - offices, hotels etc. vs “direct-to-home” where you have to compete with that carpenter next door to your potential customer…
Personally, I don’t see myself changing the furniture in my apartment (bought from showroom) in the next ~5yrs, whereas, a decent hotel would probably cycle through 3 sets within same period…
A corporate is also likely to pay more than a home…
Well said. @Possicon You are a great inspiration for nubile innovators like me. Like you did say in your article, at some point few months back a suicide mission for me seemed like a right option, until I got dazed by the reality that It’s your goddamn life, and what matters is not how you fell, who saw you fell but how comfortably you get to rise up and detect why you fell.
I decided recently before venturing too, that ‘failure is an option’, but I am gonna stick to winning.
Lastly, content marketing or not the Nigerian market is a bully looking for businesses to devour. I only think the way forward is three things: Collaboration, Lean Strategic Management, and Continuous process iteration. With all the grammar said, I celebrate with you in ‘Failing Forward’. Cheers big bro!
Why brands like Houzz (in the home remodelling space) wins…
Here is the summary… in 3 words
- Content
- Commerce
- Community
And then some dark strategies
2 Likes