Conquering A Male Dominated Business World Has Been A Challenge - Eva George "Entrepreneur"

Meet Eva George, an Actress,  Film producer, Founder of the Mo Eva's world group, CEO Evans perfumery Empire and a Digital strategist. That's a long list right?  Trust me there are like 2 more titles to that list . Anyway in this interview

conducted by Micheal Irabor of Kinggs Blog, Eva gives us a break down of how challenging it has been excelling as a female entrepreneur in a male dominated business world. Enjoy.




For the sake of those who are not familiar with you, I'd appreciate a brief introduction.
My name is Evans George. Am a serial Entrepreneur who currently runs 6 businesses, with a mission to run 20 businesses by 2020. I am the founder of Mo Eva's World Group.

Kindly list these 6 Businesses.
Mo Eva's World Productions which is a Film/TV production company, we have produced movies such as Last Minute, Where Talent Lies, Issues Series season one, Tales by Musa and we are currently working on Target, Ayo and Book of Evans.  On Point Naija Blog, is an entertainment and lifestyle blog which we are rebranding into a digital TV, On Point Naija Media is an Advertising Agency where we advertise company's products and services using online platforms,     4Better4Best Weddings and Events is a cinematic company that handles all Production aspect of weddings and Events,  Black Evans Studio is a TV production company that produces TV commercial, Documentaries and TV shows  and Fearless Perfumes is a company that produces Made in Nigeria perfumed product such as Perfumes, Body Spray, Body Mist, Hair spray, Room spray, Liquid soap and Hand wash. We are working on launching our Hair serum and Body care products.

What inspired your new business, the perfume business and what is it basically about.
I love when people, places and environment scent nice. Am a sucker for lovely scent. I feel that how you scent says a lot about who you are, so when I had spare cash on me which I didn't just want to leave in the bank, my friend suggested that I go into Perfumery, so I clicked the idea then went to a brief perfume school, researched about perfumery online, did my trial and error and here I am, making perfumed products.

How well has this product broken into the market and what are the basic challenges in this business?
The product hasn't broken into the market yet because my NAFDAC Registration is still ongoing, so for now, I sell online, network of friends and families and come back customers. The challenges right now are completing my NAFDAC registration and packaging. NAFDAC processes of getting your products registered is very demanding and seems like something that isn't easy for me as a startup entrepreneur. Secondly, the right packaging to portray the value for the perfume is also a big challenge as we don't have the right bottles locally, except you have to travel out. Then another challenge is people accepting that something good can come out from Nigeria, when I tell people I make perfumes, they see it as a joke or something impossible, they just see it like it's  something fake, they prefer the ones they buy  abroad, but with time, people have started believing in me and my brand, I have some client who don't buy any other perfume, other than Fearless Perfumes.


How long did it take from when you came up with this idea, till when it was actualized?
I came up with the idea in January 2016 then I started producing April 2016.

The perfume business is a year already, how would you rate its performance in the last 12 months and what's more to come from it?
It has been amazing, all thanks to God. Though from the first few months, it was difficult to sell because people didn't believe in the brand, but right now, we have had over 400 customers worldwide in just one year and the figures keep growing.

I can remember you had some other businesses running before that of the perfume, do you still run those businesses and how do you manage all of them simultaneously?
Of course, I still run those businesses. With the strength of God, I have been managing them well.

What are you presently working on?
I am currently working on one of my big projects for the year 2017 called 'Summer Perfumery Camp' its a one week camp where participants will learn any of our 8 courses such as Perfumes/Body Spray/Body Mist/, Liquid soap/Hand Wash, Scented Candle/Diffusers, Body Cream/Facial Treatment, Hair Spray/Hair Serum/Beard Oil, Soap/Bath Gel, Air Freshener/Room Spray and Shampoo/Conditioner. My vision for doing this is to reduce the importation rate of beauty and perfumed products thereby creating room for made in Nigeria products, am also doing this to fully establish participants as business owners who will run profit making ventures thereby creating positive values for the society. The camp will be for one week in August.

Tell us a bit about your new movie that is set to be released in 2018, what inspired the movie and who would be featuring in it?
I will be releasing a movie in 2018 called Target. It is an inspirational action film that tells the story of a young man who will go any length to reach his target in life. I have been writing the script for 3years now. I am also working on a short yoruba movie called Ayo which means Joy, the movie will portray how happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. There are lots of movie script I have written and hope to shoot them in 2018.

You spoke about starting a foundation, where did this idea pop out from and what kind of foundation would it be?
In the nearest future, I want to start my charity foundation called 'Evans Foundation' which will focus on helping Orphans, Widows and the less privileged. Doing charity is one of my purpose in life and I believe everything God blesses me with is not only for my personal or family enjoyment but to promote the work of God and for charity. I know what it feels to be an orphan, I know what it feels to be less privileged, I also know how my late mother felt when my dad died and she became  a widow, struggling and selling her belongings to take care of me and my siblings, so I strongly believe that God is blessing me so that I can be able to bless others. I should have started the foundation since 2016 but due to one challenge or the other, I wasn't in the right frame of mind to do it but in the nearest future, I will do it by the Grace of God.

You spoke about starting a sister company in Ghana, why and what do you stand to achieve?
The demand for my product and services in Ghana is on the high side, I get messages of people asking me when I will have my company's presence in Ghana, so by God's Grace, I will set up the foundation in Ghana in the nearest future, I have some representatives already who are doing market research, trends and analysis.  I hope to achieve market and client extension with this.

Kindly share some of your aspiration with us. 
I want to have 20 profitable businesses in the nearest future. My other aspiration is to produce a movie called 'Book of Evans' which is my life story.

What are the challenges you face as a female entrepreneur?
Being able to conquer a male dominated business world.

Share with us some of the achievements business has brought you and the things you are yet to achieve from it?
My business has made me to network with high people in the society, it has also opened more opportunities for me. I am yet to achieve doing business with the international market, I'm  seriously putting my eyes on that and I know I will achieve that by the Grace of God.

Do you believe marriage is a huge  distraction to female entrepreneurs?
It all depend on who you are married to..if you are married to the right person..someone who share and agree with your vision then marriage will further enhance your business.

What has been your worst business experience?
When I invested 2.2milliom to make a movie but didn't make N500,000 back, it got pirated. That loss almost crashed by company, but thank God for his power to bring it up again.

From where you stand, what would you say are the secrets of succeeding in business?
The secret to success in business is having God in my life, trust me, if God's hand isn't in your business, you will just keep toiling. Secondly, be hardworking, be focused, never accept mediocrity and be Fearless in all you do.

So asides work work work, how do you spend your leisure hours?
I hardly have leisure hours, if am not working on my businesses, am attending online classes, working on one strategy or the other, meeting up with prospective customers, if am not busy doing that, am in the presence of God doing his work, attending our church programs or doing services for God. I attend Topcity International Ministry and in a week, I attend like 4 services, am a member of the Evangelism group, part of crusade, am also in sanctuary keeping group and the media group  so there is little or no time for leisures. If  I get free time, then I spend it with my man seeing a movie or general outings.

If given a fortune, what would you spend it on?
To promote God's work in my church (Topcity International Ministry) my dream is to build a church for God, so if I am given a fortune, I will build a church for God. That's the best investment ever. My mother in the Lord, Prophetess Abraham will always say, you can not do God's work and loose, never. Partnering with God is a lifetime investment that even your generations can't stop eating from.