Salome’s story

Salome is the Founder of Wigs by Sally in Nigeria.

She is one of nearly 1,700 Nigerian women entrepreneurs to have participated in our Road to Growth training programme, which supported her to develop her capacity building skills so that she could look to the future and making her business successful for years to come. A year on, she reflects on her experiences…

“My name is Salome Igbinosa and I am the founder of Wigs by Sally. When I started my business about 5 years ago it was more of a hobby because I had a 9-5 job. We make luxury wigs, sell hair extensions, and train people in how to make wigs.

The two biggest challenges for me are accessing funds and a lack of governmental support for women entrepreneurs. In our society today, especially in Nigeria, there’s this notion that a woman’s place and purpose is to make a home and society doesn’t see us as more than that. It’s therefore a huge challenge for us to break out of that shell and do more.”

The HerVenture app was very easy to navigate. It has practical skills you can apply to your day-to-day business. It’s a very good app.

I heard about Road to Growth through a women’s community group I belong to where we share ideas. What motivated me to apply was that I needed an extra push to take my business to the next level.

Before the Road to Growth programme, I had challenges with adding proper structure to my finances, which the Road to Growth really helped me tackle.

It was amazing to meet and study with other women entrepreneurs, from various backgrounds. I really did enjoy it.

As a result of what I learned attending the Road to Growth programme, I was able to expand my business, and do a total makeover of it, which meant moving it from my home to a shop as well as employing more staff. I have been able to evolve and do new things using the practical lessons we were taught in class and applying these to my business.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected my business because I am in the beauty sector, so my business had to close.

Having a successful business for me is creating and giving value to my customers for what they are paying for. Customer satisfaction is key for me.

It is very important to support women entrepreneurs because when you support a woman, you support a nation. Through the Road to Growth programme, I have been able to see this impact myself, because I have now been able to support other people around me. At Wigs by Sally, we train and empower people on how to make wigs and in turn, they have more financial independence and can make money for themselves and their family.

I would encourage every young woman out there trying to start up a business or already in business, to go for the Road to Growth programme. It will give you a great insight into your business and tell you how to build your brand from scratch.

My future vision for my business is to become an indigenous wig-making company, whereby every  African woman will own a Wig by Sally piece.”