Bumpa Merchant Spotlight - DhikrPosters

Welcome back to our Merchant Spotlight series! Today, we spoke to Hammed Okunade, a serial entrepreneur and graphics designer, and the founder of DhikrPosters, an Islamic lifestyle brand that seeks to help Muslims remember and glorify their Lord through quality home decorating accessories. He tells us how Ramadan inspired the brand, how he uses Bumpa to seamless manage inventory and staff, and how (we absolutely love this one!) he constantly refers Bumpa to other business owners. Read on!

Missed the previous episode? Check it out here! - Merchant Spotlight: The Scarf Shop

Hi Hameed. How're you doing today?

I'm very hungry.

*laughs* I really wish we could serve you some food but it's not quite possible today. We're sorry about that.

No wahala.

So, tell us about you and about your brand.

My name is Hammed, and I'm a brand designer living in Lagos, Nigeria. I'm the founder of DhikrPosters, and another lifestyle brand you might have heard of. That's the Hingees lifestyle brand.

Ooooh, that Hingees!

Yessss, that Hingees! *laughs*

You're like, a superstar.

Thank you so much.

Okay, so you were telling us about yourself and your brand.

Ah, yes. They are basically the expressions of my lifestyle as a designer, and my way of connecting with people.

Interesting. So what inspired you to start DhikrPosters?

Hmmm. So, it's a very personal story that I wouldn't want to go into here, but I'll say I've always had a thing for creating interior accessories for Muslim homes because as Muslims, we have some guidelines and limitations on the kind of things that we can have in our homes, and a lot of these all things are not very present in our society. So as a graphic designer, I saw an opportunity to tap into that niche. And yeah, that's how it started.

We always talk about how one of the best ways to start a business is to create a solution to a problem. We love how it's in play here.

Yes. Interestingly, before DhikrPosters became an actual brand, I had this daily reminder and journal I used to put out every Ramadan. I probably started it around 10 to 11 years ago, and that was what morphed into the printed posters that we have on DhikrPosters today. And it's beginning to gradually expand even to other interior accessories.

This is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing. So, how did you find out about Bumpa?

Coincidentally, it was during Ramadan. I was hanging out with friends and one them, Rafi, introduced it to me. What I needed at the time was a tool that would help our order fulfilment process be seamless - we have a social media manager that handles the orders from our social media channels and a fulfilment manager in the studio that processes the orders, packages them and hands them over to dispatch riders. We were using Google Sheets to track all that. It was neat, but stressful. So when she showed me what Bumpa could do, it was a no brainer. I think I signed up almost immediately. And it's been fantastic for us ever since.

Rafi is such a stargirl! They really said it - follow who know road o!

• laughs*.

Thanks, Rafi. So, next question. What are some problems that you've faced so far with growing and managing your business?

I would say the biggest problem with the business right now is fulfilment, and it's a Nigerian system problem. There are a lot of people/companies that handle deliveries but the Nigerian system is still messing up the process. In fact, the biggest problem I'll really say is Nigeria, as an entity.

This is too relatable.

Honestly. Everyone is feeling it.

Are there any challenges you faced with your business that Bumpa has solved for you?

Totally! It’s very easy to lose track of what’s in stock when you’re selling in multiple places. Knowing what's been sold, what's left in stock and tracking our sales channels is now easier with Bumpa. I can see all that at a glance. It’s fantastic, really. My favourite feature is the staff account feature, because we have multiple people taking orders and managing the orders at the same time. And it's very seamless, even with the inventory management feature as well.

We love to hear it. What Bumpa plan are you currently on, and how long have you been a Bumpa user?

I'm on the pro plan, and I've been using Bumpa since 2021.

You’re one of our OGs. That's amazing. Did you consider other solutions before Bumpa?

No I didn't, to be honest. Bumpa was the perfect solution for me. Immediately I was introduced to it, I tried it. It worked and I haven't looked back since.

The perfect solution. That's music to our ears!

*laughs*

We hope we're still the perfect solution for you.

Well, yes. I love that you guys keep improving on the product, and I'm really looking forward to all of the new things you'll keep adding to make the product even better.

Oh yes, we take feedback from our customers very seriously.

I can tell. It's a good thing.

Thank you. So, next question. What are some of the main benefits you've enjoyed with Bumpa?

So again, I love the staff account feature. I think I said that before. I also think the analytics feature is very fantastic. And its even more fantastic that it can record data across multiple channels I sell on, whether online or offline. It's very fantastic. Extremely fantastic.

If you say 'fantastic' one more time, our heads might explode.

*laughs*. I really love the app. That staff account feature is truly a blessing because it's not really all of the information about the business that the staff needs to see.

Totally agree. What would you like to say to merchants like you who might be considering using Bumpa?

Oh I already tell a lot of people to use Bumpa. I've invited a lot of people and in fact, why don't you have a referral bonus? I would have benefited a lot from it because of how many people I've invited over the years.

It's interesting to hear you say this, because we actually have a referral bonus in the works at the moment. It will be launched soon.

Oh that's great news.

What advice would you like to give to business owners like you?

Omo, keep grinding o. It's always very tempting to give up in the early days, but success has a compounding effect. So, just keep at it, and you'll hit the mark one day. And then it's just going to be a hockey stick from there, upwards. That's what I've realised. So just keep grinding, people are seeing your work.

Thank you so much. This was really beautiful.

You're welcome. Thank you Bumpa!

Let’s do this again next week, guys! You can catch up with the previous episode here and sign up to get the next episode directly in your inbox!

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