We were lucky to catch up with Biodun Abudu recently and have shared our conversation below.

Biodun, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?

Without customers the business wouldn’t still be operating. To show customers that i appreciate their time, love, support and purchases I make sure I include hand written thank you letters. This really impresses them and make them seriously feel like I really appreciated their purchase. They actually thank me for the Thank you card.

In addition to including hand written thank you cards I put returning customer sales which acknowledges and appreciates them coming back as a returning purchasing customer. This lets them know i notice and they appreciate the discount they get, they feel special when this done. At times I may include a free gift like a key chain or something else I’m looking into introducing into the store.

In general customer appreciation increases returning and loyal customers who will naturally refer more customers to you. Their dollars will also keep returning as they appreciate the kind customer service you offered them.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Biodun Abudu was born in Rhode Island, USA but comes from a Nigerian background. He graduated with a B.A. in Merchandising Management with an emphasis on Fashion Merchandising in Chicago.  He became an author with his first two books “Tales of My Skin & Stolen Sanity” are both based on true life stories shortly after he moved to New York. 

When he is not writing, he works as a visual artist. His paintings features his love for fashion, world culture, music, his personal influences and more. I’m addition to paintings he does landscape and architectural photography.  He as well manages his boutique called “OLA ” which is a boutique that is all about uniqueness, world culture and taste with affordable accessories for men & women such as headwraps, hand fans, bags, caps, sunglasses and more.

He then developed his game company called Shot City Games during the pandemic and released it shortly after things got better in the world.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I do a marketing email campaign on a weekly basis or monthly. This helps to keep them in the loop of things. They get to see new products, what’s on sale and more.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I got initial capital to star business for what i had saved from my day job. I put money aside for the business from every pay check i revived.

I accepted supportive donations from friends, family members that supported my idea.

Taking on extra side gigs also was something that helped to put together capital for my business.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Shopolaa.com
• Instagram: @shopolaa