Her passion for cars made her to go into automobile industry and today she is a woman to be reckoned with. In this interview with Omolara Akintoye, the Chief Executive Officer, Elle-Tee Automobile Ventures, Ambassador Omotolani Latifat Yusuf, a graduate of Human Kinetics from the University of Lagos speaks of how she is making waves in a male- dominated busines, why Nigeria should produce more new cars, among other issues.
Excerpts from the interview:
Kindly give us a brief introduction about yourself ?
My name is Ambassador Omotolani Yusuf because of my recent award. I am one of the youngest dealers of automobile. I am 33 years old and a graduate of Human kinetics from University of Lagos. I started working with a company for about 7 months. I realized the need to start off my own business, since I had been selling cars in school, I used to scout for cars and post them online. One morning I woke up and I was like; I think I need to register my company, so I registered the Elle-Tee Automoble Ventures.
How did you come about the name Elle-Tee?
“Ele” in Yoruba language means beautiful girl. To me, it stands for beautiful luxury cars and “Tee” is Tolani. Also “Elle” in French means female which is female Tolani. The name stands for everything beautiful.
Tell us about your growing up
I am from Osun State, Ejigbo Local Government to be precise. but I will say I am from Lagos State because everything about me is Lagos because I was born here. I registered my company in 2017 around February, I registered under dealership; that is Surulere dealers association, then, I started managing with some of my friends, they had car lot, so we pay for space. From there I started importing cars; one, two, three from there, the business started booming. After I registered my company, I resigned from the company I was working with. At that time I was staying with one of my friends at Ebute meta, later I relocated to Lekki because I wanted to be more focused . I had about five cars parked in my compound and my landlord would complain, I started taking the cars outside but once everyone is asleep, I put them inside. I did that for a while.
I think most people trust females a lot. Most of them don’t even see me before they send me money and I package the car for them in such a way that non of my customers has ever complained about any car, so they give me referral. Even during the lockdown, there was a little slow down in my business because I was getting the cash but was unable to deliver because there was no movement. But then, I had a lot of people paying for cars. In fact, I can say during lockdown was one of my best business period. There was no movement but money was coming in and I made a lot of money. Importation was my priority then, I started importing cars myself, before, I used to give it to people to import for me, but it was when I started importing myself I realised that some of them had made a lot of money from me. Doing it myself I realised that it was easy. All I need is trust, then, the foreign exchange was the only clause but everything was going smoothly. I got this car stand in 2019.
What does Elle-Tee Automobile Ventures do?
Elle-Tee is into importation of cars, general goods and services, we also swap cars. I am about to add sales of accessories and there will be a diagnostic centre because we are building another branch and it will be ready by December ending by God’s grace. There, we will have car wash stand, diagnostic centre, bar, workshop.
Why did you decide to go into automobile industry?
I went into automobile industry because I love cars as a kid and also, my dad is an automobile expert.
Looking at the current economic situation of the country, how do you cope with the exchange rate?
Exchange rate is a major challenge in this business because it is on the high side. Cars that we were selling for N2.5million now sell for N3.5million. We try to manage our customers well and explain things to them to convince them and make them understand.
What is unique about Elle-Tee Automobile?
The uniqueness of Elle-Tee Automobile is the feminism. I am the only female automobile dealer that owns a car lot of her own in Lagos and I could say Nigeria. Secondly, integrity. The major key in business is integrity. Let people know that something is wrong with a car, if they want to buy it, they will buy it. You don’t need to lie to convince them.
Is Africa ripe enough to produce electric cars?
Looking at Africa, I don’t think it can be possible here, considering the incessant power supply, high electricity consumption and tariff. The tariff is high, so I don’t think anyone would want to charge electric car except the person is a very rich person.We are not ripe yet for this until our electricity is stable and the economy is okay.
From the way you have been able to grow your business, was there any financial support from anywhere?
I have been running the business, out of the salary I was earning I could buy one car, then, the gain I made on it I add it to the money and use it to buy two or three cars. Basically, I started with my personal savings. Sometimes I scout for cars, sell and make N500,000 or N1million from it. When I started this place, I started to a stage and at the finishing level, I had to go to the bank and Wema Bank is one bank I can never forget because they are one of my support systems. I approached a bank for loan but they refused. So my godmother told me to open an account in Wema because I might need loan and I did about two weeks later, I needed the money and the woman stood in for me and I got the loan. I was able to pay back the loan before time they couldn’t believe it. But I didn’t take loan to build my second office.
As a female in the automobile business what are the challenges encountered?
The challenges is that if you are not strong, you can’t last in this business. If you are not someone that is strict; some of those men will want to suppress you because of the gender difference, they do that a lot but they know me and I don’t do joint business with anyone, I try to always stand alone because when I started this place, some people came to meet me saying let’s partner but I gave the condition that they will have to be under my brand Elle-Tee but non of them wanted that. I said that because I didn’t want any partnership. One more thing is that my elder brother, Alhaji Farouk is also into this business. He is of immense support and a mentor. He is always pushing me to do things and supporting me even when I am almost giving up.
Looking back, what are those things that helped you to achieve success?
I will say my determination and zeal. My determination got me here. I was determined to own a car lot because I felt its not only a man that should own a car lot.
What’s your advice for the female youths in Nigeria?
My advice for every female is that don’t limit yourself, you can achieve anything if you believe in yourself, you can make it happen. You ridicule yourself. In this business, believe in God because there is nothing impossible for God to do. Also believe in yourself that you can make it.
Nigeria is now producing cars, what is your take on this?
I think it will help our economy. Automobile dealers won’t have to pay Custom duty and it will save us the stress of scouting for cars abroad, exchange rate and shipping fee.
How can govt. assist the industry?
Government can assist by reducing the importation duty(custom duty).. that is payment we usually pay for car. It is really on the high side for automobile dealers
