Zainab Haruna has the Midas Touch, this is popular opinion. One of the things I do while blogging and writing is to observe growing businesses and learn from what they do. These stories have a way of inspiring others to attempt adventurous ideas.

The most interesting of her enterprising pursuits is the Soup N Stew Empire. If you’ve been on social media, these are ideas you should encounter, and make conscious effort to follow.

Business models are not the magic people make them out to be, they are simply replication of working principles. There’s so much to learn from Zainab’s Soup N Stew Journey. 

How Unfettered Stories Work

I have written this post as a third party observer in order to detach this story from any sentiments. For the Unfettered features, this would be the same approach employed. You can subscribe to this blog, to follow the series. This approach also ensures that my reader can rely on this information in their own ventures. I first considered doing an interview but that would more or less subject this post to the featured person or business’s perspective and defeat the whole point of this section I have called “Unfettered.” 

Zainab recently worked with the team that attracted an international sponsorship for Nibcard – KayCee Games.

She’s head of operations for Nibcard in Abuja, Nigeria. There’s too many sides to Zainab that it would be difficult to simply whizz past a whole lot and just focus on Soup N Stew. The Soup N Stew empire is a small business also in Abuja owned by Zainab.

Soup N Stew supplies raw food material to Abuja residents and recently started taking orders from other states. There’s so much skepticism about Nigerians, Young Entrepreneurs, their capacity to deliver and sustain innovation.

What makes up a good Business Idea?

The Soup N Stew idea is brilliant because it comes at a great time. A lot of young people, due to increasing work demands in a large economy like Nigeria, find market trips quite strenuous. This is a solution that helps a lot through:

1. Time saved.
2. Clean and easy-carry packaging.
3. Delivery to consumers.
4. Bulk purchase.
5. Top quality food items.

It’s notable that Soup N’ Stew also involves a social marketing strategy; catchy designs, timely campaigns. The campaigns have shown the organization’s ability to resonate with local and national events. From Eid Mubarak, to the weekends, special offers are delivered on the Soup N Stew page. Zainab also keeps her social network well abreast of the business growth and this is a great way to build brand awareness and trust. Already her network is beyond impressive and this is a unique quality I admire about Zainab. You should read her article on “Are You Networking Wrongly?”

It would be great to see similar ventures established in collaboration with the Agricultural boom. Young entrepreneurs in various states would be the perfect distribution network for the growing farms all over the country. 

What more can you learn from Zainab?

There are so many young people trying to do exceptional things but Zainab fits right into that space of steady capacity and enterprise. Other things she is notable for include:

1. Organizing a peaceful protest against killings in Plateau State, Nigeria.
2. Her Ted Talk on “The otherisation of realities.” This talk spoke the uncomfortable truth about how we handle conflict as Nigerians, Africans, Humans. Through the eyes of “others.”
3. The Ideacon, which is a growing platform for entreprenuers, thought leaders and youths to build conversations around great ideas.
4. She manages operations and strategy for NIBCARD, an indigenous board game design, production and promotion company. The indiegogo fundraiser attracted Robert at Brooklyn Game Lab and the organization opted to cover the funding.

There’s so much to this woman. You can expect to see more from Zainab on policy, youth development and Africa’s growth. This is why her Soup N’ Stew is a beautiful idea to build an empire with.

How to Support Zainab?

A lot of times, we don’t know how to support small businesses. Supporting this venture could come in various forms:

1. Customer Loyalty: Abuja residents have a chance to put weight behind this small business by making weekly or monthly purchases.
2. Grants: Every small business could do with small grants and sponsors. It’s wrong assumption to think only corporations and businesses give grants. Voluntary grants help young people too, they might be too busy trying to keep the business alive to apply for corporate grants.
3. Digital: In this world of fast-pace electronic information, you can spread the word. Visit Soup N’ Stew regularly, put the page on “See First” for notifications and share the relevant updates.

The Myth of the Midas Touch in Nigeria

There’s this myth in Nigeria and parts of Africa that some women have the Midas Touch. The myth propounds that even if a poverty stricken man can only just marry a woman, his fate would be reversed and he would be wealthy. This mindless gimmick has been used to push a lot of young men into marriage that they cannot afford.

This also makes it difficult for women entrepreneurs to be recognized for their own merit. Encounters with Zainab Haruna would inspire anyone to support young women who are able to initiate such business ventures. She is her own Midas touch and Soup N’ Stew should inspire a resolve to help small businesses like hers. Women in business have so much to offer Africa and this is the true mystery. I have demystified it in this unfettered feature. A woman who builds her network, has integrity, inspires and supports others, and is trustworthy would be all this and more.

This is an unfettered opinion about Soup N Stew, a small business located in Abuja, Nigeria. Zainab Haruna did not request or pay for this opinion piece. If you found this piece inspiring, do share it.