House of Maramuna

I had an interesting conversation with my team recently.

I asked them a simple question:

“If we were to run a promotion at House of Maramuna, what could we offer that would benefit our customers today and still benefit our business months from now?”

I didn't want us to simply say, “Let’s give 10% discount.”

There is nothing wrong with discounts, but I have learnt that as entrepreneurs, we must think beyond the immediate sale.
So, we started brainstorming an idea around a limited-time "Maramuna Wellness Circle" an exclusive offer for a selected group of customers.

The idea is simple.

We want to give customers something of real value while using the opportunity to understand them better.

Who are they?
What products do they love?
What other products would they like to see?
What makes them come back?
Would they recommend us to someone else?

And most importantly, how do we turn a first-time buyer into a loyal Maramuna customer?

This exercise reminded me of something I constantly teach to entrepreneurs:

Don't run your business only for today's transaction. Build for tomorrow.

But a well-designed promotion can also generate customers, relationships, feedback, referrals, loyalty and valuable business intelligence.

That is the kind of promotion I want us to create at House of Maramuna.

One that gives our customers immense value while making our business stronger in the long run.

Now you understand why we have some other wellness products on our shelves!

We are also asking what we would add to a promotion like this to make it truly valuable to customers?

One of the hardest lessons business has taught me came from a period when nobody seemed to want to buy.

There was a time we were producing, but our distributors were not buying as much as we expected.

At the same time, the price of coconuts was rising.

I remember asking myself, 'What are we going to do with all these products if the people we normally depend on to sell them are not buying'?

It would have been easy to conclude that the problem was simply “poor sales.”

But that experience forced me to look deeper.

I realized that we had become too dependent on one route to the customer.

That was a turning point for me.

We started thinking differently about our business.

Instead of waiting for distributors, we began strengthening our direct relationship with customers. We explored new markets. We diversified our products by also adding other health products on our shelves. We became more intentional about understanding what our customers actually needed.

That experience changed the way I think about business.

A business must never be so dependent on one customer, one supplier, one employee, one market, or one strategy that when that one thing fails, the entire business suffers.

If you are in production, understand how your decisions affect sales.

If you are in sales, understand what production is dealing with.

If you are dealing with customers, listen carefully because customer feedback can influence our next product.

If you are managing resources, remember that every naira saved or wasted affects the sustainability of the business.

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One of the hardest lessons business has taught me came from a period when nobody seemed to want to buy.

There was a time we were producing, but our distributors were not buying as much as we expected.

At the same time, the price of coconuts was rising.

I remember asking myself, 'What are we going to do with all these products if the people we normally depend on to sell them are not buying'?

It would have been easy to conclude that the problem was simply “poor sales.”

But that experience forced me to look deeper.

I realized that we had become too dependent on one route to the customer.

That was a turning point for me.

We started thinking differently about our business.

Instead of waiting for distributors, we began strengthening our direct relationship with customers. We explored new markets. We diversified our products by also adding other health products on our shelves. We became more intentional about understanding what our customers actually needed.

That experience changed the way I think about business.

A business must never be so dependent on one customer, one supplier, one employee, one market, or one strategy that when that one thing fails, the entire business suffers.

If you are in production, understand how your decisions affect sales.

If you are in sales, understand what production is dealing with.

If you are dealing with customers, listen carefully because customer feedback can influence our next product.

If you are managing resources, remember that every naira saved or wasted affects the sustainability of the business.

.

One thing I have learnt about building House of Maramuna is that the people who use our products often see things we don't.

So, I want to give you a say in one of our next decisions.
If you could change ONE thing about our products or packaging, what would it be?

A. A smaller, more convenient size
B. A larger family size
C. A completely new packaging design
D. More information on the label
E. Something else, tell me below.

I won't just collect your opinions. I want to see which suggestions we can actually implement.

After all, Maramuna is not built only for customers. It is built with them.

There was a time when I thought the biggest milestone in my business would be the day I started.

I was wrong.

One of the biggest turning points for House of Maramuna came when I realised that I could not build a sustainable business by simply buying coconuts, processing them and selling coconut oil.

I had to think bigger.

I began to ask myself, What if we could control more of the value chain? What if we could grow some of our own raw materials? What if coconut could become more than just oil?

That question changed the direction of the business.

Today, House of Maramuna is no longer just about coconut oil. We are investing in coconut cultivation, expanding our processing capacity and paying greater attention to product safety and quality.

Even more meaningful to me is what this shift has made possible beyond the products.

It has connected my business to agriculture, sustainability, women’s empowerment, job creation and community development.

When I look back, I realise that the real milestone was not a new product or a new machine.

It was a change in mindset.

I stopped asking, “How do I sell what I have?”

And started asking, “What can this business become?”

And honestly, we are still becoming.

I don't have everything figured out yet.

But I have learned that sometimes the most important milestone in business is the moment you give yourself permission to think beyond what your business is today.