Tara Fela-Durotoye, known simply as Tara, is the CEO of the largest and pioneering make-up company in Nigeria, House of Tara. In 2003, her bank manager assured her that a loan of N500,000 ($3,125) to set up her first store was on the way. She had paid a non-refundable deposit of N150,000 ($937) to secure the store with high hopes of the loan.
Tara’s university friends, who liked the way she did her make-up, encouraged her to start the business.
“I didn’t see any opportunity at that time for me, and because it wasn’t an industry that existed in Nigeria, it didn’t seem like something that was possible. I couldn’t understand why anybody would want to pay to have their make-up done,” she says.
All this changed when people she made up agreed to pay whatever she asked. The next step was to start a business.
“I was so passionate about building a company, I didn’t want to build Tara; I wanted to build people, who would then build the company, who would then build the industry. But I didn’t know how to go about it because I didn’t have experience. I have never worked in a big organization, but it’s something I want to live for: a company that Nigerians would be proud of, a company that Africans would be proud of.”
The banking system in the country wasn’t much help at the time. In those days, they would rather have lent to the oil and gas industry.
“At that time, the industry was new and the bankers didn’t understand what we were doing; they didn’t even believe that it was possible. They didn’t realize that in the US, for example, the cosmetics industry generates revenue of $150 million a year. The banking industry in Nigeria then didn’t have that understanding and hence if I came to ask for a bank loan, it was impossible for the banks to give me one because they didn’t understand my industry.”
On the day the bank said ‘no’ to the promised loan, Tara was devastated. Her resolve to win through came from an earlier disappointment. “I always wanted to be lawyer; my father was a lawyer… plans had been made for me to go study law at Cambridge University,” she says.
Before she could dream of flying to England, the plan was dashed. She came home from school one day and her mother told her that her father, a Cambridge University alumnus, had suffered a stroke and he needed to be flown out of the country.
“I know that you were supposed to go to school in a few months, but I don’t think that is still possible until we know what is happening with him,” her mother said. It meant she had to study law at the University of Lagos instead.
The painful experience made her the determined person she is. Before graduating as a lawyer, she pursued her business dream with a vengeance, and five years after graduation, Tara had a name. She was well known for doing the make-up for elite weddings in Nigeria. She created her own product line, “Tara”, but this was not enough for the feisty businesswoman, who wanted to expand—a desire that once again put her on a collision course with the bank managers.
Luckily, this time around she had strong weapons: a thriving business and a mentor who introduced her to a manager of another bank. Her mentor said: “I have heard your story many times and I know that it is a very compelling and very inspiring story to share. The MD will buy into it and I’m sure that you are not going to leave there without getting the finance. Make sure you don’t ask for N500,000 ($3,125)—this time, you are seeing the MD of a bank; open your mouth wide and God will fill it.”
With that, Tara went to the bank, made her presentation and God indeed filled her mouth, to the brim, with N15 million ($93,750).
“I did get the facility, I did pay the loan back and today the banks are chasing us,” says Tara, whose company started with just a box and is now worth $3 million.
Today, House of Tara is the official make-up company for the ARISE Fashion week. Apart from being first and foremost a make-up and beauty company, it also has a training institute which empowers young ladies to be independent by giving them all-round training in the business of beauty. To date, it has churned out 1,000 professional make-up artists and 2,000 trained women. The company has 11 branches spread across the country and 12 more will be opened before the end of the year. Maybe Tara could soon be looking for yet another bank loan.