Tope Williams-Adewunmi  runs a product development and consulting startup called Martwayne, which has run for seven years. Martwayne delivers customised education and entrepreneurship solutions to fashion brands. These include courses, ebooks, small business tools like pricing calculations and everything they need to power a viable and sustainable fashion business. They also offer courses on fashion design and styling. 

Tope’s journey into the fashion industry was unconventional, stemming from a desire to address personal frustrations with tailors. Transitioning from a career in consulting and accounting, Tope pursued a degree in fashion design and embarked on her entrepreneurial venture with Martwayne. Recognising the transformative power of fashion, Tope dreams of a future where she can use AI as a tool to revolutionise the Nigerian fashion industry.

How did Tope get into fashion?

Before she fell in love with designing clothes, Tope worked as an accountant at KPMG. Every other weekend, her tailor was ruining her work clothes so she decided to learn how to sew. 

“I wanted to learn how to sew just so I could teach her how to be a better tailor. Shortly after, I resigned from my job to pursue a three-year fashion degree in South Africa.

When I returned to Nigeria, I launched a fashion school, Martwayne, a brand committed to equipping tailors with everything they needed to power a thriving business. Since then, I have had a knack for innovating the system to serve my clients better. These days, I’m exploring the role of AI in fashion design.”

What was life like before Selar?

When Tope launched her business, Martwayne operated primarily through traditional means. In 2020, just before the pandemic hit, Tope saw the need to adapt to the digital landscape. 

“I noticed people were interested in my course but lived far away like, in Port-Harcourt, Ghana and Abuja, amongst other locations so distance proved to be a problem. Aside from that, most of my clients had other activities they were committed to. I knew I had to figure out a cost-effective and easy way to offer my courses and services online to cater to a diverse clientele. It wasn’t easy to find a platform that served my needs adequately. Paystack, for example, was not as flexible as I would have liked.” 

How Tope found Selar 

Tope’s journey with Selar was when she signed up for a Facebook advertising course taught by Damola Oyekunle. The payment platform was Selar and it piqued her interest. Having recently authored a book titled “How to Start a Clothing Factory for Designers,” Tope was eager to reach an international audience with her publication. 

“When my book dropped, my first thought was, How am I going to reach people outside Nigeria interested in this book? Curious, I dug further. I went around Selar’s website and found that Selar facilitated payments in multiple African countries. 

Still not completely sold, I went on Instagram to find more information. That’s how I found the Instagram profile of Selar’s CEO, Douglas Kendyson and sent a message. He spoke with me and what I wanted to achieve with my book. Talking to a human being sold me to Selar because he was able to walk me through my process and I haven’t looked back since then.”

Life with Selar 

Selar’s robust suite of features has been instrumental in driving Martwayne’s growth and expansion. With data analysis capabilities that provide invaluable insights, enabling Tope to make informed decisions and refine her marketing strategies with precision.

“The first thing I love about Selar is how easy it makes the process of selling courses and receiving payments. From accepting payments in multiple currencies to automating customer interactions, Selar has empowered me to reach a global audience and streamline my business operations effectively. 

I also love that I can group my clients into tags that help retargeting campaigns hit harder. If a client abandons a transaction, Selar automatically sends an email to remind the person of the transaction. This means conversion rates are high for Martwayne.

Aside from automated messages and a streamlined payment process, Selar records every single piece of information around sales. This makes it a gold mine for data. This means I have exact details about my customers, including their location, and how many purchases they have made or abandoned. As a business owner, this is important to make data-driven decisions.”

Some challenges despite Selar 

Despite the transformative impact of Selar on Martwayne’s operations and sales, Tope acknowledges the persistent challenges of running her business. Customer engagement remains a priority for her. 

“Even with automated responses and a detailed sales page, I find that customers still come to WhatsApp to ask questions that have already been answered. 

Another priority is making sure clients have access to courses they’ve bought, as I find that sometimes they deliver to their spam boxes. However, I remain committed to optimising business operations and enhancing the customer experience.”

Hitting new milestones

Reflecting on Martwayne’s journey, Tope highlights establishing a robust online presence as a major milestone for her. She is excited about more growth and innovative ventures with her business. For example, she’s working on a project that uses AI to design clothes for people. As a new mum, she got tired of wearing t-shirts and jeans and needed to figure out a way to explore new looks without thinking too hard about it. 

“People think that AI is just about content generation but you can also use AI to automate other things and save time. I have thought of instances where I’d like to combine two clothes but wasn’t sure what they’d look like without trying them on. This birthed my venture into AI for fashion. I believe that being able to envision yourself in clothes that make you look good boosts your confidence. I have now committed my time to seeing this project through.”

Looking into the future 

“I want to build a consulting agency that helps fashion brands take on responsibilities like social media management, social listening, demand planning and trend forecasting so they can focus on the core of their business. Those are the things I am hoping to use AI for.

I’d also love to see more fashion brands promoted on social media. This will help them with exposure which is a recurring issue amongst tailors. Generally, I aim to ease the processes involved in being a tailor and I hope Selar continues to help me achieve my goals.”

Inspired by Tope’s story? See how Selar helped her fashion business thrive and reach new heights.

Sell your courses easily, boost sales and make data-driven decisions that keep customers in a sales loop with Selar Pro.