From a Mom's Shop Floor to 10K Orders: How Harjoke Fabrics Automated Sales with Bumpa

We sat down with Bakarat Saidat Ajoke, the vibrant founder of Harjoke Fabrics, a Nigerian brand famous for its lovely, classy, and incredibly affordable Ankara pieces. Based in Ajah, Lagos, Harjoke Fabrics caters to everyone; wholesale, retail, and courier delivery to all locations.

But here’s something interesting: Bakarat never actually wanted to sell fabric.

Grab a snack and dive into this hilarious, inspiring chat about reluctant beginnings, battling the IG algorithm, and finding the perfect tool for her business, her "business best friend”, Bumpa.

Start your Bumpa Journey here!

Let's take it back. How exactly did Harjoke Fabrics start?

It wasn’t really something I actually wanted to do, but my mom played a huge role in me starting the business. She was selling fabrics at the time. Anytime she would say, "Let's go to the market," I would roll my eyes and say, "What for? I'm an undergraduate!"

I studied Guidance and Counselling at Olabisi Onabanjo University and graduated with a Second Class Upper. I was at home, fully prepared to become a teacher because I loved the profession so much. But... I wasn't financially stable. I needed funds. So, eventually, I had to tell my mom, "Mommy, I have to follow you to the market."

Because I was always on IG and never ran out of data, I started noticing things. My mom would sell fabrics at ₦1,000 for 6 yards, and I’d see people online selling the same thing for ₦2,500 or ₦3,000! I was like, "Wow, see business now. What am I waiting for?"

I started right there on the floor of my mom's shop. I’d arrange the fabrics, snap pictures, and post them on IG. One order led to another, and I realised, "Oh, this is something I can actually do." And to the glory of God, here we are!

We love a good plot twist! So, how did you meet Bumpa, your "business best friend"?

Bumpa is my business best friend, my bestest friend!

Being in the Ankara business, especially when you’re selling online, means taking a lot of pictures. Customers would come to my DM or WhatsApp and say, "Send me what you have." I would send 100 or 200 pictures at once, and they would freak out! They’d complain, "Why are you bombarding me with pictures? Do you want to finish my data?!"

Very valid question.

On top of that, calculating wholesale orders manually for five or ten people at a time was a nightmare. I was definitely making mistakes. After I had my baby, I left my mom's shop and started working from home. I was packing orders, calculating, and doing everything entirely alone. It was a whole lot of stress. I knew I needed technology, like a reliable website, that could take orders by itself. Thankfully, a friend of mine, MVP Kiddies, introduced me to Bumpa. Ever since then, Bumpa has been my saviour.

That’s amazing to hear! So, you’ve come a long way from a few orders per day.

A very long way. The growth has been fantastic.

Growth brings new headaches. How does Bumpa help you solve the problems that come with scaling?

Before we grew this big, inventory wasn't a problem. I could just look at my stock and say, "Oh, I have 100 pieces left." Now? I have a lot, and I can't keep track of it manually! When customers ask if I have a specific fabric, I just tell them, "Please go to my website, that's where you'll find out!"

Bumpa takes charge of my inventory management, order management, payments, and most importantly, calculations. I sell small, medium, and large ranges of Ankara. Calculating all of that manually gets so tiring, but Bumpa has it sorted. Even if a customer wants to buy 1,000 pieces at a go, Bumpa has got me covered.

Read also: How ShopVams Uses Bumpa for Order Processing & Management

Be honest: If you had to manually write 10,000 receipts, would Harjoke Fabrics still exist?

Ah! I would have given up. 10,000 manually? No, no, no, no. I can’t even picture this.

Lol! And if Bumpa disappeared tomorrow and you could only keep one feature, what would it be?

God forbid!

God forbid too. I meant that hypothetically.

Haha, that’s better. Hypothetically speaking, if Bumpa disappeared tomorrow and I could only keep one feature, it would be the order taking. I can eventually sort my physical inventory (even if I have to stay awake for 24 hours), but taking orders manually while I'm sleeping or busy? Impossible. Bumpa, please, always be there for us. Keep taking my orders. You guys are going nowhere!

We’re with you forever! Now, what is your advice to a business owner currently stuck at 50 orders?

Consistency. Don't let anybody discourage you. Also, you must get your goods from the right supplier so your prices remain affordable. If your rates are too high, people will go to sellers with more affordable goods. Do your research, find the best suppliers, and offer good quality at a great price. If you look at most of the big brands out there, they are making it because their prices are affordable. They know their source.

That’s solid advice. Now, it’s time to spill some real tea.

Haha. On what?

What are the marketing hacks you swear by?

Hmm. First is Sponsored Ads. I will keep doing Instagram sponsored ads no matter what anyone says. I started with zero followers; I didn't buy or convert an old page. Now, we are at over 75K followers! Don't listen to people who say ads don't convert. My sister, it converts!

Also, I take 99% of my pictures myself. Factory pictures are often heavily edited, and customers get disappointed when the real thing arrives. I will stand for five or six hours just taking pictures so my customers can see the true, unedited colors.

Then, I do live videos mixing Yoruba, English, and Pidgin so everyone understands. Even if you can't touch the fabric, the live video gives you a perfect idea of the quality. I don't really use influencers, except maybe friends collaborating with me. My major trick is simply great content and sponsored ads.

Amazing. This is such great advice. Thank you.

Anytime at all.

Soooo, something massive happened in June.

Blushing. Yes o. Remind me again!

You crossed the 10,000 orders milestone! Congrats again!

It’s one of the best moments I’ve had since I started my business. Thank you again!

Did the Harjoke of 2018 ever imagine this?

When the Bumpa team showed up to surprise me with the 10,000 orders milestone, I didn't even believe it! I knew we had been packing a lot of orders, but I had no idea we had hit that massive number. I was like, "Oh my God, thank you, Bumpa team!"

The Harjoke that started this never knew she would be here. I loved professional things! I loved education and teaching. Diverting to Ankara fabric was something I never imagined in a million years.

If I could speak to the Harjoke of 2018, I would tell her: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Explore. Don't think just because you studied one thing, that is where you have to end it all. There are so many opportunities out there."

Awww. She’s so proud of you, I’m sure.

Thank you so much!

What does the next milestone look like? World domination?

(Laughs) Yes, the next big thing is another massive milestone! We are expanding and bringing in a lot of new stock and quality designs for 2026.

The sweetest part? We are starting international shipping, and Bumpa’s got us covered with the shipping feature! I already know it’ll be an easier process. So whether you are in the UK, Canada, USA, Ghana, Togo, or the Benin Republic, we’ve got you! Harjoke Fabrics is coming!

You know we can’t wait to be a part of the next stage of your journey.

I know! You're with me all the way!

Forever! Before we go, any final words for this reader?

To anyone reading, this is not just word of mouth: Bumpa is truly the number one app for business management. Go download it and see all the beautiful features for yourself. Don't sleep on Bumpa!

And to locate Harjoke Fabrics, we are in Ajah, Lagos. You can shop our extremely affordable, beautiful Ankara fabrics at www.harjokefabrics.com or find us on Instagram at @harjokefabrics.

Thank you so much for sitting with us, Ajoke!

Anytime! This was fun.

Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read this! We are dedicated to helping business owners like you scale faster and sell smarter.

To start your Bumpa journey today, download the app on the App Store or Play Store, or visit www.getbumpa.com to get started. We can't wait to become your business best friend!