Boyede Sobitan & OjaExpress
Creating the one-stop shop for African and Caribbean groceries
We live in a day and age where we are busier than ever before. Trying to fit a 9 to 5, personal business and necessities like working out, shopping and other errands into one day almost seems impossible.
Thankfully, many entrepreneurs have noticed the importance of the on-demand economy as we can now get almost anything delivered to our front door. I have many friends who use services to get meals and groceries delivered quickly.
Even though those services are great, they often don’t cater to a population looking for authentic food and ingredients. Boyede Sobitan and his cofounder realized this problem and decided it was time to disrupt the industry for good.
Learn more about Boyede Sobitan, the CEO of OjaExpress.
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First & Last Name
Boyede Sobitan
Why did you decide to start OjaExpress?
OjaExpress, an on-demand ethnic grocery delivery platform, is the fastest and most convenient way to shop for your hard to find ethnic groceries. The idea came about after speaking with some friends about their struggle in obtaining African groceries. Specifically, a friend’s wife lamented on how the African grocery stores were not conveniently located, and when she does go she has to take her two young children with her. She uses another grocery delivery service, so I started to do research and discovered there were no same day or next day services for immigrants, currently catering to the African/Caribbean demographic.
My co-founder and CTO, Fola Dada, and I also noticed that there are a number of people who consider themselves “foodies” and who love ethnic dishes, but wouldn’t know where to go and how to navigate the process of procuring the ingredients for the dishes they love. They are then stuck with the restaurant experience, or using substitute products that are not authentic.
What does OjaExpress mean to you?
This venture means a lot to us for a number of reasons. First, there are not many services that are catered to the immigrant population, especially the Africans and Caribbeans. So instead of waiting for someone to do something, we did. Also, I feel as if I am helping to introduce foods that you don’t normally see into the general American food lexicon.
Beyond the obvious, my co-founder and I have learned a great deal since launching this venture. We want to use our platform to employ people within the community, as well as give talented engineers, marketers, and creative minds the opportunity to express their talents on our platform.
Lastly, we are providing a platform for other entrepreneurs who would like to sell their products to our demographic. We are talking to a young lady with an organic hair care product that uses ingredients straight from Jamaica. We’re essentially creating an ecosystem that allows immigrants and foodies to shop and buy authentic products from various countries.
What have you had to overcome in order to achieve success?
I firmly believe success is a mindset, and with that, I have to disregard some of the mental limitation that I inadvertently put on myself. There are a lot of things that I do not know. You have to be comfortable in knowing, and ready to go and learn. I see many people think they have to have a defined skill set to succeed or even attempt to do something, and that is not the case. You have to have will and passion. You have to have the ability to collaborate with people who possess the skill set that you need, in order to get the job done.
What does it mean to be a black business owner?
Being a black business owner, brings a sense of responsibility. Even though we are still growing as a company, there have been countless numbers of people who email us or reach out because we inspire them. I was blown away by this because I was merely trying to solve a problem. I didn’t realize that we were necessarily inspiring people, which is an unintended impact that we now realize.
Additionally, we have the responsibility to strive and achieve excellence. There are too many negative stereotypes about Black businesses, and some are justified. We feel the need to over-deliver when we can easily show that our product and service can compete with other companies in our space.
What advice do you have for people who are ready to follow their dreams but are hesitating?
It may sound cliche, but just do it! A wise man once told me “20% out the door, is better than 100% in the drawer.” Put something out there, and keep working on it.
If you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to be in a constant state of quality improvement. You also have to have a tremendous amount of belief in what they are doing, and be open to pivoting. If you are too confident, and not open to feedback, you can hurt yourself and dream in the process.
Bragging Rights
I am a humble, self-titled, Chigerian — A Chicagoan of Nigerian extraction. I am really engaged in the African community here, and I work to shine a positive light on African culture. We are launching a new series of private dinners, for our users and email subscribers and even though I can’t get into too much detail, it’s going to be DOPE! We plan to introduce users to many aspects of culture such as music, food, arts, etc.
We are also relaunching our website, and it will include more features and amenities for our loyal customers!
Want to contact Boyede for more information?
You can find OjaExpress at www.ojaexpress.com and Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn via @OjaExpress.
Feel free to email Boyede directly at bsobitan@ojaexpress.com.
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