Startup Story
Sheillah Siima is the creative head and founder of Sheillah Publications located in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is also a self-publisher, author, and is professionally an editor for print media. Her company publishes a range of resources, tools, and journals to help businesses and individuals manage their lives more effectively.
LoA spoke to the enterprising Sheillah Siima about her business, her entrepreneurial journey, and her ambitions for the future.
When did your start your business?
The business started in 2021 after my former employer shut down operations in Tanzania and moved overseas, I decided to put my craft and skills to good use and the rest is history.
What does your company do?
Sheillah Publications produces resourceful tools meant to make one's daily life easier and more organized. We produce aesthetically pleasing customized paper products ranging from planners, diaries, memoirs, and a wide genre of journals, as well as other creative and unique funky finds.
“I realized that there was a gap to bridge in terms of maintaining and creating extra time for oneself within a scheduled day and our products were the ideal resource to serve the purpose.”
What inspired you to start your company?
I was inspired to start the company when my former employer decided to move his operations overseas, I realized that there was a gap to bridge in terms of maintaining and creating extra time for oneself within a scheduled day and our products were the ideal resource to serve the purpose. Just as our slogan states "meant to be made."
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Sentimental value is the top priority while producing our products in simpler terms, our products are special because they are all custom-made with a client's preference in perspective. Our products are all aesthetically pleasing and also tend to go the extra mile as beautiful gifts for any occasion. To put the icing on the cake, all our products have simple user-friendly prompts and are undated, therefore they can be used at any time of the day or year.
“Our products are all aesthetically pleasing and also tend to go the extra mile as beautiful gifts for any occasion.”
Tell us a little about your team:
We are an all-female team of 4 creative ladies that handles everything from creative concepts, taking clients’ details and orders since all our products are custom-made to a client’s satisfaction, all the way through design, production, and deliveries. There's nothing these industrious women wouldn't do when it comes to paper aesthetics since we all love and enjoy what we do collectively as a family and team.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
My entrepreneurial journey dates back to 2021 which started out as a hobby thanks to my communications and journalism profession and background that led me to come up with one product; a daily planner, that I drafted as a concept, designed , produced and tried out with a few people as a trial and as a result, the feedback and impact on this first product has been impressive which led me to start up a team, and put it on the market while creating other creative products that serve similar purposes with great impact.
The beginning of course was not all roses considering many didn't see the need to schedule their days and were comfortable in their unhinged lives and making time randomly or complaining of not having enough time. Others also made mockery of my craft claiming that it was for the high-end urban lifestyle people but after getting the chance of trying out the various genres of journals from the line that I created, is when people picked up on making time for self-care, addressing mental health, practicing gratitude and affirmation and manifesting prosperity in different spheres of their lives. It only took producing one product seeing the impact it made and value it brought to people that was the motivation to produce various other creative yet resourceful tools and funky finds.
“Our future plan is to spread our services nationwide, as well as to produce various resourceful, time-saving, and simple tools that can make life easier for people in their respective regions, as well as going so far as to produce our products in native languages nationwide.”
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
Our future plan is to spread our services nationwide, as well as to produce various resourceful, time-saving, and simple tools that can make life easier for people in their respective regions, as well as going so far as to produce our products in native languages nationwide. This will definitely elevate our market as well.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
Our clients being content with our products considering they are custom-made, as well as the impact that our products have on our clients especially those with busy schedules. Knowing our products have helped them create extra time within their schedules that can be used productively for personal matters or even self-care.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Faith will have you looking stupid until it begins to rain; nonetheless keep building. The moral here is many may not understand your craft at the beginning but once they experience it through your consistency you will have formed a loyal clientele. Do the work even if it doesn't make sense because at the end of the day, it will make sense. Remember to be consistent and creative and also pray while you’re at it.
Find out more:
Email Address: sunshinesheillah@gmail.com
Your Instagram URL: http://www.instagram.com/ssprints247
Why LoA loves it….
Finding a gap in the market, and then filling that gap with products and services that customers want or need to buy, is the best way of achieving business success. Sheillah Siima is doing just that with her business, providing customers with niche publications and products that help them to achieve the greater efficiency in life and business they need. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa