Today, 3 years ago, konga.com went live. This day has been permanently etched in my memory. I wouldn't forget it in a hurry. I still remember the excitement, the frenzy while trying to deliver our first and probably only order for that day - July 10th, 2012. I still remember the customer's name(Kehinde LALEYE), even that of the delivery man(Moses GIMBA). Kehinde's first order were beauty products (Voluminizing Mascara -XXL Black Lash and Waterproof Ultratenue Kajal) and that order came in at 2:04:51 PM.

Those where the early days. No handbook to follow, no "Operating eCommerce in Nigeria - 101" course to take. The management just had to follow guts and instincts. We have made our own fare share of mistakes, we have also learnt from these mistakes. Back then, roles weren't that much of an issue. We all did everything. I mean everything. This, in itself isn't uncommon with startups.

Having been here for 3yrs and watch this baby grow, I consider it a blessing. The feeling is surreal. I kind of have a sense of what fatherhood will feel like.

From a tiny little office along Sumbo Jibowu in Lagos, 3 years later, we now have offices in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Cape Town and China and KExpress franchise all over Nigeria.

From 2 categories (Beauty and Personal Care, Babies, Kids and Toys) to over 20 categories today. Moving from a retailer model to a marketplace model, pioneering innovative solutions like KongaPay to having the first ever community forum that helps foster transparency between; Konga, merchants and buyers. This baby has indeed grown.

Make no mistake, the journey has only just begun. Like our CEO would say, we are on the first line of the first paragraph of the first page of an 800 page book.

So today, I say a big happy birthday to this baby, here's wishing you more awesome years ahead. Happy birthday Konga.

This was our coming soon page

This was what we launched with.

I'll love to hear from you

Do you want to say hello? Email me - celestineomin@gmail.com

I tweet at @cyberomin