Lokal

It took me 3 years to create Lokal, and here’s the full story.

When I first came up with the idea, I was in my apartment, finishing up my bachelor’s and preparing for my master’s. One day, I went to my local African store, a 20-minute walk away, and carrying groceries on my electric bike was exhausting. Sometimes walking home took even longer.

I remember that day getting home completely drained, too tired to cook, and I ended up ordering food. While scrolling Deliveroo, I noticed supermarkets were now on the app. Curious, I searched for African supermarkets, mostly Nigerian ones. There wasn’t a single store.

That moment hit me: why isn’t there an app where African and Caribbean people can buy groceries online, get deliveries, and support local businesses? At the time, I was still learning how to code and building another website called YummYumm.

During my master’s in Software Engineering, I met Nifemi and Deji, two friends from Nigeria who had come to study as well. They helped me tremendously during my term because honestly, I didn’t know much about coding 😂.

One day, I told them about the idea and was struggling to find a name. After a lecture, I invited Nifemi over to brainstorm. I wanted a name that was unique, easy to say, memorable, and gave people the feeling of travelling to different countries. I asked him, “How do you say ‘fly away’ in Yoruba?” He replied, “Folo.” That was the first name I gave the platform. I liked it; it was simple and catchy, so I stuck with it.

I was extremely excited, and I added too many features at once. The first prototype was full of bugs and issues. I used ChatGPT to help (yes, I ended up being one of those people), but I didn’t really know how to use AI effectively. I had a “team,” but most of the work fell on me. Family, university, and work also demanded my time, but I truly believed in the idea.

I spent every day working on the platform, testing new features, and fixing problems, which is why the app had so many issues early on. When I asked for help, it was limited at best. Eventually, I started exploring other ideas and paused the project. I created my first social media platform called SideEye—which is no longer in development—mainly to strengthen my portfolio and resume.

I also built a web version of Folo but stopped because I felt the project had lost focus. The name didn’t really align with what I was trying to build. Most people wouldn’t understand the meaning of Folo unless I explained it, and many mispronounced it, which frustrated me.

At the time, I was mostly considering African stores, but then I realized Caribbean stores needed support too. I had seen many Caribbean shops struggle to stay open due to lack of customers and money.

That’s when it clicked: this platform is for anyone in the African diaspora—Caribbean, African American, or anyone who wants to access these communities.

Of course, some people asked, “Why only African and Caribbean stores?” I hear it, but I wasn’t excluding anyone. There are White Africans, Arab Africans, White Caribbeans—this platform is inclusive. Those conversations are for another time; the bigger picture matters more.

So I rebranded Folo to Lokal.

The name made sense—local African stores, local Caribbean stores. I redesigned the platform and changed the approach. Previously, I had been trying to show stores using Google data, but even if people could see stores, there wasn’t a way to shop with them.

The better idea was letting stores create digital shops, scaling them to nearby customers. Now, when someone opens Lokal, they can see stores near them and actually shop. I started with Hair, Beauty, and Food, with plans to expand to restaurants and much more in the future.

This is just the beginning, and I’m excited about where Lokal will go. Three years of building this idea has taught me patience, resilience, and the power of persistence. I will spend many more years growing it.

You can check it out here: lokalshops.co.uk.

The point of this story is simple: whatever idea you have, big or small, go ahead and build it. Don’t worry if someone else has done it before—make it better. At the end of the day, you’re changing the world, and that’s what matters.

Thanks for reading.