Odedina on building Grubspot into a business beyond its founder

Funmilayo Odedina is a food and hospitality entrepreneur and the CEO of Grubspot, a Lagos-based food and hospitality brand offering meals, catering and customer experiences. What began as an investment made while she was still working a corporate job has grown into a business serving individuals, corporate clients and event organisers. A graduate of Geography from the University of Lagos, she has furthered her expertise through training in hospitality and event management. In this interview with CHISOM MICHAEL, she discusses building a sustainable food and hospitality business, the role of systems and profitability, leadership, customer experience, and creating long-term value through Grubspot.

Grubspot began while you were still working in the corporate world. What made you believe the idea was worth pursuing, and when did you realise it could become a business?

Grubspot started with a simple idea, but I think what made the difference was that I was willing to give it a chance. At the time, I was still working a 9-to-5 job, and my husband and I decided to invest in the business together.

I didn’t have everything figured out at the beginning. In fact, I started without a formal business plan, market survey, or even a clear understanding of all the systems that would eventually be required to build a sustainable company. What I had was an idea, passion, and the willingness to learn.

As the business began to attract customers and I saw people returning, referring others, and trusting us with their events and food needs, I started to realise that there was something bigger here. It became clear that Grubspot could move beyond being just a food business and become a brand that people could trust for quality food and memorable experiences.

That realisation gave me the motivation to take the business more seriously and begin building it intentionally.

What was the hardest lesson you had to learn as Grubspot moved from an early venture into a growing food and hospitality business?

One of the hardest lessons was understanding that what works when a business is small may not necessarily work when it begins to grow.

In the early stages, you can personally oversee almost everything. You know your customers, you know what is happening in the kitchen, and you can step in whenever there is a problem. But as the business grows, that approach becomes unsustainable.

I had to learn that growth requires structure, delegation, accountability, documentation and systems.

I also learnt that being busy does not necessarily mean being profitable. You can have many orders and still not be building a healthy business if you do not understand your numbers, costs, margins and processes.

That was a major shift in my thinking. I had to move from simply asking, “How do we sell more?” to asking, “How do we build a business that is profitable, sustainable and capable of growing?”

Passion can start a business, but it cannot sustain one on its own. What did you learn about the role of systems, profitability and discipline in building Grubspot?

I completely agree that passion can start a business, but passion alone cannot sustain it.

I have learnt that a business needs systems because you cannot build a company that depends entirely on the energy or presence of the founder. There must be processes for purchasing, production, inventory, customer service, finance, quality control and staff responsibilities.

Profitability is equally important. Revenue can look impressive, but what matters is what remains after you have accounted for your costs and whether the business is financially healthy enough to continue operating and growing.

Discipline is what connects everything together. It means doing what needs to be done even when you don’t feel like doing it. It means monitoring your numbers, maintaining standards, following processes and making decisions based on what is best for the business rather than what is easiest at the moment.

I am still learning and improving these areas, but I now understand that building a business is as much about discipline and structure as it is about passion and creativity.

You have invested in training, mentorship and professional development. How have these experiences changed the way you think and make decisions as an entrepreneur?

Professional development has changed me significantly.

When I started, I was largely learning through experience. Experience is valuable, but I realised that you can save yourself from repeating certain mistakes when you deliberately seek knowledge from people who have already walked the path.

My training at Hospitality Business School and Lagos Business School exposed me to different ways of looking at business, hospitality, management and the events industry. Mentorship and being part of professional communities have also helped me understand that entrepreneurship is not something you have to figure out alone.

Today, I think more strategically. I ask more questions before making decisions. I look at the long-term implications of an opportunity rather than just the immediate benefit.

Most importantly, I have learnt to separate the business from my emotions. Not every opportunity is a good opportunity, and not every problem requires an emotional reaction. Sometimes the best decision is to pause, analyse the situation and make a deliberate choice.

How do you balance the need to grow Grubspot with the need to maintain consistency in food quality and customer service?

For me, growth should never come at the expense of quality.

In the food and hospitality industry, your customer may forgive a lot of things, but inconsistency is difficult to forgive. If a customer enjoys your food today and receives something completely different next time, you begin to lose trust.

That is why I believe growth has to happen alongside stronger systems and quality control.

We need to standardise recipes, portions, preparation methods, packaging and service processes while still allowing room for creativity and innovation.

I also believe that people are a major part of consistency. You need to train your team, communicate expectations clearly and hold people accountable.

My goal is for a customer to interact with Grubspot and experience the same commitment to quality whether they are ordering a single meal, placing a corporate order or engaging us for a major event.

You see food as part of experiences, relationships and memories. How does this belief influence the way you design your products and serve your customers?

I believe food is emotional.

People may forget some of the details of an event, but they often remember how they felt and what they experienced—including the food.

That belief influences everything from the way we think about our menu to presentation, packaging, customer service and catering.

For me, it is not simply about asking, “Does this food taste good?” I also ask, “Does this make the customer feel valued? Is it convenient? Is it beautifully presented? Is it appropriate for the occasion? Would they want to recommend this experience to someone else?”

Whether it is a small order or a large event, I want the customer to feel that thought went into what we delivered.

That is what I mean when I say that food creates memories. We are not just delivering meals; we are participating in people’s everyday lives, celebrations, corporate events and special moments.

Grubspot serves individuals, corporate clients and event organisers. What have these different customers taught you about changing expectations in the hospitality business?

They have taught me that customers are becoming much more intentional.

People don’t only want good food anymore. They want convenience, reliability, good presentation, responsive communication, value for money and an overall experience that feels seamless.

Corporate clients, for example, often require professionalism, punctuality, consistency and the ability to handle larger volumes without compromising quality.

Individual customers may place more emphasis on convenience, affordability and speed, while event clients often require flexibility, presentation and the ability to customise.

The lesson for me is that hospitality cannot be one-size-fits-all. You have to understand who you are serving and what matters most to them.

At the same time, regardless of the customer segment, some things should never change: quality, integrity, professionalism and respect for the customer.

What does profitability mean to you beyond making money, and how do you decide which opportunities are worth pursuing?

Profitability to me means building a business that can sustain itself, pay its people properly, meet its obligations, reinvest in growth and still have enough strength to withstand difficult periods.

It is not simply about making money today. It is about creating a healthy business that can continue tomorrow.

When evaluating an opportunity, I consider several things. What value does it bring to the business? Is it financially viable? Does it align with our brand? Do we have the capacity to deliver it at the required standard? And does it move us closer to our long-term vision?

I have learnt that saying yes to every opportunity is not necessarily good business.

Sometimes an opportunity looks attractive on the surface but can drain your resources, compromise your quality or distract you from your core business.

So I am learning to ask not only, “Can we do this?” but also, “Should we do this?”

As a business grows, founders can become the centre of every decision. How are you building Grubspot so that its success does not depend entirely on you?

This is an area I am very intentional about.

One of the biggest transitions for a founder is moving from being the person who does everything to becoming the person who builds the people and systems that make the business work.

At Grubspot, we are working towards clearer roles, defined responsibilities, documented processes, training and accountability.

I want to build a team that understands not only what they are supposed to do but why it matters.

My ultimate goal is for Grubspot to have a strong organisational culture and systems that allow the business to operate effectively even when I am not physically present.

As a founder, I don’t want my greatest achievement to be that Grubspot cannot function without me. I want it to be that I built something strong enough to function, grow and create opportunities beyond me.

What has running a business taught you about leadership that you could not have learnt from formal education, training or mentorship?

Running a business has taught me that leadership is not about having all the answers.

There are things you can learn in a classroom, but entrepreneurship puts those lessons under pressure. You learn how to make decisions when the information is incomplete, how to remain calm when things go wrong and how to take responsibility when the outcome is not what you expected.

I have also learnt that people don’t just need instructions; they need leadership.

You have to understand that everyone comes with different experiences, strengths and weaknesses. You have to communicate, listen, correct, encourage and sometimes make difficult decisions.

Most importantly, leadership has taught me that you cannot ask people to become better while refusing to grow yourself.

If I want a better business, I have to become a better leader.

You believe businesses should create value and opportunities beyond profit. How does that belief influence the way you lead people and build Grubspot?

I believe a business should be profitable, but profit should not be its only measure of success.

A business has the ability to create jobs, develop people’s skills, support other businesses within its supply chain and contribute to the community around it.

At Grubspot, I want people who work with us to have opportunities to learn, develop professionally and become better at what they do.

I also believe that the hospitality industry has tremendous potential to create employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, particularly for young people.

So, as I build Grubspot, I want to create a business that is commercially successful but also contributes positively to people’s lives.

For me, success is not only about how big the company becomes. It is also about how many people are positively impacted because the company exists.

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about running a food and hospitality business in Nigeria, and what has your own experience taught you about it?

One major misconception is that if you can cook well, you can automatically run a successful food business.

Cooking is important, but it is only one part of the equation.

Running a food and hospitality business requires knowledge of finance, operations, procurement, inventory, people management, customer service, marketing, branding, quality control and strategy.

You can have excellent food and still struggle if your pricing is wrong, your costs are uncontrolled, your service is inconsistent or your business lacks visibility.

I have also learnt that hospitality is a demanding business. Customers may only see the final plate of food, but behind that plate are purchasing decisions, preparation, staffing, logistics, timing, quality control and many other moving parts.

My experience has taught me that you have to respect the business side as much as you respect the creative side.

Ultimately, building Grubspot has taught me that entrepreneurship is a journey of continuous learning. You start with an idea, but to turn that idea into a sustainable company, you need courage, discipline, knowledge, adaptability, people and systems.

And perhaps most importantly, you need the willingness to keep becoming better.

That is the journey I am on with Grubspot—building a brand that is not only known for good food, but for quality, consistency, hospitality and experiences that people remember.

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