naijacutee:

As part of my job, I advise Icanstock.com – a small, UK-based supplier of wholesale products to Nigeria. A key element of this business is logistics, as our main job is to send goods from the UK to our customers in Nigeria. The logistics process is the lifeblood of the organization, as customers are mostly resellers (who in turn have customers of their own), and are retained when our service delivery meets their expectations. To ensure that the service remains affordable, a self-employed clearing agent clears customers goods on arrival at the Cargo terminal of Murtala International Airport and then Icanstock uses its own (also self-employed) driver in Lagos to deliver goods to customers. So in a nutshell here’s how the business works: goods arrive at our shippers (2-3 days), and then are sent to the cargo airline who sends them to Lagos (2 days), they are then cleared through customs (5 – 7days) and are forwarded to the customer following clearing (24 hours).

As you can see, goods spend the most time in the hands of the Nigerian customs – the weakest link in our value chain

VALUE CHAIN
From our end, it doesn’t matter whether we employ the most dedicated drivers in Lagos, ready to pick up and deliver goods to customers, or whether we send our customers goods out 2 days earlier – if the government link in the chain, (in this case, customs) doesn’t do their jobs properly, we’re screwed.

It is to be expected that many other small businesses (respect!) operating in Nigeria encounter similar challenges. Playing your cards right nowhere near guarantees business effectiveness in a dysfunctional environment. Worse still, the market in the highly dysfunctional environment is a very demanding one. Customers expect, and are impressed by nothing less than perfection, and seem unforgiving at first if you do not understand them. Therein lies the disconnect. It’s like the man who has learnt through years of starvation, to order – whenever the opportunity arises, not just bread and butter but only the finest of meats and the choicest of wines.

While some may disagree with my military type response to the situation as one using “disproportionate force”, I would strongly disagree and point out the real problem as one of complacency. So, for those of you still with me, here is my take on managing a business process through dysfunction:

1. Be pessimistic, and prepare to be disappointed. No matter how hard you have worked, Sod’s first law states that if it can go wrong, it will. We send goods out for our customers each Friday, and the goods are put on a Lagos-bound cargo flight on Saturday morning. At worst, they arrive in Lagos on Sunday night but we give our customers a 10 – 14 day lead time for delivery. “A 2-week wait in 2014 is too long”, our customers complain, but the reality is that they often don’t have to wait that long. We have to offer this lead time because it is impossible to predict what drama the Nigerian Customs Service might decide to act next. Last year, they decided that the NAHCO sheds were going to be shut for close to 2 weeks, holding all customers goods ransom for their internal disagreements.

2. No credit, unless you’re willing to forgo the amount. If “our people” get the idea that they can owe you, prepare to go out of business. We complain that businesses are here today and gone tomorrow, and partly for this reason. People love to owe and once you let them owe once, they will beg and plead and invoke all the spirits in their fathers village to bear witness to their promise to pay. And they still won’t pay. This is coming out of a dark place (can you tell?)

3. Avoid traffic like a plague. They suck your blood and drain your life. I know someone who spends 7 hours in traffic a day. This is 2-and-a half months each year, sitting in traffic. Brothers and sisters, this is not normal. 2.5 months that could have been spent generating income, and then taking a holiday to enjoy that income is spent sitting, inhaling smoke and eating gala. (Feel free to disagree with this figure in the comments section, if you may). If you can work next door to your house, do so. If you can work from home, even better. Virtual offices such as Capital Square and Ventia Business Hub can provide you with meeting rooms and pay-as-you-go working spaces, rendering the age-old practice of travelling to and from work obsolete.

4. Avoid queues like a plague. Same argument – uneccessary time wasted. If can’t send minions to queue on your behalf, there are a few lifestyle adjustments you can make to reduce the amount of time you throw away to queues and consequentially, increase your life expectancy. Download a banking app and immediately eliminate half of the time you spend queuing in the banks. I hear that with GT Bank’s mobile app, you can pay anyone, pay your DSTV bills and purchase airtime. If you’re travelling abroad, choose an airline that allows mobile check-ins. You want to check in on your phone, show your boarding pass at the back of the queue, and get the hell out of there. If you have other queue-busting tips, share them in the comments section, and I’ll incorporate them into the article.

5. Network (Twitter is a good tool for this) and collect phone numbers. Numbers make the world go round. If you find yourself in a sticky situation in Nigeria, chances are there is a number you can call. Also save the police and emergency department numbers on your phone, because you never know when you might need them.

6. Communicate with your customers excessively. In adverse situations, too much communication is better than too little. When we had a problem with NAHCO last year, we voluntarily called affected customers each day to provide them with truthful, daily updates – even if it’s just a “nothing has happened today o”. They felt valued and informed, and they knew that we were doing what we could, even though the situation was out of our hands. This also meant that we didn’t have to dodge any calls, and we could answer phones freely

7. Scout for utilities that offer 24 hour customer service centres and call in the witchcraft hours if you need to. You will have your query responded to in record time, and by someone who is not under pressure. I learnt this when I called DiamondBank on a Sunday morning and got a 2-week old problem resolved!

http://www.mymetrong.com/dysfunction-management-how-you-can-get-more-done-in-a-society-that-makes-everything-difficult/

BizBloke:

[b]@highlighted, they are very true and it's a sad and heart-wrenching experience if after you've exerted efforts to ensure that everything fits within a time frame, some individuals who are often intoxicated with position decide to unfit something. The Nigerian business landscape needs a total overhaul.
1. I've had a hard time coming to terms with preparing to be disappointed. I don't expect perfection but then, I expect perfection to a certain level progression.
2. Lol at this point. I chatted with a friend last week and she complained about debtors, saying that her business is a luxury business which can't run without credit. In reply, I told her that business doesn't run on credit - in a way though. If said client doesn't have money to patronize you, he/she definitely doesn't have the money to patronize another. If he/she doesn't want to patronize you because of that, well, win-win; no hard feelings. I, for one, won't do the credit thingy ever except the business relationship has gotten to a particular level - once upon a time in 2013, I lost about $500 to 'purchase on credit'. When you don't do this, it often makes you look like an a.s.s...hole but then, I think I prefer that when it comes to this issue.
3. You didn't add, "...drinking La Casera." Lagos, Nigeria is a typical example of heavy traffic. Oftentimes, people spend as much as 5 hours and 7 hours, especially when returning home after work. I prefer working from different locations in the world and that's what I do; it makes much sense than going to same place everyday. I think that companies should look into this, too; such way, they save money in renting bigger office space(s) and stuff attached to renting bigger.
4. Mobile and internet banking, QuickTeller, ETranzact are enough for queue busting. I don't have any more in mind at the moment. When I do, I'll add up.
5. Asides saving the police number and other emergency numbers (which I really doubt their workability in Nigeria), saving specific numbers on Speed Dial is a good idea, too. Speed Dial is inbuilt as well as available as apps.
6. Great!
7. Lmao @ witchcraft hours. GTBank does same too - ditto to Zenith and UBA. In actuality, I think all banks do so, too.
8. Streamline your email activities with a software. There's Thunderbird (Mozilla) and you can view all your mails in real-time based on your settings. You can also reply all mails and immediately you connect to the internet, Thunderbird does the mail delivery job for you.
Excuse my brevity. When I have more sentences to add to the points above, I'll do so.
Your article is interesting, practical and solves problems.
Take care.[/b]

naijacutee:

Thank you of your thoughts, BizBloke. I wrote this myself, so introspective feedback like yours is like gold to me. You spoke my mind about that credit thing, because I learnt the hard way. Especially with luxury goods - why indulge people and encourage them to show off, when you and I know that they cannot afford it. It's not moral and it definitely doesn't make business sense.

Working from different locations is a tough nut to conquer, but well worth it. I think up and coming entrepreneurs should prioritise this when writing up their business plans. Can I ask what you do?

naijacutee: This is so true. It was long because it came from the heart. In Nigeria, we tend to keep so much business practices and experiences secret because we don't want competition. Some people who advertise online still keep their prices secret!! I'm trying to go against all of that and encourage healthy competition. In fact can I invite you to guest blog on my metro regarding one thing you have learnt in business, citing examples? I can compensate you with an Amazon gift voucher to buy yourself a nice book :-)

Hmmm, whoa. Well, I think you should write more often from your heart - actually, wear your heart on your sleeve; it would make for the best crafted article.

Hahaha @ the highlighted. I almost did that when I started out because, "if everyone isn't doing it, why should I be so vulnerable?" However, I did and it doesn't matter. Basically, competition is often less based on price(s) e.g. Apple vs other phone/laptop/tablet manufacturers.

I'll take you up on your guest blog offer. Just let me know when and I'll be willing to share.

Take care for now, NaijaCutee.

naijacutee: @BizBloke. I'm glad you're willing to guest blog even though we compete in the same market .

The call for price thing is dead on arrival because I'm more likely to use a company that has prices displayed than a phone number.

One thing I realise with the cargo industry is that Nigerian customers don't call within working hours. They want to call your personal mobile at midnight if given the opportunity. I don't understand this and it infuriates me, especially now that I have a family.

I don't know if you have examples to cite, but if you can write a guest blog regarding one thing you have learnt about Nigerian customers when it comes to doing business. I know there are many, but just focus on one. Feel free to mention your business and throw in examples of scenarios and services you offer for SEO. This is so that when people search for your services, your story comes up, people learn about you a little beyond your website and perhaps earn you new customers! You can PM me with this or send to asterix8701@hotmail.com[b]