Most small businesses in Nigeria are just good enough for a man to feed from hand to mouth.

Being good with figures and keeping records is the most important aspect of any business venture. This is essential to know if you are gaining or depleting. Engaging in some businesses is tantamount to depletion of capital, erosion of value and setting the hands of a clock backwards..

For someone to make it in business in Nigeria is not easy. It is way beyond driving a big car, or counting big money daily, way beyond daily cash flow which may just be a payment for hidden overheads.

The same business that someone engages in and builds a house in one year, another person can engage in it for 10 years and still be a tenant and cannot even own a car.

Every businessman is a learner. We are always making mistakes and learning from them. Sometimes it comes too good, while other times we ask if people from our village are after us.

100cents...

Yes, to avoid being stuck in a circle, one has to innovate, circumvent, re-invent, calculate and emulate the business gurus.

There are people doing well in your chosen area of business. For example, I get goods directly from the manufacturers, you know distribution stuffs right from my first try in business. Profit was mega, when profit dwindled due to pricing and other market forces, I changed business.

Looking at made men in that area of business who have been in it for 10 years and more whether rain or sun, I started thinking of going back to it. Yes I did, this time I was like, where is my earlier fortune. Wow, it has been invested in another venture.

It is always good to start little so says the wise men. Now I have to start little in this my first business passion. I now started going close to someone I admire. Yes, phu.ck the manufacturers
Let me get a mentor, let me buy from him. People in distribution of FMCG's know what i mean. There are boys and there are men in the line of Distribution. Boys order 3 trucks. Men order from 100 trucks and load themselves on their trailers.

Chai, how long will it take ? Slow and steady they say wins the race. So that's what we are up to now. Now I just had a peep into this man's records of daily sales, I wanted to faint. Chai, there is godu o.

The only way to get better is to dream big and stay humble. Get close to someone bigger than you.

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Every businessman struggles to break lose from this unending cycle of forward and backward movement characterized by intermittent balls of profit and loss. It demands a culture of always doing things right( the right thing at the right time ).

So what is the right thing and what is the right time to do it ? What time do you open your business every morning. Are you an early comer or late comer ? Customers don't announce when they will come, there are early callers and late callers. A good time frame for your business is 7am to 6pm. Any thing less than that shouldn't exceed one hour less spread out between opening and closing.

Customers tend to seek a particular seller who they can trust and rely on, who is dependable, reachable, flexible and loyal. Who will always be there whenever they call.

What does this entail on the seller's part ? It means punctuality, discipline and steadfastness in what one is doing.

Customers also seek for sellers who are not desperate to show their competition instincts among other sellers. A person who has flair and enjoys what he is doing not minding how profitable or unprofitable it is at the moment.

This brings us to profit. Most customers seek out sellers who can sell cheaper than any other seller, quality being constant. We all have heard about " Small profits, quick returns "
It easier said than dome. But that is what customers want and that is the biggest tool in competition.

It takes guts to sell cheaper and wait till when your turnover blesses your decision..