Real life scenery on my recent coconut merchandise escapade



I'm actually here in Cotonou for my online business... That's what I do...online businesses!!!

I recently just moved here, and I can tell from what I've noticed that the movement of goods across borders will mathematically generate profits....All you need to do is to source for the commodities.

In essence , all I'm saying is importation of certain commodities will not only fetch you good profits, exportation of certain commodities will also fetch you better profits...( just as observed by me)


A few people here know I love moving goods from one place to another ( so far the profit made is very tangible or mouth watering), and I really do not test the depth of any ocean ( business) with both legs....I always consider it necessary to do every business in a small scale before deciding :

whether to do it?

When best to go back into it?

Strategies to implement to increase my return on investments....??

Reason why the small scale merchandise didn't go really as planned?

Or

Reason why it went better than I expected?





The above are some of the factors I put into consideration before I set out to run a bigger merchandise.



Here in Cotonou, while still facing my online business, I was privileged to meet new people...people who helped conquer the language barrier I had whenever I wanted to relate with bankers here as I was no speaker of French...


One of those days, on my way back to the hotel room after the normal visiting the bank and walking under the sun, we met a young man on the street who took us to where we could cool off...On cooling off with this dude, I asked him questions why he lived on the street and vocations he could do...businesses that would fetch him quick returns on a daily basis.....and he told me :

' oga, I no go lie you ooo...na coconut business sure pass....money dey the business gan...if say I get money like this ,na eem I go do...'

To cut the long story short, I decided to invest into coconut for this young dude to take to Mile 12...And as usual, I needed to test the authenticity of what he said.



He gave me estimations and all of that...and he began to source for coconuts while I face my online businesses.


The Purchase:

Coconuts are bought and paid for in Ounces.

Some of you may have forgotten what 'ounces' mean, check the back of any of your exercise books - the ones you had in secondary school if you have still got them...lol



'Ounce' is a mode of measurement.


Here, 40 pieces of coconuts is regarded to as 1 ounce

i.e

40 pieces of coconuts = 1 ounce.

I decided to go for 8 ounces.


That makes 320 pieces of coconuts.

Ahmed, the dude who told me about coconut was delaying in sourcing for coconuts as he wasn't really into the business...he was just a nigga that survives on the street that knew about the business...so I called on my new friends (Sunday and Kelechukwu) in Cotonou who happened to have a different breed of coconut farm.... He didn't have the breed I needed. But, he was ready to source it for me...It was cool by me...I trusted his judgement.

I allowed Ahmed to live in the hotel room with myself and my friends... I gave him a sense of belonging...Gave him my clothes to wear, and also as normal fed him...I wanted him to use the opportunity to change his life cos I listened to his sad story.



My friend Sunday helped with the purchase of the coconuts from the start to end.

He gave me estimations for: getting 8 ounces of coconuts -

3,200 CFA per ounce. ( 8 ounces was 25,600 CFA)

Peeling of 1 ounce of coconut - 300 CFA ( 8 ounces was 2,400 CFA)

Bagging the coconuts - 500 CFA


Transporting the coconuts from the farm to the Cotonou/ Nigeria border - 2,000CFA

I gave Sunday a miscellaneous of about 10,000 naira.

Crossing the coconuts across the border using Vesper transport - 1,000 naira ( they collect naira too, so I just paid in naira...)

Crossing commodities may or was supposed to be an issue here at the border with the customs and immigration officers, but I already strategically built a very strong rapport with high ranking and low ranking officials simultaneously... And the element to build this rapport is no more than being NICE and GIVING - yea, I give out money a lot when it is necessary..and i have always got the odds in my favour...that's what giving money to people does for you..

The power of giving exposes you to unimaginable connections ( whether on the street or with senior officers in their offices) and unimaginable connection exposes you to power ( no matter how small)



I cross the border on a daily basis before venturing into coconut merchandise.... So, it was no issue for my coconut to cross without my presence.




Ahmed got greedy.... Before the coconut arrived Nigeria, he ran away....he went off with my friend's new phone and some of our clothes... He has vanished into thin air till date....

The coconuts arrived Nigeria however, I didn't have time going to Mile 12 myself to sell the coconuts...I was very busy with the main reason I came to Cotonou for. But as a sensible entrepreneur, one must always be ready to adjust and adapt in any situation you find yourself in....

Adjustment and Adaptation should come to you naturally....


Rather than go to Mile 12 where I was told by Ahmed that :

1 piece of coconut sells for 200/ 250 naira ( I don't trust people's value - I only trust mine) ...I never imagined the profit I would have made...I was more particular about going myself to the market to confirm the prices and how coconuts were sold there while Ahmed does the selling... But as it was, situations had changed.



So, I changed location...I picked the Badagry market to sell off the coconuts to see the nature of the business - whether I make profits or not ( I was keen about learning from the situation)

Comfort, my friend's fiancee helped in getting a trusted seller in Badagry...and we moved to Badagry to sell the nuts.


I forgot to mention that on the arrival of the coconuts, 200 pieces of coconuts was what got bagged by Sunday and Kelechukwu... This was unknown to me until I asked....

But gosh, I paid for 320 pieces.... Whatever happened is still unknown to me...and I didn't bother or care to have an issue with them on that...( Lessons were learnt on that)



I took my 200 pieces of coconuts to Badagry....

On getting to Badagry market, I was amazed by the number of market men and women who were fighting themselves to buy the coconuts from us before it even landed... They fought real hard....I was marvelled.

'Ehn ehn, naso coconut business dey be?'... So I told Comfort....



Daddy Ibeji who Comfort linked me to didn't help directly to sell the coconuts, he used his apprentice.


A buyer agreed to buy a Ounce for 3,200 naira after slight negotiations....


The apprentice had a way he counted and separated coconuts to make his ounces.... I also noticed their scam tactics during the separation technique... In all, he brought out 2 ounces and said that was the good ones and others were bad...

I was less concerned about what he counted...whether he cheated or not cos on so many occasion was he asked 'how many coconuts have you counted' and his reply was ' I am not counting'...

How then do you know what ounce you are on?

I understanding his gimmicks, told baba ibeji that his apprentice was a sacmmer and it was very unnecessary of him to act the way he was acting as I didn't come to the market to make profits but to understand primarily :

How swift and demanding the commodity was?

And the selling price?


And already, I have got answers to my puzzles.


Baba ibeji then went ahead and counted 1 more ounce outta the ones they claimed were bad.... To make it a total of 3 ounces sellable at #3,200 per ounce....

he then told me the others were truly bad....

After he said this, and I confirmed firmly from him that the other coconuts were bad, which he reassured....I then took one of the acclaimed-bad coconut, broke it and ate it....I enjoyed it...And offered them to eat which they shamefully refused to eat...

How on earth do you people behave like this?

You deceive people who try to do dealings with you by using some prank techniques to separate coconuts and label so many other coconuts as bad?


I told them to stop selling the coconuts, and I dashed the remaining to school students, passerby mothers and children who came begging for coconuts.... I collected my 11,400 naira which was for 3 ounces and some other pieces and gladly left the market square understanding the nature of the business...


This already gave me insight to coconut merchandise in particular and a clue of what to expect in other merchandises...


In all, I didn't learn the hard way as many minds may think, I paid the street to learn the street orti - something myself and no one ever learned in the four wall of a tertiary institution.

Now, it is very essential to not only deal with ' facts and figures' ...but to deal with

'facts about the nature of humans with respect to businesses and of course , Figures'.


Be Safe, Stay Safe

#SafetyFirst

Do everything safe with S.O.P

(Safe-Online-Platforms)

(Safe-Offline-Platforms)

Currency Conversions

The standard online rate of converting Naira to CFA as at the time of purchase was between 1.9 - 2.0 .

That is; NGN 1,000 = 1,900 or 2,000 CFA...


However, due to the Federal Government policies and restrictions, one was able to only convert Naira into CFA through black marketers....

The black market rate of Naira to CFA was between 1.30 and 1.35.

That is; NGN 1,000 = 1,300 or 1,350 CFA ( depending on the individual black marketer used for the exchange)



All the values above are subjected to when Buhari was outside the country before Naira gained strength against the dollar....

Right about now, naira is strengthening up against the dollar and it's equivalence to CFA has increased to 1.7.



Advantage of the analysis above:

More profits would be made when purchasing commodities from Cotonou as Naira strengthens against the Dollar.

Op really nice. Thanks for taking time to write this.

I learnt a lot. You sound like another famous Nairaland entrepreneur(young modulus).

So what's the update on the biz now?

Please keep me updated


Doing biz across borders can really yield enticing returns

Cc princedoxx

Franky826:
Op really nice. Thanks for taking time to write this.

I learnt a lot. You sound like another famous Nairaland entrepreneur(young modulus).

So what's the update on the biz now?

Please keep me updated


Doing biz across borders can really yield enticing returns

Cc princedoxx

For now, I am working on some online projects...While at this, I will have close ones to help source for coconuts here in Cotonou and Togo... A larger percentage of the breed of coconuts consumed in Nigeria comes from Togo. Once I get feedbacks from them, I will personally be setting out to make final agreements and purchases...

(All these arrangements are done to know those one can keep in business, at least those in favor)




I will certainly keep you posted...meanwhile I will try to keep the thread alive as I am working towards venturing into some other swift-earning profitable merchandise after making full inquiries and details about them.



Regards brother...YModulus is a good friend.

cc Franky826

PrinceDoxx:


For now, I am working on some online projects...While at this, I will have close ones to help source for coconuts here in Cotonou and Togo... A larger percentage of the breed of coconuts consumed in Nigeria comes from Togo. Once I get feedbacks from them, I will personally be setting out to make final agreements and purchases...

(All these arrangements are done to know those one can keep in business, at least those in favor)




I will certainly keep you posted...meanwhile I will try to keep the thread alive as I am working towards venturing into some other swift-earning profitable merchandise after making full inquiries and details about them.



Regards brother...Young Modulus is a good friend.

cc Franky826

Oh nice one boss. Please remember a bro in the 'swift-earning profitable merchandise'

Thanks for you time and dedication. Keep fit boss