Hello nairalanders, today I felt for once I should share with you guys how I started my business from the scratch and how much it has grown over time.

Disclaimer: The purpose of writing this is to encourage someone out there and maybe to increase my customer base.

Let me start by saying this..... I was the most affected by the 2020 corona virus pandemic as I lost almost everything l had... from my savings to my little business in Umuahia as a result of the nation wide lock down.

Life became horribly bad afterwards as feeding became a big problem talk more of other things. 2021 started very slow for me, I moved to Imo state and got a job in a restaurant as a production accountant (the salary was #30k and wasn't enough to foot all my bills.) But I still saved a portion of it.

Sometime in August 2021 (when I realized that staying in the job was a waste of time) I tendered my resignation and left ( while having a little above #20k in my savings ). Confused on what and where to go from there.... I decided to "risk" it all by moving to Lagos with the little I had.
So I contacted one of my classmates I knew was based in Lagos and trades in the famous Alaba international market. I told him of my plans and how much I had.... I pleaded with him to allow me stay in his house for few days while I find something to do and move out. He reluctantly agreed, so I entered the next night bus and landed in Lagos the next day.

I entered Lagos with approximately #15k left in my account after the transportation fare et al. Life in Lagos again wasn't easy as I walked around and within Alaba international market looking for a suitable job to submit my CV for. I got frustrated when I realized that most big businesses there only had openings for females and the ones that are open for both genders don't pay above 15k/month. I should have moved around to places like Surulere, yaba, Ikeja, lekki etc to continue the job hunt but I don't know anywhere in Lagos apart from Ajangbadi(where my classmate stays) to Alaba (where he trades). Also I had serious capital constraint as I fed from the 15k and it kept going down on a daily no matter how economical I was.

An opportunity presented itself.....To be continued


Please FOD
Puskin
Naijacutee
Dominique

Someone needs to read this.

Following...




Kindly check my signature

U are highly welcome to the league, awon motivational speakers.

Continued.........

One day after trekking the width and length of Alaba, I branched to one roadside kiosk to rest and at least have a beverage. While there, I overheard two men deliberating on the charge to deliver an item (a hand carry) to somewhere in Ago palace okota. While the sender was willing to pay just #2000 for the item, the dispatcher insisted on #3500. When the sender wasn't willing to go above the 2k, the dispatcher left. And the sender called another dispatcher. Almost the same issue as with him and the first dispatcher played out.

I used my Google map to check the distance of Ago from Alaba, and it wasn't very far, I enquired from the kiosk owner how much can take me to Ago and back and he said 1k. So I said to myself....making 1k today wouldn't be a bad idea....so I met with the sender and told him to give me the item, I convinced him that I will deliver it safely and he should pay me after the delivery. He wasn't comfortable with it as I had no bike or anything that proves I'm a dispatcher, but as God may have it....He gave me the order. I quickly entered a bus going to mile2 as the kiosk owner advised, I paid just #200. To Ago palace I paid #100 and from community bus stop I trekked to my destination. Within 2hrs I am back to Alaba (spending just #600). When I got to the sender's shop, he was very happy to learn the package was safely and speedily delivered. So he paid my #2k and collected my number for further businesses.


The starting of my business.........To be continued

Continued.......

After two days, the man called me and handed three items going to Ikoyi, oshodi and iyana ipaja respectively and paid #2000 each for the three. With the use of my Google map I was able to deliver the three items and still had more than 2k as profit. At this point, I said to myself " what if I build a business around this?".
I started doing my research on how best to start and run the business. I was able to come up with a simple approach that worked. I used word of mouth to convince customers and I made sure I delivered within the said time (usually within 48hrs).
With the help of my first customer, I started seeing increase in my customer's base, and within two months, I have made more than 400 deliveries within Lagos and Ogun state.


Problem set in.........to be continued

Wow... Interesting.

Continued.......

What I thought I alone can handle gradually grew more than my capacity as orders was coming in in their tens and with time, I couldn't handle all and thus I started disappointing my customers. This negatively affected my business as the returning rate of my customer base declined.

To remedy this, I rented a small space, hired two staff (one as office assistant and the other as a dispatcher), I bought a bike (and did all the paperwork involved in running a logistics company in Lagos). With the aide of social media, words of mouth and recommendations, we have over 200 steady customers in our database and so much one-time customers.

Diversification of business.........To be continued

Continued........

Having gotten to some heights in taking and delivering orders we started thinking of how to differentiate our business from the hundreds of logistics companies in Lagos. And more importantly, how to diversify and increase our revenue and profit. I came up with an idea and discussed it with my staff, customers and mentors and 90% of them endorsed it.

So we started the first warehousing cum logistics company in Lagos. We literally receive the products of businesses/ people who owns and runs businesses with serious Lagos customers while their businesses aren't in Lagos. We keep this products in our warehouse, package and deliver it to their customers anytime they have order in Lagos or Ogun states. Thereby saving the customer the cost of sending his/her orders to Lagos on every single demand. Also to make sure the goods get to the customer/consumer in good time.

We tried this on a handful of customers and we perfected our strategy before we made it open. We are currently building our mobile apps that will allow customers view their transactions and make payments. We are also looking at opening a warehouse in Iyana ipaja and Maza Maza areas before the year runs.

This is how far and how well we have come in our business. Mind you, I came to Lagos with a view of getting a white collar job, but today (by God's grace), I pay at least 6 persons and business is growing from strength to strength. If God can do it for me, he will surely do it for you. All you need to do is to think smart, pray and work hard. The business wasn't entirely rosy at the starting period, I can remember trekking miles like from ijegun-ikotun...from Egbeda-Ayobo.....from Jakande to CMS.... from Ikeja to Agege etc just to save enough money from the delivery fees I charged. If I couldn't give up, you too shouldn't.

Thanks for your time

Thanks for sharing your success story @DispatcherLagos. I'm looking at starting a bike delivery business soon. Could you please share the necessary paperworks to be completed before one can operate in Lagos?

Front page material

wow, God bless all real hustlers..

Great. I'm motivated

Mods please, I think this could make front page

Yet you spend most of your time on nairaland insulting yorubas.

WesternOligarch:
Yet you spend most of your time on nairaland insulting yorubas.

Grow up kid

Bravo

@dispatcherlagos your story is inspiring, I have shared with some other people to get them inspired. Your story looks like all those nollywood script where someone ll abscond from village for Lagos and they ll write 6 months after and show the person becoming a big Man in Lagos.

You were lucky and that lone opportunity that you saw, you didn't let it slip off your finger. Kudos to you bro.

WesternOligarch:
Yet you spend most of your time on nairaland insulting yorubas.

Don't mind d f00l

DispatcherLagos:
Continued........

Having gotten to some heights in taking and delivering orders we started thinking of how to differentiate our business from the hundreds of logistics companies in Lagos. And more importantly, how to diversify and increase our revenue and profit. I came up with an idea and discussed it with my staff, customers and mentors and 90% of them endorsed it.

So we started the first warehousing cum logistics company in Lagos. We literally receive the products of businesses/ people who owns and runs businesses with serious Lagos customers while their businesses aren't in Lagos. We keep this products in our warehouse, package and deliver it to their customers anytime they have order in Lagos or Ogun states. Thereby saving the customer the cost of sending his/her orders to Lagos on every single demand. Also to make sure the goods get to the customer/consumer in good time.

We tried this on a handful of customers and we perfected our strategy before we made it open. We are currently building our mobile apps that will allow customers view their transactions and make payments. We are also looking at opening a warehouse in Iyana ipaja and Maza Maza areas before the year runs.

This is how far and how well we have come in our business. Mind you, I came to Lagos with a view of getting a white collar job, but today (by God's grace), I pay at least 6 persons and business is growing from strength to strength. If God can do it for me, he will surely do it for you. All you need to do is to think smart, pray and work hard. The business wasn't entirely rosy at the starting period, I can remember trekking miles like from ijegun-ikotun...from Egbeda-Ayobo.....from Jakande to CMS.... from Ikeja to Agege etc just to save enough money from the delivery fees I charged. If I couldn't give up, you too shouldn't.

Thanks for your time

Starving to death in your OsuLand would have been a greater honor for you & ur family than spending your miserable time on Nairaland insulting the very people on who's land your making money to feed ur unfortunate self and fam.

DispatcherLagos:
Hello nairalanders, today I felt for once I should share with you guys how I started my business from the scratch and how much it has grown over time.

Disclaimer: The purpose of writing this is to encourage someone out there and maybe to increase my customer base.

Let me start by saying this..... I was the most affected by the 2020 corona virus pandemic as I lost almost everything l had... from my savings to my little business in Umuahia as a result of the nation wide lock down.

Life became horribly bad afterwards as feeding became a big problem talk more of other things. 2021 started very slow for me, I moved to Imo state and got a job in a restaurant as a production accountant (the salary was #30k and wasn't enough to foot all my bills.) But I still saved a portion of it.

Sometime in August 2021 (when I realized that staying in the job was a waste of time) I tendered my resignation and left ( while having a little above #20k in my savings ). Confused on what and where to go from there.... I decided to "risk" it all by moving to Lagos with the little I had.
So I contacted one of my classmates I knew was based in Lagos and trades in the famous Alaba international market. I told him of my plans and how much I had.... I pleaded with him to allow me stay in his house for few days while I find something to do and move out. He reluctantly agreed, so I entered the next night bus and landed in Lagos the next day.

I entered Lagos with approximately #15k left in my account after the transportation fare et al. Life in Lagos again wasn't easy as I walked around and within Alaba international market looking for a suitable job to submit my CV for. I got frustrated when I realized that most big businesses there only had openings for females and the ones that are open for both genders don't pay above 15k/month. I should have moved around to places like Surulere, yaba, Ikeja, lekki etc to continue the job hunt but I don't know anywhere in Lagos apart from Ajangbadi(where my classmate stays) to Alaba (where he trades). Also I had serious capital constraint as I fed from the 15k and it kept going down on a daily no matter how economical I was.

An opportunity presented itself.....To be continued


Please FOD
Puskin
Naijacutee
Dominique

Someone needs to read this.

very sweet story.

DispatcherLagos:
Continued.........

One day after trekking the width and length of Alaba, I branched to one roadside kiosk to rest and at least have a beverage. While there, I overheard two men deliberating on the charge to deliver an item (a hand carry) to somewhere in Ago palace okota. While the sender was willing to pay just #2000 for the item, the dispatcher insisted on #3500. When the sender wasn't willing to go above the 2k, the dispatcher left. And the sender called another dispatcher. Almost the same issue as with him and the first dispatcher played out.

I used my Google map to check the distance of Ago from Alaba, and it wasn't very far, I enquired from the kiosk owner how much can take me to Ago and back and he said 1k. So I said to myself....making 1k today wouldn't be a bad idea....so I met with the sender and told him to give me the item, I convinced him that I will deliver it safely and he should pay me after the delivery. He wasn't comfortable with it as I had no bike or anything that proves I'm a dispatcher, but as God may have it....He gave me the order. I quickly entered a bus going to mile2 as the kiosk owner advised, I paid just #200. To Ago palace I paid #100 and from community bus stop I trekked to my destination. Within 2hrs I am back to Alaba (spending just #600). When I got to the sender's shop, he was very happy to learn the package was safely and speedily delivered. So he paid my #2k and collected my number for further businesses.


The starting of my business.........To be continued

Following.

DispatcherLagos:
Continued.......

After two days, the man called me and handed three items going to Ikoyi, oshodi and iyana ipaja respectively and paid #2000 each for the three. With the use of my Google map I was able to deliver the three items and still had more than 2k as profit. At this point, I said to myself " what if I build a business around this?".
I started doing my research on how best to start and run the business. I was able to come up with a simple approach that worked. I used word of mouth to convince customers and I made sure I delivered within the said time (usually within 48hrs).
With the help of my first customer, I started seeing increase in my customer's base, and within two months, I have made more than 400 deliveries within Lagos and Ogun state.


Problem set in.........to be continued

Following..

DispatcherLagos:
Continued.......

What I thought I alone can handle gradually grew more than my capacity as orders was coming in in their tens and with time, I couldn't handle all and thus I started disappointing my customers. This negatively affected my business as the returning rate of my customer base declined.

To remedy this, I rented a small space, hired two staff (one as office assistant and the other as a dispatcher), I bought a bike (and did all the paperwork involved in running a logistics company in Lagos). With the aide of social media, words of mouth and recommendations, we have over 200 steady customers in our database and so much one-time customers.

Diversification of business.........To be continued

I do follow.

DispatcherLagos:
Continued........

Having gotten to some heights in taking and delivering orders we started thinking of how to differentiate our business from the hundreds of logistics companies in Lagos. And more importantly, how to diversify and increase our revenue and profit. I came up with an idea and discussed it with my staff, customers and mentors and 90% of them endorsed it.

So we started the first warehousing cum logistics company in Lagos. We literally receive the products of businesses/ people who owns and runs businesses with serious Lagos customers while their businesses aren't in Lagos. We keep this products in our warehouse, package and deliver it to their customers anytime they have order in Lagos or Ogun states. Thereby saving the customer the cost of sending his/her orders to Lagos on every single demand. Also to make sure the goods get to the customer/consumer in good time.

We tried this on a handful of customers and we perfected our strategy before we made it open. We are currently building our mobile apps that will allow customers view their transactions and make payments. We are also looking at opening a warehouse in Iyana ipaja and Maza Maza areas before the year runs.

This is how far and how well we have come in our business. Mind you, I came to Lagos with a view of getting a white collar job, but today (by God's grace), I pay at least 6 persons and business is growing from strength to strength. If God can do it for me, he will surely do it for you. All you need to do is to think smart, pray and work hard. The business wasn't entirely rosy at the starting period, I can remember trekking miles like from ijegun-ikotun...from Egbeda-Ayobo.....from Jakande to CMS.... from Ikeja to Agege etc just to save enough money from the delivery fees I charged. If I couldn't give up, you too shouldn't.

Thanks for your time

Wahala no too much .

your inheritance possessions no do you.

well we all pray for a happy stories.

Jeon:


Wahala no too much .

your inheritance possessions no do you.

well we all pray for a happy stories.

Stories are meant for entertainment, education and encouragement right?

Don't be foolish enough to think it's about me

DispatcherLagos:
Stories are meant for entertainment, education and encouragement right?
Don't be foolish enough to think it's about me

Why you come dy vex?

Jeon:


Why you come dy vex?

You must have a great sense of negative humor to detect vexation from correction

DispatcherLagos:

You must have a great sense of negative humor to detect vexation from correction

Lie...
And urs is worse.

Don't play smart

Jeon:

Lie...
And urs is worse.

Don't play smart

I don't lie... neither do I "play" smart.... I'm smart that's all

DispatcherLagos:
I don't lie... neither do I "play" smart.... I'm smart that's all

OK
you must be crazy with the worst humour .

DispatcherLagos:
Continued........

Having gotten to some heights in taking and delivering orders we started thinking of how to differentiate our business from the hundreds of logistics companies in Lagos. And more importantly, how to diversify and increase our revenue and profit. I came up with an idea and discussed it with my staff, customers and mentors and 90% of them endorsed it.

So we started the first warehousing cum logistics company in Lagos. We literally receive the products of businesses/ people who owns and runs businesses with serious Lagos customers while their businesses aren't in Lagos. We keep this products in our warehouse, package and deliver it to their customers anytime they have order in Lagos or Ogun states. Thereby saving the customer the cost of sending his/her orders to Lagos on every single demand. Also to make sure the goods get to the customer/consumer in good time.

We tried this on a handful of customers and we perfected our strategy before we made it open. We are currently building our mobile apps that will allow customers view their transactions and make payments. We are also looking at opening a warehouse in Iyana ipaja and Maza Maza areas before the year runs.

This is how far and how well we have come in our business. Mind you, I came to Lagos with a view of getting a white collar job, but today (by God's grace), I pay at least 6 persons and business is growing from strength to strength. If God can do it for me, he will surely do it for you. All you need to do is to think smart, pray and work hard. The business wasn't entirely rosy at the starting period, I can remember trekking miles like from ijegun-ikotun...from Egbeda-Ayobo.....from Jakande to CMS.... from Ikeja to Agege etc just to save enough money from the delivery fees I charged. If I couldn't give up, you too shouldn't.

Thanks for your time

Glory be to God, i love good news my brother, i love legit hustler like die.

But the problem is dat u wil still rubbish this same lagos with ur alternate moniker, lagos is slum, lagos is overrated, lagos is this and dat while u forgot that lagos offers u what ur place couldn't offer.(pardon me if u re not one of those that do this)

Well sha, we thank God for u