H2ho:
Lalasticlala and Davide470....come and do justice.

Fp Worthy

I hope they will do the justice.

candyguyofficia:
This definitely is my NL article of the year. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to AltarBoy1

Lol... You don go spiritual.

AKWATGOLD1:
The long and short of the story is to be business inclined and focus in your little beginning.

You got it... That's the summary.

ambitiouschap17:
Nice write up

Thanks man.

nitoriolohun:



The guy himself should have sticked to his business idea and come and tell us how far

People are for real making it in business but opportunities differs and resilience differs

Business is not for everybody !!!

Seriously, sometimes I feel that had I known, I could have strive to carry on with biznex. Probably to diversify into another one.

Geosystem:
Op I want to say a Big thank you for this write-up. If people create businesses in this country instead of looking for Job, the issue of Unemployment would have been minimal. I bleed on the inside when I see family members and friends layer off from their jobs without any fall back options. If anyone wants to be wealthy and financially free, it is not in paid job----- maybe NNPC, CBN or Multinationals--------- can give a semblance of wealth but one will have to wait till month end to get paid and its not transferable to ones children as the Op said. It is for this reason I set out to be on my own from the onset and there is no looking back.

You welcome bro. I a! Not castigating against those working, cos even me am working. But if one really need to achieve financial freedom, he needs to create something of his own. Something that he can remove money from at his will.

All these work we do. If your salary is not substantial, you will just be going round and round without having any meaning progress over the years. The problem with most Nigeria firms is that the won't promote you for long and the won't review your salary despite the high rate of inflation. So you as a worker whose salary seems to be enough, after sometime, the salary seems insignificant when compared to the economy. That's why one need to think outside the box to in order to be able to meet with the demand of life.

Uwaomaokey:


I did and I'm impressed, kudos to the OP.

Thanks bro.

WalkerMichael:
TOP GOLDEN INFO.. one of the many reasons I will never leave nairaland. God bless you immensely OP

God bless you too.

iamadonis2:
AltarBoy1

Just read his post and wondered one person should be blessed with so much insight

Thanks a lot bro. So much honoured to be mentioned here.

oweniwe:


Person can't just relocate nau. Relocation comes with lot of extra costs. Where I stay here now costs me 96k per annum but if I were to relocate to... Say Abuja or lagos or enugu, same house will cost 300-500k per annum to rent. I will still pay high NEPA bill on top

Like I said, I don't have that kind of money. Like I said, if I have 250k, I'll use it to invest in alternative power and no nepa bill

Lastly nothing is stable in nigeria. When I started, power supply was about 8 hours daily. After the recent grid collapses, only about 3 hours in the night. Ah area can have stable power supply now, next 6 months, the DISCO won't supply that area well again.

So alternative power supply is the way you go

I get your point, but when I talked about relocating, I didn't mean moving to another state. Probably another area with the state. And just like you said, nothing is stable in Nigeria. That's one of the main factor that kills business.

Lush100:



Sir,
I glanced through your write-up.
All I need is the name of the FMCG.
And the place where they do not have distributor and their pricing details.
Been trying to connect to an FMCG for distributorship since 2018.
I've called many companies.
Sought their pricing details but places are usually already saturated or shared
I want one that is thriving.
Thanks

I have forgotten the name of the company, but they deal on detergents and beverages. If you are looking for products that is thriving, it all depends on your area. I once went to another state for an assignment, I discovered that there is a particular detergent that move very well. I think the name is Viva. But back in my own state of residence, the detergent isnt moving well. SO loom around your area am sure you will be able to notice a product that moves faster. Also, if you capital is high, try teaming up with an already established distributor. Some will be willing to let you buy fro the compnay in their name as that will increase the amount of incemtive/rebate that they will get from the company.

assinozick042:
.am still serving my boss as for nw... Had it been that i knew early i would have stop school at jss3 though itz not too late because i finished secondary school before going into nwa boy line. There is this my customer(very young guy) he should be around 19 and 21, he is on his own doing ok . He buy goods of 80k 90k 70k every 3 to 4 days. Business is so good when you know how to do it. By Gods grace my own time is not far . Am drawing my map on a good location within benue or north east .

EVery thing is step by step so its never too late. And just as you are serving now, but endeavor to be friend some of the customers that comes to your place. If you are starting your biz in same line of biznex, those your friends will likely be your first line of customers before you start getting news once. So be friendly to the customers coming around now.
But one thing I will advice is that choosing a good location is part of business planning, and the way Nigeria is, plz site your biz in an area that does not have security challenges. Dont site your biz in an area where after sometime you will be thinking of relocating it cos of insecurity.

MAy God see you through.

TheManhattan:

Don't listen to this one he has no clue. I mean it, he has no idea what time is it. The best time to build is now you might fail but you have your job to fall on. Keep on building still you get better at it , if the idea is not picking up restratergize . Btw it doesn't have to be a business, you can develop yourself by learning new skills . But start now! Ever wonder why businesses by retirees fail woefully? Because they only started as soon as they retire, they had no learning curve. Time is currency use it wisely.

No mind the guy. Its like he doesn't reside in Nigeria so he doesnt knw that once one retire the person is now on his own, no govt support, nothing.

oweniwe:
AltarBoy1 Wey the light nau?

Na selling you dey do... What if you were into production?

I'm into repacking. No light to power nylon sealing machine. Wetin man go come do? I will sell and use sales money to buy fuel to run gen.. E dey wipe capital. Nigeria is frustrating county

If you say make i but inverter, I don't have 250k to buy robust one

All these are part of the information you needed to have before starting your biz. Knowing fully well that your biz requires electricity, you should have tried to site it in an area where the electricity supply is fairly constant. Now lets analyze this, if you spend roughly 1k per day on fuel, thats around 20k per month and approximately 200k per year which is g=high enough. And I know that with your gen, you might not be running at full capacity as you might want to manage fuel to save cost. WHy not just relocate to a place with constant supply of light even if its means increasing the amount of rent that you will be willing to pay.

egopersonified:
I waited till my salary was 10% of my profits. Then resigned without telling any family or friend, so no one discourages me. If I had more competent staff, I should have five locations by now, but presently on the look out for the third location.

Wow... Thats inspiring. We will get there one day.

BennyDGreat:


Hmm another wisdom. This thread is full of wise men/women.
AltarBoy1 thank you for this thread

You welcome.

BiggyB242:


Family does well financially, when one is an income earner while the other owns a business. OP if you were married trust me you do twice better that's if you marry the right woman.

WHat you said is the truth. Though am not yet married, we are still searching but hopefully before Easter 2021, we will cross the stage

DukeJoe17:


what can you say about opening a betting company,
Do you fathom the probability of people loosing interest in betting in the nearest future because of the harsh economic situation?
I love the business because my kind of work is time demanding and the business is computerized which is very difficult to dupe.

Betting company is good and profitable, when you factor in the fact that these days match results are erratic and peoples tickets keep cutting. The only threat to betting company is if the govt bans it entirely, but the future seem good for such company.

THough on my own, I dont encourage people to be betting.

laivwire:

What if the individual gets sacked! What is the back up. Keep p managing the chicken change till it gets exhausted then start begging?

I have worked, quit and gone full time business, lost and got back into the labour market and there's 1 sentence that sums my opinion.

Focus is speed.

While I will say it's important to start early, it's also never too late. It's just important you have a goal you're working towards.

Great. Thanks for the addition.

jagorinho:
lovely write up!!
I would love to add something, I have friends that run different businesses, but I am concerned with two, one makes snacks and he is big in the business now, he even has sales girls while the other is a barber with many apprentices.

I tend to observe that the one making snacks usually complain about inflation a lot, the price of his inputs (baking products) are always on the high side because of the unstable naira , most times his selling price doesn't really correspond with the percentage increase in inflation because he fears total boycott from his customers but the barber is doing extremely well, on weekends he makes 15-20k daily and 10k on weekdays, and fortunately for him, he does not need to buy or change any of his inputs/barbing materials every time, they are fixed except buying of fuel to generator.

My point is I would really love a business venture that would not be sapping my materials everyday, I won't mind buying everything I need once, so far they will serve me for long before considering replacements for them instead of all these business you have to buy your materials needed every other day, it can be very stressful.

......summary is a baker would need to buy flour, vegetable oil, etc almost every other week but a barber might not change his clipper for six months.

GOod... You are in the right direction. You are already drawing up your analysis and this is what will help you to survive in the long. Once you knw the inherent risk of your biz, you will be able to handle and manueover sudden changes. JUst be sure that the biz you are going into is what you derive joy in doing, and not because someone is doing it.

Godsspeed:
Those pieces of advise in this writeup are what Facilitators gather people to tell them at a cost, but here we are getting them free of charge , that's why many don't value it. OP thank you so much.

You welcome. Thanks for the heads up too.

Synord:


Really nice . Can I email you please ?

Sure you can.

Dat2jo:
What kind of need?

It might not necessary be a need. Go around the state, look out for commodity that is selling so fast. Investigate the price and compare it with the price that its been sold in other state. Then if the price is cheaper to bring in from another state after you factor in cost of transport and logistics, maybe you can start buying from another state to sell in Bauchi.

Dat2jo:
OP what kind of business will you advise someone leaving in the northeast, Bauchi to be precise, to start with a capital of N1m?

Edit: I have no prior business experience whatsoever

People travel from Taraba and Adamawa to Kano to buy good. And they end up selling it to traders from Cameroun, Chad and even CAR. If you can get in touch with traders from those states, maybe you can act as their middle man. BUt like you said, since you dont have any experience, you really need to gather proper information before venturing into any.

rhodman:
Thanks for this piece OP

You welcome.

LikeAking:
Story,story.

U no go manage wetin u don see.

Keep dreaming.

Go into biz after retirement.

Best advice to any worker.

Your opinion...
So if you advice someone to go into biz after retirement, lets say unfortunately the biz failed and the capital gone, what next will you advice the person to do.
GO back and start working againg to raise capital or go about begging for fund. USE YOUR HEAD.

LIVINGICON:
You really elaborately explain this.

To the over-zealous ones, don't get too over motivated to quit your 9-5 and delve into the harsh terrains of owning a business, without
having a roper knowledge of the intended business as well as personal capital.

That is the reality, you dont just quit your job when you dont have a reasonable source of income.

My own rule of thumb is.... dont quit your job until your side business is giving you at least more than half of your monthly salary.

Ikjosh04:
This is insightful!

Thanks for sharing!!

You welcome.

CapodeCapouti:
Nice write-up, we need more of this on Nairaland. In life, always remember that they're two sides to a coin.

You keep talking about those who started business and are doing well now.

You should also know that there are thousands out there who towed that line and got their fingers burnt.

If you were married, and you started a business, someone like your wife could be the person on ground while you keep your job.

Yes of course, there are always two side to a business. But let me talk a bit about businesses that failed. Over the years, there is something I have get to understand. Business grow small small and bit by bit. In my little experience, some business fail as a result govt policies or external factors. If you look at my write up, my own business failed when the exchange rate became unfriendly to NGN. Then my mistake was that I based solely on a particular product that I perceived gave me higher rate of return. If I had invested part of my capital in locally made biscuit with little return, probably that would have kept me going.

Another reason why business fail is lack of patience. Some people start up business with a projection that in the next 6 month they will be making millions. Then after 6 months and their profit is low, they quit. Business needs patience, thats why I talked about business growing via goodwill and reputation which will translate into profit later on in the future. Thats why your start up business shldnt be your source of survival.

Also, some people think that starting a business is all about having huge capital. Thats not always the reality; its more of having information and allies than capital. . Lets take for example... Buying and selling. You will need to understand that goods and commodity have season. If you are dealing on babies accessories, you need to knw that baby pampers for instance have season where the sales is more and profit is high. Am talking about whole sale. During the hot season, some mothers dont like wearing pampers for their babies due to rashes, but during cold season, its not the case. A lot of examples abound. One need to fully understand the business he or she is going into in other to avoid unexpected failure and mostly importantly dont go into any business with greed. Chasing high profit is one of the major reason why some business fail.

Nicklaus619:
Thanks op, I have written and printed, my business plan, next is to register my company and kick off, I have worked for close to 8 years now after graduation, nothing very serious to show for it, I need to start my own business and nurture it to grow
Procrastination is what i have been entangled with over the years, but come 2021. I ain't doing that sh!t no more, I am taking a leap of faith come January, 2021 and hoping and praying things fall in place

Same thing with me. Aside from the shop I bought in an outskirt city in FCT, I cant really say I have made progress over the past 5 years. But one will keep pushing ahead. As long as you are doing it now that you are yound and probably with a young family, you will make it.

zera:


Bro it isn't easy....quitting a job with this present economy situation without first securing a better paid job is like shooting one's self in the foot...

Thats the truth bro. Once you start working and already having expense on your head, quitting your job without an immediate source of income to fall back on can lead to depression.

AsapKen:
To be honest, this is a very informative right up. Take your time and read it

Thanks for the heads up.

If our govt got the back of the citizens, then one can comfortable relax and enjoy the work that you are doing even if the salary is 50k per month.
But knowing fully well that during your retirement age, our govt will assist you with kobo, one have to be a step ahead by ensuring that proper investment are in place before he or she gets old.