Greetings Nairalanders,

Looking forward to be a valuable contributor.

I apologize if I was not able to answer everybody questions in a timely manner.

This month has been a very challenging month for our team. But we've managed to get through it all and we've added one more truck to our fleet just a few days ago.

We have obviously learnt alot of new things working directly with the factory.

I have done alot of searching around Nairaland concerning how Independent Transporters (IT) working directly for the factories operate, their challenges and how they overcame it. But I have found little to no information about it. Instead alot of information I have read was like a Cherry On Top and basics such as managing the drivers, types of trucks to buy, etc etc. But truth is, there is alot more.

I will try my best to write about how haulage business really works once you become an IT.

I am not exactly sure where to start. But I will separate into 2 parts

1) Relationship between Investors and Haulage operators.
2) Working with factories and their challenges.

Relationship between Haulage operators and investors.

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for the interest in this thread and your emails are much appreciated. Many of you aspire to get into the haulage business and we encourage you to do so.

I would also like to state that, even though we got alot of requests, we have not taken any investors to invest with us yet. Nor have we taken anyone else's truck under us. The new truck that I mentioned above was bought by our own company.

The following are something we've learnt.

Haulage Operators and investors Relationships

Take your time, collect your data and never rush into taking investors money

Collect Data -- When you take money from investors, you've agreed/promised/signed a contract to pay them a certain amount every month. But can you really deliver? You need to look at your numbers. Do you have your monthly numbers? Then you need to do accounting with those numbers, It takes time to collect sufficient accounting data. Once you have sufficient accounting data, you can really truly start calculating average profits, cost, fixed costs, unseen costs, net profits, average revenue, etc etc. It will be based upon these data that you will truly know if you can deliver what you promised to your investors.

From what we've seen, some people just want to get into haulage business quickly. They have some contacts and decide they can start making money doing business with these contacts without detailed analysis of the accounts.

Be level headed and calm -- When you have some people eager to invest with you, you feel this rush of excitement, you are thinking "I have to get this persons money and invest and grow. We'll grow! We'll grow! I have to do it as soon as possible." At some point it may be easy to take peoples money but can you really make it grow as you've promised? Are you buying good trucks and not rushing into buying just any truck? We decided we did remain level headed and not be too excited to get people to invest us yet until we know for sure we can deliver. There is nothing worse than your reputation being damaged. Your company's image is your business lifeline. If you fail to deliver, people will start talking. Always do your best to make sure you can deliver before taking investors money. Be calm and level headed.

Be very detailed with your accounts and numbers -- This is straight forward. Make sure you have taken all expenses into account. Everything. Spend as much time as you need, but make sure you've calculated everything properly. Haulage requires very detailed accounting because there is so much involved into managing it. Furthermore when you take investors money and pay them their dues, the accounting gets a bit more complex. Make sure you are well versed with your average profits, net profits, how much trips your 10 tons, 20 tons 30 tons are taking every month, percentage of profits etc etc. Every truck should have its own accounts, repair logs, everything else you believe is essential.

Teamwork helps -- Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses. I believe teamwork is invaluable. Everything that I mentioned above requires some degree of teamwork. If you want to grow and be more confident when taking investors money or approaching banks, you need a trustworthy team.

Take your time and build relationships -- Today you may not be able to use the investors money wisely, but one day you may. And when that day comes, your relationship with your investors will determine if they would invest with you or not. At the end of the day, although money and bottom profits is extremely important, building relationships is also equally important.

In my next post I'll write down about working with factories and their challenges.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

PS - Our website email is now working. You can send us any questions or queries at info@thai-alpha.com

Greetings Nairalanders,

Hope you are all doing well.

Today I will talk about factories and business is done with them.

I wonder, are there any Independent Transporters here working directly for the factory?

Here's what happening with the factories.

-- Now it looks like the factories are slowly changing their standard of doing business. The managers of factories wants to move away from the system whereby the Independent Transporters(IT) allow other people trucks to register under them to work directly for the factory. In this system, the truck owners manage everything about the truck, from the drivers to maintenance. The IT simply take their 10% - 15% revenue for allowing the truck owners to run under their name. Recently the managers are insisting that Independent Transporters own and personally manage their own trucks. This was one reason we had not taken anybody else's truck under our wing yet.

-- Big factories are kicking out bad IT like the jibs. There was a recent news that one politician had bought 40 mega trucks for one big company and two big companies with whom we have close relationships with are now focusing on big IT, or at least reliable IT like us. Its a good thing we have close relationships with their managers.

The reason the factories are now pushing for IT to own their trucks are due to 2 reason in my opinion

1) People like JIBS causes all sort of issues by not paying truck owners on time and sometimes not at all. And the truck owners would either neglect their trucks, get frustrated, lose hope, complain or sell their trucks and this adds alot of headaches to the factory delivery system.

2) Sometimes the truck owners themselves are incompetent at managing their trucks and it causes all sorts of delays for the factories. The factories want competent players to manage trucks to ensure deliveries are made on time and without issues.

Ultimately Trucks running under one management will be more effective than having it run by two management team simultaneously. Its less headache for the factories and they realize it.

-- When you become an IT, the game changes somewhat. Accounting is not as simple and the payment system of the factories are not like the jibs.

When you're working under the jibs, the jibs are the ones paying fuel for you. But when you work for the factory you have to pay for your own fuel. When you're working with factories, you always have to remember that you're working on credit. WORKING ON CREDIT means that you have to pay for your own fuel, repairs, drivers, motorboys and every cost associated with the trucks BEFORE the factories pay you. Factories normally take around 1 month to pay you your revenue. This means that you need to have enough CAPITAL RESERVE to fuel your trucks for 1 month to make sure it runs. Without this reserve, your trucks wont run, and if your trucks don't run, factories don't pay you. Simple. Make it run, and make sure they continue to run so that you have constant CASH FLOW. When you have 5 trucks under you and you're making 20-25 trips a month, can you imagine the capital reserve you need before you get paid by factories? Needless to say, I had to inject more and more money to make sure the trucks kept running until cash flow was stabilized. This area will most definitely be overlooked by the aspiring haulage entrepreneur. It was overlooked by us but we managed to get through and grow in the process. But it did stress me. Now we're quite aware of how the system works.

Always keep in mind that in the SUPPLY CHAIN, factories always work ON CREDIT. This is true for every factory around the world, Nestle, Microsoft, Apple, any. Your CASH FLOW is your lifeline. If you disrupt this CASH FLOW. You will be in dire situation.

Remember, you will make mistakes and overlook some details and that is an inevitable part of business. But that is part of the learning process and if you really learn from it, you will grow.

Being an IT is not an easy task. You need capital, lots of knowledge, you need connections, and you need to pray for good Drivers and mechanics.

It is our goal for this year to expand to a fleet of 10 trucks within six months to a fleet of 20 by the end of next year.

In my next post I will debunk alot of myths you will find online about the Haulage business and even some insights about the numbers in the Haulage business.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

PS - Our website email is now working. You can send us any questions or queries at info@thai-alpha.com

Greetings Nairalanders,

Hope you are all doing well.

Today I would like to debunk a popular Myth you read online about the Haulage business.

We're Independent Transporters working directly for the factories with complete accounts at hand.

I've often read that Haulage Managers can give you a payout of 200,000 to 400,000 nairas every month. Looking at our yearly accounts, I can say that it is a myth depending upon how you've invested and worked with the IT.

Things to consider first --
- The net profit is around 40% of revenue minus the cost of tyres. Tyres which are an essential part of trucking will eat into your profits.
- a decent tyre will cost around 80000 nairas. A 10 tons, 20 tons truck has 6 tyres. Tyres must be changed every 12 - 18 months.
- Fuel is expensive.
- Below are examples for the haulage industry delivering goods for the factories. 10 tons and 20 tons trucks. This is not for a 40 footer.

Scenario 1

DEBT FUNDING

Contract -- 3 year.

Monthly Payout -- 20% ROI of capital invested every year payable "every month".

Supposed amount invested -- 2900000 Nairas. Monthly payout will be 49000 monthly. 580000 Nairas yearly.

3 years combined payout -- 1740000 Nairas.

End of 3 year contract -- Total principal capital is returned in bulk 2900000 Nairas.

Total money returned by end of 3rd year contract -- 2900000 (Principal Capital) + 1740000 (20% yearly payout) = 4640000 Nairas.

What happens in Debt funding -:

1) IT 100% manages the trucks and every details of the business.
2) IT genuinely looks after the condition of the truck because at the end of the contract, the truck belongs to the IT. It is in the best interest that the IT looks after the trucks.
3) Investor takes no part in management and simply gets his monthly payout
4) Original capital is returned in bulk after 3 years.

------------------

Scenario 2

WORKING UNDER US.

Contract -- No limit

Monthly payout -- Total revenue generated minus 10% for allowing to work under IT. Estimated monthly revenue generated varies depending upon how much trips your truck takes. Normally it take around 3-5 trips a month. So conservatively estimating monthly revenue generated based on 4 trips is around 573000 Nairas. IT takes 10% of it. so, you're getting is a monthly revenue of 515700 Nairas.

Supposed amount invested -- 2300000 Nairas.

Fuel, repairs, drivers, entire truck management -- The truck owner is solely responsible for everything.

Estimated net profit the truck owner generates per month -- 150000 - 170000 Nairas.

What happens in working under us -:

1) The truck owner bears the responsibility to manage his truck entirely.
2) With the total estimated monthly revenue generated, truck owner is responsible for his own fueling, changing of tyres, finding drivers, repairs, Lasma issues, making sure goods are delivered on time, accidents, and the net profits he himself generates.
3) Our estimated net profit on revenue generated is around 40%. NOT INCLUDING TYRES. TYRES will be a significant cost. Estimated net profit that the truck owner should be making is around 166280 per month including all expenses PAID including tyres. 150000 Nairas to be more conservative.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see from the above. There is NO WAY, a Haulage Manager can give you the amount of monthly payout if he is managing everything for you including repairs, tyres, fueling, everything.

Your Haulage manager will take and must rightfully take half of the profits the truck generates. I emphasize the word "rightfully" because haulage is indeed extremely management intensive and may not be worth their time or effort if they're not taking their fair share.

With the figures above, You can decide on your own what sort of investor do you want to be.

You have 2 absolute choices.
1) Be a passive investor (Debt funding)
2 Be the manager yourself. (Come under us)

So the PHRASE -- I, the Haulage Manager will give you a payout of 200000 to 300000 Nairas and manage the truck for you in my opinion is FALSE. The only people that will promise a 200k - 300k for a 10ton - 20ton truck monthly payout and manage the trucks for you are the JIBS. And they're plenty of them out there. And don't be surprised when payment stops within 5-6 months. Because in the long run, that's not possible if you factor in every single cost.

THE TRUTH -- You can earn 150k - 200k Net. But you have to manage it yourself.

Conclusion

Haulage business as you can see is a very profitable and a good investment. But you have to be realistic about your expectations. Its never easy to make money, in any industry, and the money made is related to the amount of EFFORT you put in. Any business in the world that promises you MORE THAN 20% passive yearly returns PAYABLE EVERY MONTH on your investment should be looked upon very suspiciously. Nigeria is a place where you can make money and be rich. But NOT OVERNIGHT!

For the discerning investor -- 20% ROI per year "payable every month" is what you will get max out of Nigeria.
Compare this with a 24% ROI when you invest in Dubai, but your money will be locked for 4 years with NO MONTHLY PAYMENT.

For the people that wants to manage it themselves -- Good luck! Reach for the stars!

My humblest regards,

Your friend.

questions? Queries? You can contact us at -- info@thai-alpha.com

SENT YOU AN EMAIL BUT YOU ARE YET TO RESPOND..

Dear Mr. Sensisosu,

Please kindly be patient and await our reply, we are working on it.

Kind regards,

Nineveh

iceberylin:
The annoying part is Foreigners think Naija is a Great Country....

i jst laugh @ dia stupidiry

Who then is stuppid ? the foreigners that saw something good in ur country or you that stupidly think that they are stuppid ?

ThaiAlNigeria:
Greetings Nairalanders,

Hope you are all doing well.

Today I would like to debunk a popular Myth you read online about the Haulage business.

We're Independent Transporters working directly for the factories with complete accounts at hand.

I've often read that Haulage Managers can give you a payout of 200,000 to 400,000 nairas every month. Looking at our yearly accounts, I can say that it is a myth depending upon how you've invested and worked with the IT.

Things to consider first --
- The net profit is around 40% of revenue minus the cost of tyres. Tyres which are an essential part of trucking will eat into your profits.
- a decent tyre will cost around 80000 nairas. A 10 tons, 20 tons truck has 6 tyres. Tyres must be changed every 12 - 18 months.
- Fuel is expensive.
- Below are examples for the haulage industry delivering goods for the factories. 10 tons and 20 tons trucks. This is not for a 40 footer.

Scenario 1

DEBT FUNDING

Contract -- 3 year.

Monthly Payout -- 20% ROI of capital invested every year payable "every month".

Supposed amount invested -- 2900000 Nairas. Monthly payout will be 49000 monthly. 580000 Nairas yearly.

3 years combined payout -- 1740000 Nairas.

End of 3 year contract -- Total principal capital is returned in bulk 2900000 Nairas.

Total money returned by end of 3rd year contract -- 2900000 (Principal Capital) + 1740000 (20% yearly payout) = 4640000 Nairas.

What happens in Debt funding -:

1) IT 100% manages the trucks and every details of the business.
2) IT genuinely looks after the condition of the truck because at the end of the contract, the truck belongs to the IT. It is in the best interest that the IT looks after the trucks.
3) Investor takes no part in management and simply gets his monthly payout
4) Original capital is returned in bulk after 3 years.

------------------

Scenario 2

WORKING UNDER US.

Contract -- No limit

Monthly payout -- Total revenue generated minus 10% for allowing to work under IT. Estimated monthly revenue generated varies depending upon how much trips your truck takes. Normally it take around 3-5 trips a month. So conservatively estimating monthly revenue generated based on 4 trips is around 573000 Nairas. IT takes 10% of it. so, you're getting is a monthly revenue of 515700 Nairas.

Supposed amount invested -- 2300000 Nairas.

Fuel, repairs, drivers, entire truck management -- The truck owner is solely responsible for everything.

Estimated net profit the truck owner generates per month -- 150000 - 170000 Nairas.

What happens in working under us -:

1) The truck owner bears the responsibility to manage his truck entirely.
2) With the total estimated monthly revenue generated, truck owner is responsible for his own fueling, changing of tyres, finding drivers, repairs, Lasma issues, making sure goods are delivered on time, accidents, and the net profits he himself generates.
3) Our estimated net profit on revenue generated is around 40%. NOT INCLUDING TYRES. TYRES will be a significant cost. Estimated net profit that the truck owner should be making is around 166280 per month including all expenses PAID including tyres. 150000 Nairas to be more conservative.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see from the above. There is NO WAY, a Haulage Manager can give you the amount of monthly payout if he is managing everything for you including repairs, tyres, fueling, everything.

Your Haulage manager will take and must rightfully take half of the profits the truck generates. I emphasize the word "rightfully" because haulage is indeed extremely management intensive and may not be worth their time or effort if they're not taking their fair share.

With the figures above, You can decide on your own what sort of investor do you want to be.

You have 2 absolute choices.
1) Be a passive investor (Debt funding)
2 Be the manager yourself. (Come under us)

So the PHRASE -- I, the Haulage Manager will give you a payout of 200000 to 300000 Nairas and manage the truck for you in my opinion is FALSE. The only people that will promise a 200k - 300k for a 10ton - 20ton truck monthly payout and manage the trucks for you are the JIBS. And they're plenty of them out there. And don't be surprised when payment stops within 5-6 months. Because in the long run, that's not possible if you factor in every single cost.

THE TRUTH -- You can earn 150k - 200k Net. But you have to manage it yourself.

Conclusion

Haulage business as you can see is a very profitable and a good investment. But you have to be realistic about your expectations. Its never easy to make money, in any industry, and the money made is related to the amount of EFFORT you put in. Any business in the world that promises you MORE THAN 20% passive yearly returns PAYABLE EVERY MONTH on your investment should be looked upon very suspiciously. Nigeria is a place where you can make money and be rich. But NOT OVERNIGHT!

For the discerning investor -- 20% ROI per year "payable every month" is what you will get max out of Nigeria.
Compare this with a 24% ROI when you invest in Dubai, but your money will be locked for 4 years with NO MONTHLY PAYMENT.

For the people that wants to manage it themselves -- Good luck! Reach for the stars!

My humblest regards,

Your friend.

questions? Queries? You can contact us at -- info@thai-alpha.com

you are really doing a great work here.

https://www.nairaland.com/1928831/beautiful-interior-wall-panels-homeshopsceilingsetc

guys check this thread out

Greetings Nairalanders,

A few months have passed and as I've mentioned we've been working independently with a big company listed in the stock exchange.

We thought we had achieved success, we thought the pastures were greener if we worked directly with the factory. But when you have crossed one mountain, the biggest mountain you thought existed in your imagination, and you're walking a straight road ahead, there in the horizon, is another even bigger mountain to cross.

When you're working with a factory, you're working on credit. It means, you continue to take trips for the factory but they will pay you only after 3-4 weeks after you have taken your trip. With 4 trucks, when you take alot of trips, the cost of fuel and every other cost adds up to millions of Nairas. Now here's the issue. The nightmare of anyone in the haulage business. LATE PAYMENTS.

The reason anyone would want to work directly with a Factory is so that you can cut out Agents and Jibs that don't pay you on time. But now we've come to realize that there is a same issue with big factories. Now if the big factories stops paying, then how can anybody effectively do business?

The agreement was we would be payed between 3-4 weeks. We are now entering into our 5th week and still no payment. We keep calling the factory accounting department and the managers we are connected with, but the response is "we've payed; or we promise to pay you by this and this date; the second signatory person was not there to sign the cheque; there was a network issue for processing payment; we will pay within 3 hours"

We are personally going to visit the factory by next week. Lets see what the issue is. I personally suspect there are some inside factory politics being played. We will find out.

We are currently working with 1 factory and networking with several others as well.

Lets see what happens. If you have a story to share, you're most welcome to.

Your Friend.

Greetings Nairalanders,

Update. We just got paid today from the factory. 2100000 Nairas!

Your Friend.

ThaiAlNigeria:
Greetings Nairalanders,

Update. We just got paid today from the factory. 2100000 Nairas!

Your Friend.

Congrats. This amount is for how many months worth of service? Or do you calculate in kms covered by the truck?

kakakibuy:

Congrats. This amount is for how many months worth of service? Or do you calculate in kms covered by the truck?

Around 3-5 weeks of work. Depends upon various factors such as where trucks will be travelling to, no of jobs etc etc.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

ThaiAlNigeria:


Around 3-5 weeks of work. Depends upon various factors such as where trucks will be travelling to, no of jobs etc etc.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

Is it worth it?

sammybrainy:

Is it worth it?

Depends what you mean by "is it worth it?"

ThaiAlNigeria:


Depends what you mean by "is it worth it?"

After the long wait for the factory to pay, was it profitable at the end?
I mean financially

sammybrainy:

After the long wait for the factory to pay, was it profitable at the end?
I mean financially

No one would do business if it was not generating any profits OR the potential for generating future profits.

If it was truly not worth it, I wouldn't be writing here.

Do I see potential for massive growth? Yes.

Hope that answers your questions.

My humblest regards,

Your friend

ThaiAlNigeria:


No one would do business if it was not generating any profits OR the potential for generating future profits.

If it was truly not worth it, I wouldn't be writing here.

Do I see potential for massive growth? Yes.

Hope that answers your questions.

My humblest regards,

Your friend

It does.
Thanks

Greetings Nairalanders,

We're on our way to start working independently with a second Big factory. We're building more important connections and making huge progress. There are some vital things we need to sort out in the coming months. And also if things go out as planned we're on our way to a big deal with our current factory and also in the tipper business.

There are some things (related to banking and finances) that an independent transporter must have access to. I will give updates in a few months as we confirm our progress.

Again, as of now, we are not taking anyone's truck under us as we would want to make sure that we can deliver results to our clients before we do. As we move forward, we will be able to mitigate risks to a minimum to ensure timely and good payments.

Stay tuned.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

ThaiAlNigeria:
Greetings Nairalanders,

We're on our way to start working independently with a second Big factory. We're building more important connections and making huge progress. There are some vital things we need to sort out in the coming months. And also if things go out as planned we're on our way to a big deal with our current factory and also in the tipper business.

There are some things (related to banking and finances) that an independent transporter must have access to. I will give updates in a few months as we confirm our progress.

Again, as of now, we are not taking anyone's truck under us as we would want to make sure that we can deliver results to our clients before we do. As we move forward, we will be able to mitigate risks to a minimum to ensure timely and good payments.

Stay tuned.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

Dear Sir, thank you for sharing all these insights about Haulage business. I must confess I have learned a lot from all your posts so far. I was also in the haulage business for about a year before I left the country insearch of more knowledge and business opportunities.
I will also find time to share with you and everyone else my experiences and how I was able to run the haulage business my own way. Hoping it will motivate someone out there.

Greetings Nairalanders,

I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Thai Alpha Nigeria and our Nigerian team to wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year in 2015.

2014 has been a year of extreme great trials, knowledge and wisdom. We are expecting 2015 to be a year of growth and more wisdom.

I will have new wonderful updates coming up in 2015. Lots of great new info that you probably wouldn't know about taking Haulage business to the next official level and some insights on the tipper business as well as notes about major roles Local Banks play in your business entirely.

I will write it as it happens.

Thank you for the opportunity to be your friends and partners. We have come quite far and we will continue to do our best, bring in more investors, impact lives and continue to be ambassadors for Nigeria, even if the impact is as small as a drop in the ocean, the bottom line is, we did our best.

Stay tuned.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

Do you need lowbed trucks, box body trucks to transport your equipments, cosignments, .....
Kindly contact us
Psalm Trucks and Haulage. We have a fleet of well maintained and reliable trucks; our drivers are ever dedicated
Please call Sam on +2347030470010, +2348028377073

Hello sir,its been a while you put up a post about your haulage business,hope its doing good with all the economic challenges we are currently experiencing in nigeria.
Are you still accepting investor partnering with you?.

KINGOSIRO99:
Hello sir,its been a while you put up a post about your haulage business,hope its doing good with all the economic challenges we are currently experiencing in nigeria.
Are you still accepting investor partnering with you?.

Hope you are doing well!

It has been some time has it not?

I've not been writing much because we've been busy with other matters. The journey has been very interesting and challenging. And we've learnt so much along the way and we still continue to do.

We're still in the haulage business and we'll continue to expand our presence in Nigeria. That's our goal. We've also recently gotten into our second business which for now I'll not write much about.

Its been six months since I last wrote and I'm not exactly sure where to start but I'll try to slice it up post by post. There is so much to write about the "how to approach" haulage business that it would be better organized if written in a book.

Haulage business is a good and sustainable business if you can minimize mistakes from the very start. I think I have covered the very basics at the beginning of the thread.

For now what I'll leave you with is this. Massive success in this business depends upon working for the "right entity" with the right truck.

Having a 40 footer truck and working for the right entity is the very very best way to make most money in this business. We've struck gold with 40 footers. In a few months, we'll see if we can find gold with 20 footers. But they're still performing quite well. But I feel they could do much better.

You'll also be surprised about the inside politics that takes place in this business. One thing you will have to accept, mixing business and human/company politics is a reality you will have to deal with. But if you're genuinely looking to do business and to serve people, you will do just fine. The process simply weeds out the weak willed and benefits only the most determined.

Also there are certain companies that pays the very best rates. But you need 10 mega trucks to go independent with them. We heard recently that a politician bought 50 brand new mega trucks that will work for that very company itself. We have good connections with that company but unfortunately we cant get 10 brand new mega trucks to go independent with them. If a person can go independent with that company, that person will be set for life.

We forsee ourselves being in this business in the long term as we strongly believe new multi-nationals will be setting up factories in Nigeria and they will require trucks to haul goods for them.

As for taking investments. We are ready to take in 1 40 footer truck as the returns for those are the best. You can PM for details.

Apart from that we are very excited about launching our second business that we believe will generate 4-5 times what haulage is delivering.

I'll continue to update this thread and I really hope you can be inspired to take action. There are some more things I would like to write about later regarding the haulage business. Mostly about what you MUST GET RIGHT from the start or else you WILL fail.

Stay tuned.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

Truck business in Nigeria: common mistake http://ayoolaashiru..com/2015/05/truck-business-in-nigeria-common-mistake.html#more
Read this write-up it will help you in your truck business

ThaiAiNig, it was a nice experience reading all the eight pages of the thread as I just stumbled into it. You are naturally gifted, therefore the door will always open for you.

I'm also sure that the people that called you a scam have become overwhelmed by your dexterity and resilience to stay focused to deliver what your intentions were, and have been silenced to their wit.

You have done this because you are not a Nigerian, and I'm proud of you. These insights given here is more than a book. Don't be surprised, somebody will or had copied everything and heading to publishing house so as sell your ideas since it's a no copyright infringement.

I cherish your friendship and will want to be standing by this thread to learn more from you. Thanks

Jonwesley:
ThaiAiNig, it was a nice experience reading all the eight pages of the thread as I just stumbled into it. You are naturally gifted, therefore the door will always open for you.

I'm also sure that the people that called you a scam have become overwhelmed by your dexterity and resilience to stay focused to deliver what your intentions were, and have been silenced to their wit.

You have done this because you are not a Nigerian, and I'm proud of you. These insights given here is more than a book. Don't be surprised, somebody will or had copied everything and heading to publishing house so as sell your ideas since it's a no copyright infringement.

I cherish your friendship and will want to be standing by this thread to learn more from you. Thanks

Thank you for your encouragement and trust!

I would like to share a short personal story. When I was a child, my father was doing business and was pretty successful. Unfortunately he had not passed down any business knowledge to me and my siblings even though we were in our late teens. He passed away before we realized the importance of knowledge. Can you imagine what wisdom he would have accumulated in those 30 years of doing business? And do you know what happens when a man inherits a significant amount of money without any knowledge about how to handle it? He mismanages it and the money simply vanishes. That's exactly what happened to us. And when it did, we were bitter and angry. We were angry at our father for not having passed down all those priceless knowledge he had accumulated. We promised then and there to learn everything we can about business and find a way to start all over again. And we did it. We made alot of painful mistakes along the way (which could have easily been avoided had our father taught us business), but we pushed forward regardless. I can even confess we had cried at one point. We had no idea what we were doing.

A deep desire to share what we've learnt probably stems from our passion in business and our understanding that knowledge needs to be shared. There are so many people that wants to do business but have no idea where to start and what is required to move forward in business (we were in that very same position).

Nigeria has given us an opportunity to make a living and what better way for us to give back by sharing knowledge?

We live and breath business everyday and we enjoy the process. At the end of the day, we can make hundreds and millions of Nairas, but all those nairas has no value after we die. There's no point. But I believe there is meaning (no matter how small an impact we make) in serving a Nation and its people that has helped us make a living.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

I've been waiting for your latest update since officer!
how's biz going with the big-fish you last talked about?
care to give any snippet(s) on the second goldmine you struck?
About the hospitality mgt. project @ Agege, how's that coming for you guys?

Greetings Nairalanders!

How have you all been doing?

It has been such a long time.

Yes Mickey, how did you hear about our Agege project? Its already operational. Its doing great and there is alot of room to grow.

I see Nigeria at the moment is going through hard times due to low oil prices. But at every low point, comes the BEST OPPORTUNITY. Most people have made most money in the lowest point of the economy.

I did like to offer an idea for you all to consider.

But First, I want to thank you all again for all your encouragement and love that you have shown us. For the record, we have not taken any investment for haulage from any individuals from Nairaland although we have been offered many. We think thrice if we can deliver results. If we feel we cant deliver what we promise, we don't take in investments.

We still have our haulage business running. We've also made an entry into the hospitality business in Agege which is growing.

We see our Nigerian business as a long term prospect that will grow in time and soon enough we expect to grow exponentially as we continue to learn the ropes and build influential contacts.

First I want to encourage you all. This low oil prices is temporary. I see the prices of oil going up by the end of this year and increase even more by next year. I have my reasons for this. As the prices of oil goes up, the Nigerian economy will grow as well. Its all a cycle.

Now as for the idea I mentioned. Here is an idea I hope will benefit all of you. No doubt at the moment, there is alot of Nairas inside Nigeria that mostly cant be transferred out of Nigeria. Have you heard of the Nigerian Stock Exchange? I encourage you all to learn and understand the stock market of Nigeria. Currently, the share prices is at its historical lowest. I would definitely buy shares of important institutions such as Zenith Bank, Guaranty etc etc. I can forsee the share prices double by end of this year. I would suggest you all allocate some part of your savings into the stock market to increase your net worth by end of this year and next year.

I have invested in the stock market in Thailand and the prices went up by 70% in a few months time and will continue to grow. And I see the same thing happening with the Nigerian stock market.

Eventually as the prices of oil increases, Foreign investors will have more confidence in the Nigerian economy and this will drive the prices of the stock market up. And now is the absolute best time to invest in the Stock Market.

As much as naysayers say Nigeria is not currently a place to be, I say, in the long term, its one of the best places to be.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

Every business desires to make profit, break-even and as much as possible experience monthly growth and turnover. Those are always the priorities for every entrepreneur but in doing this one must do certain things; there are demands for business, expectations, requirements, tools, and the right of emotion for making decisions and a lot more. An important aspect of all these is being sensitive as a business and this touches every aspect of your business. Wondering how sensitivities come into play in business? Then stay with me on this.

Opportunities and Ideas

Before setting to run a business or in getting that big idea, one must be sensitive to many things; the environment, challenges around, problems, people’s needs, limitation in the society, making things a lot easier and of course the economy and the business environment. I get many ideas every day and I just don’t run to implementing them; just as I was sensitive to register them in mind I still need to be sensitive to know if they are viable for the present time and economy. You need to weigh options or do what is known as feasibility study, ask questions and know if the opportunities presented to you can work.

People

No business is built in isolation or without the help of others. You need customers and clients to thrive, you need them to make the sales, you need them to get that publicity when they refer people to you; that’s how important they are. So when the big ideas come, listen to what people have to say about it and also be careful not to listen to people who get too pessimistic with it. You need to work with reasons of not just your own but those from other people.

THE SENSITIVITY YOU NEED AS A BUSINESS

ThaiAlNigeria:
Greetings Nairalanders,

Looking forward to be a valuable contributor in these forums.

I'm from Bangkok Thailand and our company has been doing business in Nigeria for almost 2 years.

We have a registered company in Nigeria as well as in Bangkok and Dubai.

My elder brother saw an opportunity in Nigeria and made up his mind that Nigeria indeed has a great many opportunities.

Needless to say, actually implementing the idea was not an easy task.

We faced so many great hurdles to make it here that we almost closed down our business at the end of first year for reasons I will further explain soon.

I will separate my post into 2 phases.

1) Our first & second business idea and how that failed (Rice, Clothing and imports)
2) our third business idea and how we made it. (Haulage)

I will start with the first phase

Our first business idea was importing Rice into Nigeria. Seeing that I am from Thailand and Nigerians love Thai rice it sounded like a valid business plan. So we went around Lagos searching for buyers. We came across several powerful women that trades in Rice. We saw these huge warehouses full of rice and many container of rice being offloaded into the warehouses. They were willing and enthusiastic to work with us if we could get them their price. Daily rice prices are fixed. So we made a connection with these powerful women.

Now our next goal was to find the rice at the right prices here in Thailand. But it does not end there. We had to register our rice with Nafdac (Nigerian agency for food and drug). And going to the process of Nafdac is amazingly time consuming and expensive. We hired a lawyer to help us speed the process.

We had also known that the import taxes on rice into Nigeria is 40%. Now here was the issue. We tried finding a source of rice at the right prices here in Thailand but it was not possible. The reason it was not possible was because the import taxes were too high and there was no way we could have made any money selling to the Nigerian Market. We wondered how did other people do it? We investigated. We went to the port and made some connections with some people there and found out that rice importers were not paying import taxes. They were paying money under-table. It is an acceptable practice. But we understood it was against the law and decided to drop the idea of importing rice as wanted to wholly abide by the country laws 100%. We could have made money with the right connections but decided not to go this route.

That is failure of our first business plan.

Our second business plan basically involved importing clothes worth around $2000-$4000. But we failed to sell enough in the market. Due to competition and lack of market research we failed.

After this we decided to try to import various stuff into Nigeria like Air conditioners and electronics. But we realized that the prices the buyers were asking were too low compared to what the factories were selling it for. Plus due to heavy competition, complexity in import/export process and direct easy access to factories itself via alibaba and websites; we as middlemen importers were not needed and even if we were our profit margins would be very little.

So we kissed our import dreams goodbye as well.

Almost 1 year in Nigeria had passed.

If there is one thing we learnt.....doing business in Nigeria was NOT easy.

If you are interested, I will next write the second phase of our story later and tell you how & why we succeeded and the extreme difficulties (To the point where we were about to lose most of our fortunes) we faced before we succeeded in our next venture. (Haulage)

My humblest regards.

Your Friend.

interesting

It will be so nice to hear about your recent experiences