The intention Idydarling is not to keep you in suspense but to give you all the necessary tips from my experience that will help you avoid the mistakes that I made. This effort is no joke and I would really you taking it as seriously as you can so that you may ultimately draw the necessary lessons.

:
op is keeping us on suspense

tunwumi:
It is MLM sure or he ll will say forex or GNLD. When he eventually continue he will give you a WhatsApp no to chat with.

Don't wait for what u already know. I will advise u to check to the business of your parent or grand parent. Look for what make it small or unsuccessful and use ur knowledge to analysis and make a try to improve it. That's my own advise for business people.

Allstrasse:


Thanks Karine, I really had to retire at that time. I am only going to do this during my spare time. But I do promise that I will dedicate a lot of time to it this weekend.



The intention Idydarling is not to keep you in suspense but to give you all the necessary tips from my experience that will help you avoid the mistakes that I made. This effort is no joke and I would really you taking it as seriously as you can so that you may ultimately draw the necessary lessons.



Tunwumi, may I begin by stating clearly that this is no scam and it is definitely not an attempt at selling something.



No e-book, no training, no affiliates, no network building.

Regarding the issue of whatsapp or phone numbers, pins etc I have this to state and emphatically so:



In the entire course of this thread My identity will remain hidden. I will not publish any of my phone numbers nor other contact information whatsoever. I will not solicit any form of sales or remittances. I will however refer interested readers to certain business options only on request. A few names may be mentioned and anecdotes will also appear here and some readers are wont to conclude on who I could be referring to after all some of the experiences I am going to recount here are already in the public domain.

This thread is not about Multi-level marketing of which the company G.N.L.D is a towering player. For you information I have cut my teeth in GNLD and other MLM opportunities and would like to say that ignorance is bliss. Many things, indeed almost all being negative have been said about MLM as a marketing model. I on the other hand would like to say that MLM works wonders for some and impoverishes others. I will recount my experiences in MLM and tell my opinion about MLM. In this package I will also mention instances of where certain recognizable people in Nigeria have done very well for themselves thanks to MLM.



In fact suffice to state here that the MLM model is not new. Even as a toddler living then in Hulme, Greater Manchester, I do recall and clearly so how my mum who was a full time housewife worked as distributor for AVON. She used to push my baby brother in a pram with me trolling along as she combed the entire Indian neighbourhood and Piccadilly almost on a daily basis. Even my dad who was then on scholarship was very appreciative of the results which included the outright purchase of a used car.



However, I must commend your insightful projection as expressed in the last paragraph. Every business is a corollary of an existing business. It may not be your fathers or grandfather’s business but it will be something which has been expanded on. We will visit some Nigerian companies even you have not heard of that are expansions or a remodeling or makeover of existing units.

tunwumi:
I'm sure u are aware that what u are doing is illegal on this site u just chose not to obey the rules. Well moderator will do the needful.

tunwumi:
I'm sure u are aware that what u are doing is illegal on this site u just chose not to obey the rules. Well moderator will do the needful.

Allstrasse:
I had to go through the rulesn governingbthe cre tion of threads on nairaland and could not see what I am doing thatbis so wrong. Maybe you would be kind enough to quote the relevant guideline and I wil abandon this project immediately. If you dont I will be forced to continue nd risk whatever the penalty the mds will pronounce and implement and you sir wil have no choice but to remain calm or ignorebthe thread even though I doubt if ou are capable of the latter.

Karin001:
Op, please you cannot abandon your thread because of one person who doesn't see any good in everybody.

Every thread cannot be a scam. Then again good threads will probably be hidden among the bad threads and the onus is on us to separate the if it is we hold ourselves responsible as individuals if we do not verify and check everything out before parting with money. I have personally decided that till the end of this thread I will not contact you nor part part with a single dime. Please shoot.

tunwumi:
Come to think of it if he has something interesting more than mlm why will it take him more than 24 hours to tell us the destination of this scam. I have followed him before with another name. What he has done on you is called social engineering. I challenge op to go straight to the point and ensure he does not put up a WhatsApp no this thread.

Allstrasse:

I have embarked on a number of small and very small types of business over the years. Some of them have really been very small……you could actually call them micro business.

I will relate as many of them as possible in the course of this thread. I am also open to answer all manners of questions on the business and even advise and make suggestions on the issue(s).

I will start this with my very first business, This business did not require any capital whatsoever, The only capital I had was the idea itself. I did have a lot of help but no start-up money. Zero capital led to 58,000 Naira in less than a fortnight (2001).



What was this business? Was it so profitable? Am I still doing it? Are other people doing it?



Is it still very profitable? What do I advise?



All these questions will be answered later today. I will start by telling you how I found the business, how I invested, my ROI and others.



Now I have to retire so that I can energize enough for tomorrows demands.

Allstrasse:


My first business Experiment.



Back home after the passing out parade, I travelled through Lagos and must confess that the pull to stay back in Lagos was simply irresistible but then I couldn’t spend more than a few days as I had no place to stay. I mean I had uncles, aunts, extended family members but I just couldn’t stay simply because my parents wouldn’t agree. In their thinking things must always be done properly and sequentially. I should get a job offer first and prove to them that the take home would actually be enough for me to secure my own accommodation within the n the shortest possible time but most definitely not beyond three months so as not to inconvenience them for too long.



So I had to go back to my home state but since I didn’t feel like returning to my parents house, I took up residence with my very good friend who was and still is a very knowledgeable civil servant. This guy is just a bit older but very humble and accommodating. He is very versed in the theory of business from many fronts. His stock in trade is reading. Much to his immediate family’s charging half his earnings till this day is invested in the acquisition of books and business related information. I learnt so much from him and it is through him that I found the conviction to steer my career in the direction of business and entrepreneurship.



He introduced me to the wonderful world of 'waste to wealth'. I read up on it and learnt so much but was constrained because the capital required for it always loomed large. Then fortune smiled on me. I read an article online on the Inc. website and there was a quote there; Start where you are, with what you have. And the author went forward to explain that most of the things required for success already exist around us already but it requires some kind of identifying and development.



That night I couldn’t sleep. I was restless and seriously disturbed. NEPA struck and I was sweating profusely and decided to take a shower just to soothe me a bit. Then it hit me right in the shower. The whole start-up capital that I would require was right there with me all the time yet I was too blind to notice it. This was an Eureka moment for me. This experience has repeated itself many times over for me in different scenarios and at different times.



Please readers should note that I have a thing with standing under the shower for several hours. For me most solutions to problems are received while standing in quietude under a water falling on my head in rivulets. It’s simply exhilarating. This is my ritual and may not work for all but you may wish to try it out since you don’t lose anything in the process.



To be continued soon.

Allstrasse:


My first business Experiment.



Back home after the passing out parade, I travelled through Lagos and must confess that the pull to stay back in Lagos was simply irresistible but then I couldn’t spend more than a few days as I had no place to stay. I mean I had uncles, aunts, extended family members but I just couldn’t stay simply because my parents wouldn’t agree. In their thinking things must always be done properly and sequentially. I should get a job offer first and prove to them that the take home would actually be enough for me to secure my own accommodation within the n the shortest possible time but most definitely not beyond three months so as not to inconvenience them for too long.



So I had to go back to my home state but since I didn’t feel like returning to my parents house, I took up residence with my very good friend who was and still is a very knowledgeable civil servant. This guy is just a bit older but very humble and accommodating. He is very versed in the theory of business from many fronts. His stock in trade is reading. Much to his immediate family’s charging half his earnings till this day is invested in the acquisition of books and business related information. I learnt so much from him and it is through him that I found the conviction to steer my career in the direction of business and entrepreneurship.



He introduced me to the wonderful world of 'waste to wealth'. I read up on it and learnt so much but was constrained because the capital required for it always loomed large. Then fortune smiled on me. I read an article online on the Inc. website and there was a quote there; Start where you are, with what you have. And the author went forward to explain that most of the things required for success already exist around us already but it requires some kind of identifying and development.



That night I couldn’t sleep. I was restless and seriously disturbed. NEPA struck and I was sweating profusely and decided to take a shower just to soothe me a bit. Then it hit me right in the shower. The whole start-up capital that I would require was right there with me all the time yet I was too blind to notice it. This was an Eureka moment for me. This experience has repeated itself many times over for me in different scenarios and at different times.



Please readers should note that I have a thing with standing under the shower for several hours. For me most solutions to problems are received while standing in quietude under a water falling on my head in rivulets. It’s simply exhilarating. This is my ritual and may not work for all but you may wish to try it out since you don’t lose anything in the process.



To be continued soon.

Allstrasse:


My first business Experiment.



Back home after the passing out parade, I travelled through Lagos and must confess that the pull to stay back in Lagos was simply irresistible but then I couldn’t spend more than a few days as I had no place to stay. I mean I had uncles, aunts, extended family members but I just couldn’t stay simply because my parents wouldn’t agree. In their thinking things must always be done properly and sequentially. I should get a job offer first and prove to them that the take home would actually be enough for me to secure my own accommodation within the n the shortest possible time but most definitely not beyond three months so as not to inconvenience them for too long.



So I had to go back to my home state but since I didn’t feel like returning to my parents house, I took up residence with my very good friend who was and still is a very knowledgeable civil servant. This guy is just a bit older but very humble and accommodating. He is very versed in the theory of business from many fronts. His stock in trade is reading. Much to his immediate family’s charging half his earnings till this day is invested in the acquisition of books and business related information. I learnt so much from him and it is through him that I found the conviction to steer my career in the direction of business and entrepreneurship.



He introduced me to the wonderful world of 'waste to wealth'. I read up on it and learnt so much but was constrained because the capital required for it always loomed large. Then fortune smiled on me. I read an article online on the Inc. website and there was a quote there; Start where you are, with what you have. And the author went forward to explain that most of the things required for success already exist around us already but it requires some kind of identifying and development.



That night I couldn’t sleep. I was restless and seriously disturbed. NEPA struck and I was sweating profusely and decided to take a shower just to soothe me a bit. Then it hit me right in the shower. The whole start-up capital that I would require was right there with me all the time yet I was too blind to notice it. This was an Eureka moment for me. This experience has repeated itself many times over for me in different scenarios and at different times.



Please readers should note that I have a thing with standing under the shower for several hours. For me most solutions to problems are received while standing in quietude under a water falling on my head in rivulets. It’s simply exhilarating. This is my ritual and may not work for all but you may wish to try it out since you don’t lose anything in the process.



To be continued soon.

Allstrasse:
What struck me in the shower then was the fact that what I was seeking the means and not the end. In the waste paper business collectors buy used paper and sell it to industries that have recycling plants who in turn bleach and recycle the paper into some other use like toilet tissue etc. As insignificant as this may now appear it was a momentous experience for me then as it is even now as I reminisce. I was going about bothering myself to look for capital to buy paper to supply recycling plants whereas I would just have sought the paper itself. Furthermore, I grew up in a university campus and paper was never in short supply. By 6.00am I was I at my parents’ residence in the staff quarters and immediately I had access to the house I went to my former room and climbed to the upper compartment of the wardrobe and evacuated all my used exercise books, workbooks, textbooks from Primary and secondary school and piled them up. I also retrieved all the old books of my siblings and cousins, old newspapers and magazines. It was like a certain madness had taken over me. Meanwhile my parents awoke to the noise and seeing the pile of papers concluded that I was helping to Spring-clean the house. They volunteered more textbooks, newspapers, magazines and whatever paper they could find. After combing the entire house for papers, I now sat down and sorted them. That was the end of day 1.

On the second day, I borrowed my dad’s very old 504 station wagon car and loaded the paper and went off to sell. From the calculation model I had gotten from reading various used paper magazines and online portals, I had reckoned that my used paper would give me nothing less than 180,000.00. Under pressure to sell since I had only one possible buyer, I gave in and sold for 58,000. This was on Thursday. I was actually very happy about the sale and went telling my flatmate about my success. He was elated himself but when told how much I had sold it for he winced. He then took me to meet some printers who usually sold the same used paper to the major buyer and I was told that the weight for which I was paid 58k would actually have fetched me 210k. I was flabbergasted. But what could I do. The deal had been struck and that was it. After much encouragement I started all over again but this time I started asking for paper. You will be amazed that tucked in the various wardrobes of the several residences of lecturers and other staff of that university were several books from their children who had long finished school and moved on. Some I got for free and some I got for a stipend given to the housekeeper or gateman as the case applied.

This time I was also very careful as I ensured maximal profitability. As a matter of fact what eventually happened is that I accumulated enough paper to sell off to a major paper mill in this country. The total amount accruable from this second outing was 473,300.00.

I then did a third tranche. At this point my mum had started seeking psychiatric help for me alongside spiritual deliverance from madness. My dad was a bit worried but trust him when he heard how much was being made he suddenly sprang into consulting mode. He also started a little bragging among his friends’ ant that wasn’t very helpful.

The third tranche gave me about 510k but the problem at that point is that the logistics and settlements had rubbed of a lot of the profit. Secondly a few people had been inspired to join me in the business so wherever I went I was no longer the guy who helps deplete paper refuse but the guy who doesn’t pay for paper trimmings.

The final blow that took me out of the business was when my dad invited me home on a Sunday and introduced me to his friend, who incidentally was a retired Group Captain. In his preamble this man who was the foremost fertilizer merchant in the state listened to my innocent story about the paper business with rapt attention while copiously jotting down all he heard on a notepad. (With the benefit of hindsight he might as well have had a video recording of me as I sang like a canary). By the time I finished telling him everything and by everything I mean EVERYTHING, it appeared he had undergone a transfiguration. He promised to HELP me and reassured my father that I will become a great man. He then asked me to see him in his office the following day. Thinking that I had finally met an angel investor who was willing to change my life forever without interest I rushed to his office and waited for him long before the appointed time. He finally arrived at about 10.00 am and went into a long story about how that business as humble as it was could be transformed in to a colossus and commended me on my focus and determination. He then proceeded to add that I have now proven a point and that it was time for US to transform the business into what it needs to be in the future. Honestly at that point I had really stopped listening. Us Ko! Us ni! All the same I allowed him talk about how glorious and beautiful the business can turn into just with an injection of a few Millions and experience. All this talk culminated in his offering me an appointment letter as Business Development Officer in his conglomerate. Salary was 30,000.00 per month with a Kia Rio as the official car. I was really hurt and felt bruised and undermined. I turned the job down and went home. His ego was touched and he rambled to my dad all evening. My dad tried to convince me to take it for a while at least as a starting point. My Mum kept reading the appointment letter over and over again. She kept repeating that she didn’t see any clause regarding retirement benefits (aka pensions and gratuity).

The following week when I resumed my rounds I found out that wherever I went my customers/suppliers were a bit evasive and uncomfortable with me. At no point could I see paper to buy. Where there was paper, it was had always been paid for. At some point one lady who really liked me then and always showed it called me aside and requested for a date. I did take her out and she then confided in me that all the printing houses in that city had received deposits of 50k to accumulate all their waste paper for a certain company. I was in the lurch. There are lessons to be learnt from here I suppose. Feel free to say something.

Allstrasse:

There are lessons to be learnt from here I suppose. Feel free to say something.

Royal155:
It pays to guide your business secrets