Insights into the success secrets of an Abuja based Fruit store

Attendants at the fruit store attending to customers

few people would want to open a fruit store in Nigeria considering the climate and the poor electricity distribution in Nigeria, fruits and vegetable tend to whither faster in hot climate so if there is no power to refrigerate them they may just all dry off.

So i was in Wuse 2 Abuja,Nigeria returning from a meeting i had with the manager of a top Nigerian investment house that was looking towards investing on small medium enterprises, i needed to get some fruits for the weekend so being new in Abuja i placed my eyes out in search of a fruit stand uknown to me i was about to uncover one of Abuja's biggest SME secret( the fact that if you are determined enough you can make any business sell in Abuja). while i was expecting to find a fruit stand i saw something different, i saw a fruit store i mean how innovative is that? very innovative. a place where you can drive in and park to buy fruits better than those roadside stands that may require you to flout traffic laws to buy fruits by the roadside, here you can park your car without breaking breaking any traffic law and buy fruits for you and your family before going home. 

But that alone isn't the success secret of this fruit store one big secret of this fruit store is its location, apart from the fact that it is located in a very busy area in Abuja where there are many supermarkets, restaurants and boutiques, the fruit store is located between two  important businesses that attracts prospective customers to the fruit store, by the left hand side of the fruit store is a very big supermarket that attract a lot of customers and most times this customers are converted into customers for the fruit seller because the supermarket does not sell fruit or vegetables, while by the right hand side of the fruit store is a bottled water depot where people come to buy bottled water in large quantity the fruit store also enjoy patronage from the customers of the bottled water business.

it was just too bad that i was unable to grant the young man attending to the business an interview because of language issues we were unable to communicate( i guess i would have to start working on my knowledge of the Hausa language) but all the same i was still able to uncover the business secret behind the success of this fast growing fruit store in the heart of Abuja.

A lesson for young upcoming Small business owners: there are few businesses that wont work in Nigeria so it is very easy to think of the one that would work, you just have to be able to think up something that would work and plan it up, i met two young joint owners of a mobile fastfood that told me they spent about six years planning and working up the money it took to establish their business. so as i have always believed funding shouldnt always stop people from developing their brilliant ideas because you will be depriving the world of your relevance when you refuse to act on your ideas.

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POPS'N'CHILLAS the success story of a small popcorn outlet in Abuja

Few people will choose opening a popcorn outlet as their

preferred choice of business in a large city like Abuja

where there are large eateries bakeries and cafe's all

around and the price of setting up business in Abuja is

among the highest in the whole country,

the questions one may want to ask are: how many people

dey chop popcorn?(how many people do buy popcorn?), how

much them dey even sell popcorn and how much gain i want

make inside?(how much do they sell popcorn and what

would be my gain for each sales?), shop money for Abuja

too cost shey na popcorn i want rent shop to sell?( the

cost of renting a shop in abuja is very high why should 
i rent a store and just sell popcorn?


are these the questions that come into your mind
whenever you think of going into such a business

venture?

Well mylastkobo.com bring to you the success story of

POPS'N'CHILLAS a small modern pop corn outlet based in

Abuja

On saturday i and a crew member of mylastkobo.com went

out to interview some small businesses and then we came

across one business that we couldnt afford to ignore,

from across the road, while we were exchanging contacts

with a young small business owner, we sighted a huge

popcorn cup atop the roof of a small cafe with disco

lights around it and we immediately decided that we will

go and see what was going on there that was how we were

able to get you this exclusive interview of a very

brilliant and innovative business venture in the heart

of Abuja







Mylastkobo.com: Hello we are from mylastkobo.com an

online magazine dedicated to telling the stories of

smallscale medium enterprises like your own to motivate

guide and encourage our young people to start up on

their own. We would like to ask you a few questions

about your business can we come in?


POPS'N'CHILLAS(Godwin): you can come in, although my

Madam is not around now so i will just answer the

questions that i think i can answer.


Mylastkobo.com: No problem sir, what is your name?

POPS'N'CHILLAS(Godwin): My name is Godwin.

Mylastkobo.com: how long have you been working here?

POPS'N'CHILLAS(Godwin): Well it has not being long that
we started so i have been around since the startup.

Mylastkobo.com: so you would be able to give us some

details on how it all started?


POPS'N'CHILLAS(Godwin): yes actually this popcorn is not

the nigerian kind of popcorn, my Boss must have come

across the idea from the internet, when we were about to

start she went for a training to learn how to make this
 
kind of pop corn, she had to go under training just to

have the experience and she put me through on how to

make it.

Mylastkobo.com: so how was it like when you initially

started, how was sales like for the business under your

management?


POPS'N'CHILLAS(Godwin):the issue of marketing, i think

that is one area that has been affecting us from the

start till now, although we have to give people fliers

and try to tell people about it but i think marketing is

one aspect of this business that we will continue to

focus on because some people are new to this kind of

popcorn so when you tell them the price they will say"

is it not just ordinary popcorn?" most people do not

fully appreciate the unique nature of our popcorn, but

those that are familiar with our product we usually do

not have any problem selling to them,

as you can see now we are preparing for an event, a

birthday party, and from there we also get the

opportunity to introduce our products to people most

especially the kids and young people.

Mylastkobo.com: So how affordable are your products?


POPS'N'CHILLAS(Godwin): As you can see we have the one of #200, we have the one of #400 and so the price
ranges, although we also sell other products apart from
popcorn like soft drinks, ice cream and we also do chips
and cheese so we have other products apart from popcorn.

Mylastkobo.com: So what do you see for the future in

this business and what efforts are you putting into

making the business grow?


POPS'N'CHILLAS(Godwin): well as for me i do a lot of

research, i try to find new ways to bring customers here

and make them interested in our products, i also

research on other products that we can add to our list

of products so they can bring more people here, for

example in the begining we were not selling anything

apart from popcorn but when i came i researched some

other products and talked to Her about it and She

agreed, thats why you see us selling Drinks and other

thing.

Mylastkobo.com: so you mean you were the one that

suggested those product to your Boss?


POPS'N'CHILLAS(Godwin): Yes.

 
Mylastkobo.com: well Mr Godwin we have come to the end

of this interview, we would like to say a big thank you

to you and your Boss on the behalf of mylastkobo.com and

on the behalf of all the young prospective business

owners out there that you have helped by sharing this

success story.


POPS'N'CHILLAS(Godwin): Thank you

we exchanged handshake and we left, i and my crew member

remained quiet for sometime while we walked away from

the outlet we were still very much surprised that people

could be so innovative to think of such a small and

profitable business idea in a place like Abuja where the

cost of renting a shop could get to a Million naira,

with this success story of POPS'N'CHILLAS i think people

should stop giving escuses and start setting up

something.

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Increase in Start-up cost for Nigerian Small Businesses as Government Ban the use of small Generators.

a small sized power Generating set

There are sometimes when Government would make some decisions and we will begin to wonder if they like us at all. Nigeria is known for one thing and that is poor electricity supply to its people and to its Industries and Businesses, this had been a major challenge for small Businesses But as they always say "in Naija Man must survive" so Small Businesses in Nigeria have to found a way of solving this problem by purchasing small power generators popularly known as "i pass my neighbour Generator" in Nigeria.

This have been the major power source for Nigerian Small Businesses but things are about to change, but with the recent ban of the importation of small generators in Nigeria one can only forsee the damage this will cause for our small medium business owners, Businesses will lose their only cheap source of electricity, the cost of setting up a small business in Nigeria will have to increase because newer businesses will have to buy bigger more expensive Generator set to power up their businesses.

this ban on the use of small generators will introduce small business owners into a harsh and unfriendly atmosphere were they will have to spend more to get power to run their businesses.
One option that would have been open to small businesses in Nigeria would have been solar power, but even that is very expensive. so this policy has in effect increased the cost of setting up a small business in Nigeria.

small Generators in use by Nigerian SME's

Government world over are known for creating an enabling and friendly environment because of its important in creating jobs for citizens and its input into the economy. but with this action by the presesnt Nigerian Government people are begining to wonder if the new Nigerian Government  is SME friendly and what the future of SME would be under his Government.

SME stand for Small Medium Enterprises

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Mylastkobo's exclusive interview with The young CEO of BETA LOOK Laundaries Kubwa Abuja

Mr Femi, the proud CEO of Beta Looks Laundaries in front of his office

The success story of Beta Looks Laundary is one that should motivate any prospective Small
Medium Business owner out there to start working hard to achieve the best. The most remarkable thing about this young Small Medium enterprise owner who finished his National Diploma certificate program in Rufus Giwa Poly Ondo State. Is that he never once mentioned, while he was being interviewed, He never once mentioned any instances when He went out for any so called job Interview or screening test. Here is the interview.

Mylastkobo.com: sir could you please give us a brief introduction about yourself?

Mr Femi:  My name is Emmanuel Oluwafemi and i hail from Ondo state. I completed my National Diploma certificate program in the field of Estate Management from the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic Ondo State, after which i came to Abuja for my Industrial training. After my IT in Abuja i moved down to Maraba to meet my Brother, there was no work so i followed my Brothers friend who is a Painter, i followed him to sites just to learn how to paint then like that, like that i learned how to paint and in two months i was able to carry "roller"(paint brush). i started going for my own Jobs and was earning just enough to keep me going that was how i started developing myself.


Mr Femi attending to questions from mylastkobo.com

Mylastkobo.com: So you finished from what department in Polytechnic?

Mr Femi: Estate Management.

Mylastkobo.com: Wow! so knowing that you did estate management whta made you to go into setting up a aundary outfit?

Mr Femi: After my National Diploma i wanted to push forward but there was no power(money).

Mylastkobo.com: but one would have thought that as you already have a degree in estate managemnet and experience in painting, one may have expected you to develope on your career in the lines of estate Management but what made you to realy choose laundary and dry cleaning as your preferred choice of Business, what made you to really go into this laundary business?

Mr Femi: what made me go into laundary? i was working in a site at one time in Area 2 so i met one Man called Labaran He is was the site Engineer at that site and we also worked in other sites. but the work was not coming that regularly again sometimes we only work once in a month and before the end of the month you dun spend the whole money finish.

An Array of carefully laundered suits at Beta Looks Laundary

Mylastkobo.com: Oh i understand. you people were not getting regular jobs again.

Mr Femi: Yes, so he told me that there was one plan he wants to lay down. He told me that he want to set up a laundary, Barber shop, Women Saloon and Massage parlour that he would like me to manage a department there in short he sent me to train for Laundary.

" it was very hard at first coping with the heat and stress of starching and ironing someone's cloths, infact i just had to manage, After my training he started a new shop in Kubwa here i moved down to Kubwa from Maraba and i just forgot about my house i was working and sleeping in the shop, i was doing everything in the shop like it was my house",

Then after a year when i believed his laundary is already moving, atleast i have laid a solid foundation for his business, i trained some guys for him.

Mylastkobo.com: so you have trained people?

Mr Femi: yes i trained some guys for him he even trained and became very professional, then he oopened another shop and placed somebody to manage it for him, he opened another one for NYSC and put one of the boys i trained there then i managed the head office at Dutse.
after i have gathered some money i had to tell him that i want to leave, that i want to set up something for myself and he told me that i cant go empty like that so he just had to support me

Inside the laundary

Mylastkobo.com: When you started off on your own what was the major challenges you faced?

Mr Femi: Eh! i have faced some major challenges athough i am very good at marketing so i had little problem in that area.

Mylastkobo.com: You know in Nigeria when you want to set-up anything you have to make your own private arrangements for electricity so that the poor power distribution in the country would not affect you, especially a business like yours that is dependent on electricity, so what was your plan in that area?

Mr Femi: firstly before we came down i looked round and saw that electricity in this( Kubwa) is still good and i noticed that the light here is a little bit stable atleast we have up to 18-19 hours of daily electricity which is ok.

Mylastkobo.com: yes that is Ok compared to the statistics from other area.

Mr Femi: So the matter of getting a good customer that was a big challenge but i have learned a lot, we do share fiers, house to house adevertisement, i come to your house, i dont care if you insult me because i am a laundary man or not, some people say " i have a laundary man where do you want me to put him? but sometimes, especially when i came around here people just kept coming they want to check how i work i looked at what they want and how they looked so i decided that i had to improve myself to serve this people and i had to ay a very good standard that in this environment i want to be the best, which i was very successful in that. so i think the packaging and the "perfect ironing", cleanliness of the environment and my way of approaching customers those are the things that made me unique.

inside the aundary(laundary equipments)

Mylastkobo.com: so do you have any strong competition in this area? that you think would be able to challenge your standard?

Mr Femi: ( laughs) in this environment? i dont, only my boys that i trained that can even try to move close to my standard. they will try but the difference is still clear(smilling). only if i just decide to overlook some work.

Mylastkobo.com: so if you want to encourage young people that are wiling to move into your line of business what will you tell them?

Mr Femi: You see, they have to go for training and this work you must love it, you must have the passion because if there is no passion you will just get tired of it and you may not be able to continue.
Mylastkobo.com: so are there sometimes that you feel that way?

Mr Femi: yes sometimes casting of light ( power failure) that may last for up to five days and we will not be abe to work because sometimes to get fuel for the generating set is an issue. and you will have a of cloths to deliver.

Mylastkobo.com: so you get a of pressure from the customers?


inside the laundary( Boys at work)

Mr Femi: ( exclaims) Heh! it is always very difficult. some come here and raise their voices on us, and you know when a customer is shouting in your businesss premises you dont know who is watching, a prospective customer might be passing by, a new customer may want to come in and you are shouting, so those times i sometimes feel like which kind work i even they do self i sometimes feel like closing up the business and find another way.

Mylastkobo.com: so how do you overcome this challenge?

Mr Femi: when they come i address them, some say nothing should be an escuse and some understand. i apologise to them and urge both of my workers to be up and doing in their presence.

Mylastkobo.com: so are you still planning to further your Education?

Mr Femi: i am already pursuing my HND so most times i am no always available i leave the bulk of the work for my young workers and i always try to encourage them, sometimes when i am around i give them 500 naira to go out for lunch, one of them even came to me and told me he wanted to write Jamb and i gave him the enrolment money without deducting it from his pay because i know that if he is successful in the Jamb it is my joy.

Mylastkobo.com: so how do you manage your workers when you are not around?

Mr Femi: you see this( he points to a notification written " call this number for your complaints and suggestions" my customers can always complain of any poor service by my workers to me directly on my personal line. and i always have this ( raising some sheets of paper) customer complaints form that i encourage my customers to use for their complaints.

Mylastkobo.com: so sir what final thing do you have to say to viewers out there about your Buisness?

Mr Femi: this is not an easy job and if you know you can do it then you must go for the training and even after the training you must have passion for the job or you will get discouraged along the line, most especially when the challenges start coming in.
Then to start this kind of business you have to have the money to get a decent shop, paint it, let it look neat and get an electric iron and a good laundary table for ironing the cloths even if you dont have money yet for washing machine for a start in the next three months if you are very good the washing machine will come. and you have to learn to be very careful with money, dont spend anyhow or you will pack up quickly. but there is one thing.

Mylastkobo.com: What is that?

Mr Femi: for a start you have to get support, if not for the support from my former boss i would not have been able to establish something like this with my little savings. and it is a very tedious business sometimes i sleep only for 4hours a day because sometimes we have to work allnight.

Mylastkobo.com: Well the truth is that you are reaping and you will continue to reap the fruit of your labour. i am very happy you granted us this interview, it will go a long way in guiding and motivating prospective Small Medium enterprise onwers who plan on going into this your line of business. Thank you very Much Mr Femi.

Mr Femi: thank you too. weldone.


inside the laundary( Boys at work)

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