Afripreneur

Afripreneur We believe small businesses are the change agents necessary for Africa's future

Afripreneur is a community of Entrepreneurs and would-be Entrepreneurs who believe in Africa. We hope to connect Africa business by business and inspire the next generation of African Entrepreneurs in the process.

Focus is good, but sometimes, it's okay to slow down or get disorganised a bit. This allows you to evaluate, adjust, cha...
30/12/2023

Focus is good, but sometimes, it's okay to slow down or get disorganised a bit.

This allows you to evaluate, adjust, change, etc. This is almost like a recipe for innovation.

The motive that drove your right direction from a year ago might not be sufficient to be the motive that will determine your success in a year to come.

Yes, focus is good and working with a structured regimen is okay but sometimes, try and slow down.

The creator of the life we live in know the reason why humans experience some things that takes things away from we humans temporarily for us to get something greater. A part of it is what we easily call sacrifice but again let us meditate more on this.

Cheers!

Tuale!!!

29/12/2023

One of easiest things is not to believe and not to trust.

It takes a lot of work and commitment to trust/believe.

19/12/2023

When the traditional model is convenient,

Why should the target user use your new solution?

29/04/2022

As the foundation is important to a building;

so also is research & intelligence to a business.

27/03/2022

IT IS NOT AS FAST AS YOU THINK.
A small manufacturer of packaged drinks contacted AgentMe to sell her products at the end of 2021.

When we asked how she has been selling, she said people in the past have promised her certain targets and they were not able to deliver. "She asked, how will you be different?"

We told her we're sorry about her disappointments but in most cases (based on our long experience) it's usually caused by businesses with good but unrealistic expectations while the engaged agency plays along without telling them the truth.

Fast forward to a week ago, the business came back and said they're ready to begin.

The owner said they have done their calculation and want to match those numbers.

We asked her, "Are you planning to make all the money you invest in customer acquisition in the first month? Her response was a YES, and we told her, the chance of that happening now is very slim (probably 1-10%).

For her particular product category and target market category, we have seen how the market responds for one of the biggest drinks brands in the world. Honestly, It doesn't even work that way.

We asked her, "when you get customers, how many months do they keep buying from you?" and she said, "they buy for long." Then we asked, "why are you using only the outcome of one month to assess those who will get those customers? She kept quiet.

From our experience, most customers will start with a small quantity and expand from there.

In closure, we told her to think about this and once she concludes, she can get back to us. As it is now, we won't be able to work with their business until the expectations are realistic enough for us.

Finally, if anyone thinks we were wrong on the product adoption, please i am willing to be educated on this.

Tuale!!!






EASIER WAY TO START A CATTLE (COWS) REARING BUSINESS(Starting with little or no capital)On Sunday, a young fellow approa...
31/01/2022

EASIER WAY TO START A CATTLE (COWS) REARING BUSINESS
(Starting with little or no capital)
On Sunday, a young fellow approached me to discuss an idea of starting a cattle rearing business a friend of his told him about. He said he is just to get about N200,000+ to get calves (young cows) and rear them for some months to sell when they are matured at a higher price/profit.

I told him okay, that too is nice. Then i asked what if those young cows pick up a disease, what happens? He didn't have any answer. Then i asked again, Since he didn't have an answer, what will happen if the young cows die? His eyes opened and i told him at this stage, capital is not the first thing he needs.

Then i told him he needs to start from SALES! He should first go and find people who likes to buy cows and the meat. He should be the one linking them to sellers and he gets a commission on his transactions.

Sales will provide him regular money in commissions, customer relationships with multiple buyers, deep understanding of the market & cows, etc.

So, in the same period when he is expecting to profit on only two cows (with massive risks), he can build a thriving business that has the capacity of multiple cows.

He thanked me and left.

As usual, i wished him all the best.

Tuale!!






Photo Credit: Business Day

We rejoice with our Muslim brothers and sisters.Eid Mubarak!
20/07/2021

We rejoice with our Muslim brothers and sisters.
Eid Mubarak!

MANUFACTURERS; HOW TO HANDLE SALES TROJAN HORSES IN OPEN MARKETSMost especially those of us searching for Distributors(m...
03/02/2021

MANUFACTURERS; HOW TO HANDLE SALES TROJAN HORSES IN OPEN MARKETS
Most especially those of us searching for Distributors
(my edited repost)

STORY:
At a meeting with a well known company, a director told us the story of "A certain middle east company (can't mention their name) that made calculators and penetrated the Nigerian market years ago. In their search for off-takers, a distributor somewhere in Eko Market agreed to be their main distributor and paid millions for the initial set of calculators."

Deal went on well for a few years until the distributor had good control of the market. Then the distributor flew out to make his own brand of calculators (Cheaper too but of a lower quality) and started selling them to compete with the existing calculator business (as he had a higher margin). A few years after, the original middle east company shut down (as revenue crashed) and left.

OBSERVATION:
The director told me he is wary of going the route of a very large distributor paying large to take his products and asked our remedy.

I told him its not a problem as we could help control part (as you can't control all because most distributors already have their own channels) of the channels that buys products from their distributor and we maintain it that way. With that, they can keep control and their eyes on a good chunk of the final market.

This approach has its nuances (and approach will vary from business to business) too which we are very well aware of.

We also discussed other ways the market can be approached especially across the country with different local markets.

You can also share similar stories and how such businesses survived.




Tuale!!!

Simple approach to revive your sales in a pandemic economyHere are 5 Steps to help you toThere is a pattern we are alrea...
01/02/2021

Simple approach to revive your sales in a pandemic economy
Here are 5 Steps to help you to

There is a pattern we are already noticing across board many proactive local and international businesses we work with across Nigeria.

Many have actually made post pandemic adjustment to their products and services.

This is not about those who have embraced remote work.

For those still waiting for the normal to resume, please note the current situation is the new normal for successful businesses we have seen in the last few months.

How to do this is to;
1) Look at your business
2) Assess all the ways the pandemic and economy has affected your business.
3) Assess the burdens that can be removed or adjusted
4) Look at the new opportunities that are available/emerging and embrace the ones you feel your business will have a strong advantage in
5) Go to market.

We came back after lockdown to see Bailey's in sachets, Cold Stone following the path of Fan Yogo, etc.

And remember to include sales in your new product development.

Don't be left out.



Photo credit - Stanford University

Tuale!!!

30/01/2021

How most businesses do their sales wrongly.
What you can do to stand out.

When we interact with most businesses for the first time to sell their product or service, it always more about driving sales, meeting targets, etc.

One thing many don't always ask themselves is, "Are we providing a solution?"

Instead of saying, "I want to sell my product or service," we can say "I want to sell a solution to .... customers." Once we are self aware of this, we can reduce the barrier to sales and waste no time on things the market won't like to buy.

This you will be able to achieve by gathering market data and research. It gives you the perspective of the customer.

Once we now understand the market properly, we can then craft an irresistible offer.

While we always remember products and services (which focuses on us); we should also focus on solutions and offers (which focuses on the customers).

Remember, no ones wants to be sold but everyone wants to buy; we just need to know how.




Tuale!!!

Avoidable Sales Problems Some Technology Startups have created in NigeriaAnd how to avoid being part of it.Those of us w...
22/01/2021

Avoidable Sales Problems Some Technology Startups have created in Nigeria
And how to avoid being part of it.

Those of us who launch innovative products or services trying to enter new markets and locations across Nigeria need to be careful when entering these locations.

People have gone into many places to create a mess and the level of distrust has increased in those locations. Even a senior team member of Agri-tech start also confirm this to me early 2020.

In 2019, a field agent of ours selling a fintech solution went to engage potential customers. The following morning, on the way to the market again, a trader who recognised him advised him not to go there as some traders there were conspiring against him.

He asked why, as he hasn't done anything wrong. Then the trader explained that some people came a while ago to sell yearly subscription of a certain software to some of them in the market. After few weeks when they had technical issues, there was not one to help them out. So they abandoned the software and felt cheated.

The field agent had to update us and moved to an entirely new market to continue engaging potential customers.

Finally, for those of us who have technology/innovative solutions we are deploying to the field; please we need to be as honest as possible with the market as its still our community where everyone will still go to.




Tuale!

You don't know how to sell your technology product to customers offline?Here is how Emeka did itIn 2019, a certain tech ...
13/01/2021

You don't know how to sell your technology product to customers offline?
Here is how Emeka did it

In 2019, a certain tech company had a product for SMEs to manage their stores.

We deployed over 10 field agents to various markets across Lagos before the nationwide expansion plan.

One field agent (Emeka) was the best in applying the go-to-market strategy (will write later about realities of this)

He usually first assesses and profiles (qualifies) the type of customers he meets. He will do a lot of walking around and assess if they meet certain criteria.

Once that is done, he will approach them, introduce himself and find out how they have been solving a particular challenge; and ask if there is something else they are still interested in.

He listens to them and connects a thing or two of what they need to the solution he is selling.

Once the entry point is confirmed, he secures it with further discussion and recommendations. Then he introduces the product.

When the product is deployed, he will make sure he is there and follows up a week after to get feedback from buyers.

Unlike others, who had to always get fresh customers, some of the customers Emeka got were referred by existing customers he onboarded.

Its not how far but how well; and followup after sales is very critical.



Photo Credit: Wealth Result

Tuale!!

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