CAPTAINCUE’s REVIEW OF AKIN ALABI’s “SMALL BUSINESS BIG MONEY”

[Complete] Title: “SMALL BUSINESS BIG MONEY: How To Start, Grow And Turn Your Small Business Into A Cash Generating Machine”

Author: Akin Alabi

“An ant has no quarrel with the boot”

                                                -Loki, The Avengers, 2012.

The author gifted me a softcopy of the first sixty-three pages and my first impression was that the title is unpretentious. You know what you’re in for. I bought the book two months later.

The book opens with rave reviews from successful contemporary Nigerian entrepreneurs across all business sectors. Essien, Njoku, Nzimora etc all praised the teachings served by someone with actual practical experience in the challenging Nigerian business landscape.

A table of contents highlight the book’s seven chapters before a long foreword by ROK’s Jason Njoku primes you for the pages ahead. The foreword posits the book is a distillation of the vast knowledge of an ‘unfiltered entrepreneur’ (I loved that) who deeply understands the idiosyncrasies of the Nigerian market.

 1. “BEFORE YOU QUIT YOUR JOB TO START A BUSINESS”

The first chapter alludes that the allure of being an entrepreneur is particularly strong upon reading the biography of a successful entrepreneur. In what will set the tone for the rest of the book, the author strips the lush, fleshy stories to their underlying ugly bones rife with challenges and at times, failure.

The chapter (mostly) debunks myths about the entrepreneurial journey – proffering the sort of thinking that should guide someone intent on starting a business and ways to improve existing ones.

2. “HOW TO DECIDE ON THE KIND OF BUSINESS YOU SHOULD DO”

This chapter counsels against approaching entrepreneurship with rigid, preconceived ideas, without factoring market variables into the equation.

‘Do not create a product/business and then look for customers.’

Rather, look for what people want and create a business around it. The book’s Macchiavelian pragmatism starts to manifest here; what with quotes like “forget the ideas you currently have, and let the demands of a market influence the kind of business you do”

The author craftily leaves a piece of advice for punters (patrons of his most successful business) by reminding them betting is more entertainment than investment. That was a nice touch. The chapter talks about how he chanced on sports betting, how he built and sold an information product around it, saw a viable market for betting in Nigeria, and finally; building Nairabet.

He discusses some business ideas, but you’ll end up not memorizing a single one because more than the highlighted ideas, the chapter has one purpose: HOW TO THINK. The culmination of the chapter is to “sell people what they want to buy…not necessarily what they need to buy”

It is explained plainly. {If I told you plainly, would you read the book?}. I will not told you

3. “HOW TO BECOME NUMBER ONE IN YOUR MARKET PLACE”

Laptops.

Which brands come to mind? Exactly. Those, this chapter tells us, are called the “evoked set”.

There is an interesting tale of how Dr Sunny Ojeagbase, the author’s mentor, leveraged on his observation, in the 80s, that people flipped straight to the sports section of newspapers. He took this as a cue to start the first sports paper in Nigeria.

This is a chapter devoted to disseminating knowledge about pioneering, about disruption [(by innovation) if pioneering is no longer an option], about uniqueness AND noisemaking about your uniquery. In essence, this is a chapter dedicated to ways in which you can become part of the evoked set in your industry.

It’s rich.

It is.

4. ADVERTISING FOR MAXIMUM PROFITABILITY

A chapter full of Nigerianisms™; a phrase or a combination of words that couldn’t possibly be used by humans who do not have deep affiliations with Nigeria. The chapter is about getting people to know and patronize you. It drags the nonchalant “quality speaks for itself” creamy kind of thinking out the back and violently clubs it to death with a 2by2 of stonecold precision. You read about the types of advertising and why they are done.

**ARE YOU COCA-COLA??**

There are many instances in this chapter where the author stops just short of telling you to borrow yourself brain. Ultimately, he wants you to “determine the future of your business with your hands and brain”.

There are seven advertising commandments geared toward fetching you immediate patronage and you’ll feel like you saved several tens of thousands that will otherwise be spent on a marketing course.

It discusses the components of compelling advertising and there’s a call to let your copy “do something from the first second”

I chuckled at that. Lovely.

5. HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO TALK ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS

This discusses getting people to talk about your business. The author writes things, which, on closer inspection, one cannot convincingly disprove. There are eight suggestions to induce word-of-mouth marketing.

“There is some truth in it. People will talk about fantastic products, but you cannot wait for that. Smart business people do not allow things to happen naturally. They make things happen. They are in control.”

Disprove that!

6. PRICING

Mathematics of the milk was used to explain the concepts of “Affordability” vs. “Cheap”

The chapter explains the notion that people aren’t necessarily looking for the lowest prices, but for what they perceive as the best deals (i.e. value for money). A crucial chapter.

CAPTAINCUE’s VERDICT:

I’ve been tacitly giving it along the line. I like the book’s anti-positivity approach and the realistic theme that runs through its 220 pages. There are a couple of places where inverted commas would’ve been useful – and a few words could’ve been hyphenated also.

On sticking to the financial plan: “you cannot solve all the problems in this world. You can only play your part.” That’s for you not to exhaust your money on helping. Eeesh.

Do not fall under the illusion of doing something. Be deliberate about your stuff. The author says, in other words, that hope/luck is not a strategy, before going on to prescribe tested ways of successfully running businesses. With his face covering 40% of the cover page, the author gets in your face with some difficult truths.

(Yet) Another positive is that the book does not drone on and on about Nairabet as I feared it would. The principles discussed are instead, designed to be useful across several kinds of businesses.

Finally, it must be said that SMALL BUSINESS BIG MONEY plugs into a problem of the Nigerian zeitgeist; joblessness. A large percentage of those with jobs are gainlessly employed – forcing many into sourcing alternate income by starting businesses. You might as well do it right if you’re going to do it at all.

For Lists.Ng, I wrote here that the single thing you can confidently say Nigerians are unanimously good at is prevarication. There is still, a widespread #WeThankGod syndrome to “how did you do it” questions – even from legitimately successful Nigerian business humans. Especially from them.

·        Misplaced paranoia?

·        Avoidance of competition?

·        Fear of village people?

·        Intentional hoarding of information that could cast your business?

An ant has no quarrel with the boot, but the game is the game. This book explains the game. In the end, more naijacentric books like this one need to be written.

On my scale of pretty awful to truly awesome, I think this is a bloody brilliant book.
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Captaincue...is a freelance writer taking on gigs for unridiculous money. Call/Text 08132150177 now. Let's get started.

VIABLE AGRIC BUSSINESS IDEAS IN NIGERIA

TEN AGRICULTURE BUSINESS IDEAS FOR ASPIRING ENTREPRENEURS IN 2017

With the downturn of the country’s much relied on oil and gas sector, many people view agriculture as the way out. The Agriculture sector is now taking a prominent position in Nigeria’s economy; making up to 20.49% of the total GDP in the first quarter of 2016 (National Bureau of Statistics ). 

Since food is one of the basics of man, agricultural products will always be in high demand locally and internationally. As an entrepreneur or young person looking for something to venture into, you can key into one of these agricultural demands. You can potentially create enormous wealth for yourself by setting up an agro-business. The opportunities are endless in the agricultural sector. This article aims to highlight several agriculture business ideas for beginners.

1. POULTRY FARMING: BROILERS
This is for the production of meat. The exciting thing about this particular breed of birds is that it matures within a short period of time. The ideal time to start raising broilers is in February  against the Easter festivities and October for Christmas and new year sales. It is important to note that, broilers can be raised all year round provided you have a ready market for your output. 

For first-timers, it is advisable you go for birds that have been raised for four weeks from a reliable farm or outlet. This is because birds that have been kept for four weeks have a greater chance of survival than the day old chicks. Once you become very familiar with the trade, you may also venture into raising and selling broilers at four weeks.

Most of your spending is expected to go on feeds and it is expected that the birds will be raised for a duration of twelve weeks. Vaccination and prompt treatment are advised to be carried out as at when due. A chicken can be sold between N2000 to N3000 at maturity.

2. POULTRY FARMING: LAYERS
Here you are breeding your layer birds with the major aim of producing eggs. This aspect of poultry might require a little more capital and time when compared to broilers, but it will be worthwhile in the end. Layers will overall give you two sources of revenue, which are sales from the egg and selling the bird off once they become spent(when their egg production has tremendously reduced).

It is important to state that while poultry can fetch you 100% returns on, you can equally lose all your birds in a day(yes it can be that bad!) due to bad management practices. To avoid this ugly occurrence, it is important you employ the services of a vet doctor(or anyone vast in raising birds) to do routine checks on your birds.

3. EGG AND CHICKEN DISTRIBUTION
This practically involves trying to bridge the supply gap existing between poultry farmers and consumers. It is a profitable venture which requires a relatively little start-up cash. You can decide to venture into the sales of either chicken or eggs, and can also decide to combine the two. You will buy from poultry farmers and resell to wholesalers and retailers. No special skill is required, but a good marketing ability and a car might come in handy.

4. FRESH VEGETABLE
This is a small-scale business that can be started with very little capital. One of the benefits of the fresh vegetable business is that it does not require any cost of maintenance for its smooth running(except when you have gone into large scale production and require pumping machine for irrigation). Fresh leafy vegetables are always on demand so the market should not be a problem.

To kick-start this business, all you need is a cultivatable piece of land in your compound or around your area. Leafy vegetables including; Waterleaf, Scent Leaf, and Ugu leaf can be planted. Vegetables are majorly propagated by seed and in the case of water leaf, by the stem. The dry season is the best time to get maximum returns from cultivating vegetables provided you can go through the stress of irrigation that most farmers try to avoid.

5. CATFISH FARMING
Catfish fish rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids which aid in controlling the cholesterol levels in humans. The various health benefit of catfish makes it to be in high demand among healthy eaters, particularly those above the age of forty. Fast food joints, restaurants,  hotels, food courts, pepper soup joints, market women, ministries, offices, public schools and various tertiary institutions of learning are potential markets for anyone who wishes to venture into catfish farming.

Before starting your fish farm, it is advisable that you visit a couple of fish farms around and see things at first hand.

6. CATFISH SMOKING
One of the easiest cottage agricultural businesses you can start is the catfish smoking business.
There are a lot of catfish farmers all around today, so sourcing for fresh catfish to smoke should not be much of a stress. You do not necessarily have to be into catfish farming to make a lot of money by smoking fish. 

Well-processed smoked fish is a great source of income source for those already involved in it. If you have the smoking kiln, you can also smoke on a commercial scale for people and earn cool cash. A kilogram of fish is processed and smoked between N100 – N150 depending on the part of the country.

7. SNAIL FARMING
This is a business often neglected by many. The giant African snail is the  breed of snail that is ideal for farming. The suitable species for snail farming in Nigeria are, Achatina Fulica, Achatina Achatina, and Archachatina Marginata. Achatina Achatina is the more prolific of them all, it can lay up to 200-400 eggs per batch 2-3 times every year.

You can source the snail for your farm by hand picking, open market, and from reliable snails farm. Snail farming can be quite slow initially, but you will reap  the benefit if you are patient.

8. PLANTAIN AND BANANA PLANTATION
There is a high demand for plantain and banana(ripe and unripe) within and outside the country. Any unused land at your disposal can be converted into a banana or plantain farm.

9. STARTING A BLOG ON AGRO NICHE
A great number people are now willing to embrace various agricultural businesses. They, however, need an accurate and reliable source of information to help them get started. To breach this information gap, you can start an Agricultural blog.

For example, you can create a poultry blog to educate poultry farmers and intending poultry farmers on the modern ways to run their poultry farming business. You can generate income from your blog through adverts. You can also become an online consultant. It is expected that you have an extensive knowledge in agriculture before venturing into this type of business.

10. CHARCOAL SUPPLY
Many industries make use of charcoals in large quantities. Charcoal can be bought in large quantities from nearby villages and supplied to smoked fish farms, bakeries and all other industries that use coal as their source of heat. A bag of charcoal can be purchased at N1,000 from these villages and resold for N1,500 or more in the city.

The investment opportunities in agriculture are not limited to just the above list. You will surely find out more with a little research of your own. Your capital is not the only requirement to succeed in the agricultural business. It is extremely important that you study and really understand the aspect you  are aiming to invest in. Ensure that you also seek for help and advice from experts in your field of endeavor from time to time.

Adeniran Adekunle is a member of His-Eminence farms.
For further help and advice, you can contact him via mail on adeniranadekunleo@gmail.com
Or His-eminence farms; hiseminencefarmsng@gmail.com
Or DM @dayqunlay1 on Twitter.