jchick:
Madam Karin,

What can I say? I'm completely blown away by your business acumen and passion to not just grow but carry other people along also.

In all my contemplated businesses, FMCG have been the last on my mind considering it's low profit margins. You however, are a proof that all it takes is a little more determination.

Bless your soul sister for being a blessing. I'm looking forward to also being an active pioneering part of this outstanding project. Following closely ma'am.

You are so frank.

Indeed it is very true that many people are scared of FMCG because the margins are very small.

But guess what, I have been in FCMG for a while and I know that while the margins are really small, it is a very worthwhile investment.

Food for thought; All the carbonated drinks and beef rolls sold under different brand names in Lagos alone provides a livelihood for the retailers.

However for the distributors of these products they have made stupendous wealth from these products over the years.

Honestly, just consider that you are a distributor for gala for just a 3 years consistently and all you make is 100 per carton and you sell only 20 cartons per day(very conservative estimate) for 300 days.

Please do the math.

egopersonified, can you please make an input here?

This is my luckiest day.

This thread is the very best.

Thanks goodness you are back.

I am following you so closely that if you stop, your whole back will nit just be damaged but wholly destroyed.

Keep it up sister, great job.

Newway2:
Hmmmm,
Welcome To Bizness School Practical Class.
Lecturer: Karin001

First of all, I duff my hat for d OP for ds wonderful bizness school cum training expose. From what I hv read & seen so far, she's world class.
2ndly, I was drawn here by another woman of equally great & latent potentials who's still slumbering at d moment. Lol!.

Nice work so far.

As per ds FMCG in question, my take are:
1) What age demography is d OP looking at? Shld d FMCG appeal to all age bracket?
2) Is d OP looking at FMCG used daily? Weekly? Or even many times daily?
3) is d OP looking at very simple & sometimes stupid FMCG item?
4) Is d OP looking at family or individual target?

As per (3 & 4) above, I hv a simple suggestion: GARRI

My Reasons
Nearly every home in southern Nigeria takes garri & It cuts across all income brackets.

Following @Rose75's contributions on d "Sand free, oven baked smoke catfish's" example, we must dissect or find out what makes ds particular smoked fish appeal to many pple who wouldn't hv bordered abt it abinitio.
Theses are d Packing & telling them (d truth) abt one of d put-offs or bad attributes (of smoked fish) for many pple, which is "sand".

D big question is: Can common garri be re-packed to re-appeal to many homes & individuals?

To this, I say YES & YES & YES...

Can u sell desert sand to an Arab? Yes & no.
Yes, if d packaging is right & no, if it's wrongly packaged.

In this thread, " the deep calleth the deep".

Am following cos an just a learner.....

Cc: @Egopersonified

Thanks Oga!

This is the pattern this thread must retain. Please stay on the thread and continue with such intrinsic contributions.

Garri has quite an appeal. It can also sell if the issue of packaging is addressed. Mallams have been selling Ijebu garri for as long as I can possibly remember. In the UK and other foreign countries where you have well patronized African shops garri has been packaged and sold for some time now.

Here in Nigeria, if you visit some malls, you will see some companies displaying well packaged garri for sale.

Groundnuts have also been packed indiscriminately and sold in various shapes and sizes.

You may wish to recall that before pure water was introduced in mechanically packaged form, we already had water tied in cellophane and sold in schools and other public places. Also, before cowbell took the market by storm, milk was already packaged in cellophane or even measured in containers and sold.

All the same thanks Oga Newway 2 for this contribution.

We will together review its suitability for this project subsequently.

egopersonified:
There is this erroneous belief that there is little or no money to be made in FMCG, the solution is selling more quantities to meet a profit target. I am currently distributing one product and sometimes I think I am involved in blood money, more sales equals more money. Being a distributor puts you at an advantage over shop owners, they wait for customers to come, you go to the customers. So you have the ability to determine how many you want to sell.

You are too much.

Please keep it up.

I am even wondering whether you should take over the thread completely.

rose75:


Hi Ego personified,
Thanks for this enlightenment.

Do you mind being a little open about the product you distribute? Just as an insight, we may not necessarily replicate it.

Though, if the sky can accommodate all the birds, it therefore means that we can also sail smoothly without interferences. . Boundaries will be respected.

Yes I support Rose here. If you are uncomfortable about disclosing what it is you distribute at least give us a hint. Whatever it is has made you stand tall and tower above peers in experience.

Kudos girl.

Just before listing the Characteristics/Attributes of the preferred FMCG product we are adopting for the first stage of this product, I would like to tell you my thoughts.

In the delineation of the territories that will constitute the initial sales platforms I limited us to areas that have a large population that spreads across almost all the socio-economic strata of the society.

This is because we wish to reach as many people as possible and for the simple reason that whatever we choose must be something that begins to yield results almost immediately thus staving off demoralization from the very beginning.

Contributions are welcome.

So far we have only one suggestion; garri from Newway2.

More suggestions are needed please.

CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR PREFERRED F.M.C.G PRODUCT

It must be a useful product that can be used daily.

The product must be well packaged both at primary and secondary level.

A product that cannot be used twice.

A product that cannot be shared by two people.

The product must not have a protracted shelf life.

It must not exceed 100.00 per unit.

The product that can be enjoyed by both children and Adults.

The product must be from a company based in Lagos or Ogun State.

The product should be reasonably new in the market.

It must also be from the stable of reasonably consistent company

Can we all review the Characteristics and attributes of the product while making suggestions please?

It must be a useful product that can be used daily.

Cast your mind back to your last visit to any hotel whether its a 5 star like the Waldorf or Le'Meridien Brands.

The less exclusive ones or the downright seedy ones in the worst slums you can imagine, they have one common streak. When you are being checked in, you must be given some basics like towels, toilet tissue and soap at the very least. Each time a guest uses a room at least tissue and those small soaps must be replaced.

So imagine that you are a major distributor for the preferred soap or tissue brand and you supply to the hospitality business in Lagos alone and the profit you are making is just 5.00 on each soap, your only responsibility at that point is to ensure that one way or the other the hotel business is at its peak in terms of business.

The more guests that check in the more tissue and soap you will sell.

Soaps everywhere in the world are a daily product. I cannot even imagine any hotel no matter how seedy giving you an already used soap or tissue. The very low budget hotels may give you inferior quality soap and tissue but they will almost always be fresh/unused.

The above analysis covers two characteristics, daily use and the attribute that it cannot be used twice.

Other products abound in this category.

One that comes to mind immediately is many satchet products. Examples here may include satchet toothpaste(recall close-up), small pack detergents, cold water starch but to mention just a few.

Karin001:


You are so frank.

Indeed it is very true that many people are scared of FMCG because the margins are very small.

But guess what, I have been in FCMG for a while and I know that while the margins are really small, it is a very worthwhile investment.

Food for thought; All the carbonated drinks and beef rolls sold under different brand names in Lagos alone provides a livelihood for the retailers.

However for the distributors of these products they have made stupendous wealth from these products over the years.

Honestly, just consider that you are a distributor for gala for just a 3 years consistently and all you make is 100 per carton and you sell only 20 cartons per day(very conservative estimate) for 300 days.

Please do the math.

egopersonified, can you please make an input here?

N600,000 . six hundred thousand naira. hmmm Amicable09 tell that your guy wey wan enter crime after 6 years of being jobless since graduation to come join this thread. from Potatoe chips, Soaps of all kinds, peanut candy which Northerners call 'alewan geida' , egg, Strongbest soft drinks, eczema and dandruff creams, pink lips balm that will make your pet green with envy ,to egg roll and kindred pastries plenty opportunities dey for am to become distributor oooo courtesy of Dr Karin001 ( CEO Practical Business skills In FCMG distribution ).

Firstly i will have to give thanks to pioneer of these thread. Karin i can't imagine writing skills without being know in our social scene, You are write up is like that of Noble Aristotle.
I almost spent all my night imagine the light this Super Lady brought in life in the means of darkness my life through her writing, i could have reply back immediate in the middle of the night but my phone screen touch is faulty which am still batting to repair it.
i could recollect when you said there is a man that as being praying to God all day and night hoping God to give him a solution while the solution is right there at the top of his noise, i cant stop thinking about it. Lol
Most of the great men out there just don't do all day talking but do the do . Like the ruler of Dubai says when they told him oil exploration might end 2016 , He said I CAN STILL BE SITTING DOWN HERE WAITING FOR HELP. however i see this common among our peer groups and leaders who need someone to spoon feed them.
Karin & FMCG i have being nursing an ideal thou i may bring it as suggestion for us to debate on it, Ever since my mum brought an handbag to me which comes with 10pound coin hidden beneath it and leather soap from an hotel in Uk. i have kept the sample of the soap which i know for good will be a gold mining opportunity in Nigeria Market, I did measured the leather soap its 11.1gram in weight.
If the cost production of this can be 10-15 Naira per one with proper planning, branding and promotion this could generate to billionaire investment in the nearest future, The startup may be challenging because how to source the mode for production.
Target customer are hotels across the nation am fully convince these will hit the target market once it can be imitated

Your further advise, ideals and criticism is welcome.

egopersonified:
Firstly, this moin moin story is a naija version of the book Acres of diamond. I always laugh when people say motivational books by international writers don't work in Nigeria, they always work anywhere.

I really wish I could write like you, a four year old would understand everything you have written here.

I also moved to business section about two years ago from family section, and since then, a month has not passed without me making money outside my salary. From fixed deposit to treasury bills to group importation to properties to forex to farming to distribution. They were all hits back to back, all from ideas and thoughts gotten from this section.

I would like to be involved with whatever you are up to. It would be an honour to work with people who have the same thought process as I do. I love you already.

Cc newways2

hello, i just sent u a mail

Hello Karin, I have been a guest on Nairaland for many years.

At a time it was a most welcome connection with my fatherland.

I must say without equivocation that your essays on business are at the very least most inspiring. For some reason I feel it will connect more with the younger and less privileged segment of our national economy.

Your previous thread was simply phenomenal. I hope you will not discontinue it.

I have done my homework about you and I am convinced. You are the real Mc’coy.

Anyway, I am willing to make a humble contribution here. I will start with something small but grow it substantially.

From my observation, there is already some enthusiasm welling up on the thread but I daresay with the price tag of 20,000 as the initial outlay it appears some very earnest ones among your readers may not be able to afford it.

On that count I am willing to transfer One Hundred Thousand Naira (100,000.00) to your account as a soft/angelic interest free loan facility to sponsor five people who are genuinely interested in this self-help scheme. This will be a loan repayable without interest within six months.

On its remittance this amount will be used to sponsor another 5 people to also find their feet. If at the end of 3 months you assure me that the beneficiaries of the first tranche of 100,000.00 have used it satisfactorily then I will increase it to 500,000.00 thus jumpstarting another 25 people of genuine interest.

If the results again impress me I will further increase to 1,000,000.00 at the end of 6 months (end of March 2017).

Please note that at the end of the first cycle being 6 months the money will not be returned to me but it will be shared among the two best performing participants on a ratio of 60;40.

While I do not request for interest for this investment, I do insist on the money being returned in full and shared in the above stated ratio as as a further boost for their growing business. This shall be an outright gift.

I will also charge you with full responsibility for receiving this money, choosing the beneficiaries and supervising their growth and eventual sharing of the cash among the winners. To broaden your objectivity you may seek the opinion from serious contributors to the thread like ego personified, rose75, Hedonistically and way.

I would like also to be reading about their experiences right here. You may wish to publish the monikers of the beneficiaries.

As a matter of primary importance always have it as a guiding principle that this is an anonymous donation and I demand that it remains so even till the cycle runs its full course.

I wish you the very best.

 

I will send you a pm in this regard.

 

Please no PM from anybody else will be acknowledged.

rose75:


Hi Ego personified,
Thanks for this enlightenment.

Do you mind being a little open about the product you distribute? Just as an insight, we may not necessarily replicate it.

Though, if the sky can accommodate all the birds, it therefore means that we can also sail smoothly without interferences. . Boundaries will be respected.

I supply locally bred chicken, I buy them dressed and frozen, stock up and supply. Since we can't make the government fix policies we want, we use the policies they make to work in our favour. I started last year when our borders were closed to imported chicken. I am looking at distributing other made in Nigeria products too.

Karin001:


You are so frank.

Indeed it is very true that many people are scared of FMCG because the margins are very small.

But guess what, I have been in FCMG for a while and I know that while the margins are really small, it is a very worthwhile investment.

Food for thought; All the carbonated drinks and beef rolls sold under different brand names in Lagos alone provides a livelihood for the retailers.

However for the distributors of these products they have made stupendous wealth from these products over the years.

Honestly, just consider that you are a distributor for gala for just a 3 years consistently and all you make is 100 per carton and you sell only 20 cartons per day(very conservative estimate) for 300 days.

Please do the math.

egopersonified, can you please make an input here?

You have said it all. The secret is in the volume you sell. I had always wondered how the women selling akara on our streets always have kids in one higher institution or the other, now I know better.

Thank you very much Allstrasse!

I am indeed overwhelmed! Such inexplicable generosity.

Your compliments are deeply appreciated.

I am also humbled about your very generous gesture. I have given this very serious thought since I saw your post earlier on.

While I consider your offer a very noble and altruistic gesture, I am afraid I cannot be the recipient of the money.

Your intentions are apparently above board and probably anchored on your desire of wanting to help people out there.

I am also deeply touched by the genuineness of your humility and desire for utmost anonymity.

These are deep traits of inward advancement and a desire to better our society, however we all do not operate on the same frequency and as some may end up misconstruing your (and perhaps my intentions).

Before commencing this thread, I had assured myself that on no account will unveil myself, take any money, meet anyone physically, take phone calls or project my personal desires via this platform. I do not wish to profit from this thread in any tangible or mundane form.

This effort for me is all about HELPING those who really desire and are willing to draw from the experiences of others.

Kindly note that there may be people on this thread who may genuinely need this help that you are offering but we don't them yet and how much they need it for sure.

I would therefore suggest that you keep abreast with the events and activity on this thread as we continue to update it.

Either of three things may happen;

1. We may find a better way of reaching the needy participants directly without going through me or indeed other posters.

2. You may want to sponsor some of your relatives or associates who may need this form of assistance.

3. Or the activity on thread may dissuade you and prompt you to withdraw the offer.

On the whole I still consider your gesture as being very noble, selfless and humane.

Thank you so very much and do remember please that I mean no offence.

E

egopersonified:


I supply locally bred chicken, I buy them dressed and frozen, stock up and supply. Since we can't make the government fix policies we want, we use the policies they make to work in our favour. I started last year when our borders were closed to imported chicken. I am looking at distributing other made in Nigeria products too.

Your responses are vintage.

Just wondering how you manage to convince people that they are locally bred?

Quick one; Is locally bred the same thing as indigenous or native chicken?

Allstrasse:
 

Hello Karin, I have been a guest on Nairaland for many years.

At a time it was a most welcome connection with my fatherland.

I must say without equivocation that your essays on business are at the very least most inspiring. For some reason I feel it will connect more with the younger and less privileged segment of our national economy.

Your previous thread was simply phenomenal. I hope you will not discontinue it.

I have done my homework about you and I am convinced. You are the real Mc’coy.

Anyway, I am willing to make a humble contribution here. I will start with something small but grow it substantially.

From my observation, there is already some enthusiasm welling up on the thread but I daresay with the price tag of 20,000 as the initial outlay it appears some very earnest ones among your readers may not be able to afford it.

On that count I am willing to transfer One Hundred Thousand Naira (100,000.00) to your account as a soft/angelic interest free loan facility to sponsor five people who are genuinely interested in this self-help scheme. This will be a loan repayable without interest within six months.

On its remittance this amount will be used to sponsor another 5 people to also find their feet. If at the end of 3 months you assure me that the beneficiaries of the first tranche of 100,000.00 have used it satisfactorily then I will increase it to 500,000.00 thus jumpstarting another 25 people of genuine interest.

If the results again impress me I will further increase to 1,000,000.00 at the end of 6 months (end of March 2017).

Please note that at the end of the first cycle being 6 months the money will not be returned to me but it will be shared among the two best performing participants on a ratio of 60;40.

While I do not request for interest for this investment, I do insist on the money being returned in full and shared in the above stated ratio as as a further boost for their growing business. This shall be an outright gift.

I will also charge you with full responsibility for receiving this money, choosing the beneficiaries and supervising their growth and eventual sharing of the cash among the winners. To broaden your objectivity you may seek the opinion from serious contributors to the thread like ego personified, rose75, Hedonistically and way.

I would like also to be reading about their experiences right here. You may wish to publish the monikers of the beneficiaries.

As a matter of primary importance always have it as a guiding principle that this is an anonymous donation and I demand that it remains so even till the cycle runs its full course.

I wish you the very best.

 

I will send you a pm in this regard.

 

Please no PM from anybody else will be acknowledged.     

God!!!
Could this be true?
Allstrasse, it is very glaring you don't want to be praised, but please pardon me, I just can't help it.
You're just wonderful!

No one can reward this kind gesture but God will forever bless you. T's already on record.

Please note; this is a faceless forum, no one can vouch for another. We scarcely knew one another, hence, I'll suggest we take things in slow strides. Unfolding events MAY determine the next course of action.

Thank you so very much.

egopersonified:


I supply locally bred chicken, I buy them dressed and frozen, stock up and supply. Since we can't make the government fix policies we want, we use the policies they make to work in our favour. I started last year when our borders were closed to imported chicken. I am looking at distributing other made in Nigeria products too.

Thanks sis. for taking out time to respond.
A very good eye-opener indeed.
May God bless your hustle, and also bless all the newbies.

I'll recourse to you whenever the need arises, hope you wouldn't mind?

To say I'm truly overwhelmed with the personalities and comments on this thread would be an understatement. I am keenly following the updates, and further to this course will be implementing the recommendations in my own locality.
@Karin001 you may have started out this thread to help out 20 but I dare say the ripple effects will amaze you.
@rose75 you are indispensable. Kudos

I'm sipping my palmy in the South-east and watching

rose75:


God!!!
Could this be true?
Allstrasse, it is very glaring you don't want to be praised, but please pardon me, I just can't help it.
You're just wonderful!

No one can reward this kind gesture but God will forever bless you. T's already on record.

Please note; this is a faceless forum, no one can vouch for another. We scarcely knew one another, hence, I'll suggest we take things in slow strides. Unfolding events MAY determine the next course of action.

You must have a crystal ball with you or maybe you are just an unrepentant winch!

Thank you so very much.

Just picking my thoughts adverbatim.

Babacele:
N600,000 . six hundred thousand naira. hmmm Amicable09 tell that your guy wey wan enter crime after 6 years of being jobless since graduation to come join this thread. from Potatoe chips, Soaps of all kinds, peanut candy which Northerners call 'alewan geida' , egg, Strongbest soft drinks, eczema and dandruff creams, pink lips balm that will make your pet green with envy ,to egg roll and kindred pastries plenty opportunities dey for am to become distributor oooo courtesy of Dr Karin001 ( CEO Practical Business skills In FCMG distribution ).

Lol @ pink lips balm
Babacele you just know how to finish me . No wahala sha but that my guy wey wan join crime dey learn work. He doesn't look to me as someone who can pull a crime string! Him no fit. Rat poison that he sold, he left it and went to read Zig Zigglar's book , he hasn't understood the empirical framework of how things work. Too much theory dey affect am.

But I'll mention my pink lip paddy to come here ASAP.
cc. Samhay. Coman learn how to make pink lip balm o

Karin001:


Just picking my thoughts adverbatim.

when I told you you an alchemy yesterday, you thought I was joking. When I called you CEO did you ever think that the cosmic has already said amen to it? God bless the angel that fulfilled it but I think you need to harvest students from Strongbest 's everyday product schools here on NL.

following

Karin,
I appreciate this thread. I also appreciate your candour, intellect & business acumen. I'm not one that makes frivolous statements. I've been in this forum for quite a while though in & out but I must confess I haven't seen a thread like this.
I want to assure you that they are many more people out there who appreciate you & really wonder if you're truly a woman (no gender pun).
Please kindly enlighten me on your earlier thread people refer to. I'll like to catch up.
I look forward to seeing the fruits of this thread & likely to be one of them. God bless you

Heheheeee
I don enter be that!
Am swept off my feet with this. Its wonderful to know that that thread has been useful.

Karin001, you must be a James Bond on startups. Am glad you are here and I will give my little aid as much as I can.
Talking about businesses one can commence with small capital in the FMCG category, e full ground. The only challenge is stooping low to conquer, my experience with egg distribution has lots of untold positive stories.

FMCG business is what Lagos Business School refer to as the Mallam economy. Just have a look at an Mallam shop, everything there is a daily need. But what does the rich Multi-national sell - N20 - N100 items. Coke, Tom-Tom, Indomie, Soap, salt, egg, matches, sugar et al. If the companies behind these items are mega rich, any distributor dealing on it via large numbers is made.

My mentor gave me a recipe long ago-until you own and sell an item in multiples of thousands weekly with N5/N10 profit margin on each, you cannot be a millionaire.

Karin001:
My very own sister residing in Ogudu, Lagos lost her job in banking early this year and I recently referred her to the same thread and though she was a bit hesitant initially has caught the bug and is soaring at the moment with profits of 100,00 per crate and a turnover of 300 to 500 crates per week.

She is so excited that she has now set herself a target of selling at least 10,000 crates per month by mid-2017.

Luckily for her, she has sufficient capital, a car and marketing experience but above all she has boundless enthusiasm.

Many thanks to Blackky who initiated this very useful thread.

amicable09:

Lol @ pink lips balm
Babacele you just know how to finish me . No wahala sha but that my guy wey wan join crime dey learn work. He doesn't look to me as someone who can pull a crime string! Him no fit. Rat poison that he sold, he left it and went to read Zig Zigglar's book , he hasn't understood the empirical framework of how things work. Too much theory dey affect am.

But I'll mention my pink lip paddy to come here ASAP.
cc. Samhay. Coman learn how to make pink lip balm o

Jeeeez!!! Amicable e yaf finish me, I taut I was forgiven.... If I make pink lip balm wat will now happen? Ahhh.... #sobs out of thread

samhay:



Jeeeez!!! Amicable e yaf finish me, I taut I was forgiven.... If I make pink lip balm wat will now happen? Ahhh.... #sobs out of thread

pink lip crave abi na craze is a huge opportunity to be tapped into especially in Lagos. And know this secret today that anything that women patronise is always a goldmine. Dele Momodu told me so several years ago when he dedicated an award given his Ovation magazine to women for being the real customers. so find out among your female folks what they think of pink lips abi why you think say dem dey use lipstick especially red one?

Babacele:
pink lip crave abi na craze is a huge opportunity to be tapped into especially in Lagos. And know this secret today that anything that women patronise is always a goldmine. Dele Momodu told me so several years ago when he dedicated an award given his Ovation magazine to women for being the real customers. so find out among your female folks what they think of pink lips abi why you think say dem dey use lipstick especially red one?

My Queen dat brought me to this thread is not a fan of pink lip I guess o, maybe for male sha.


It af well

Amicable, make we start the business na

Karin001:
Our education needs to be reappraised seriously in this country. Our current curriculum is archaic and seriously out of sync with present day realities. It was designed by the colonialist to produce an unthinking apparatus to service the growing public service.
The contemporary society demands a more self reliance focused curriculum. rather than education for employment as it is currently, we need a paradigm shift to something practical and useful for this present day setting.

Things have gone so wrong.

Education that is supposed to bring advancement is now the one destroying the very fabric of our psyche.

I love this. I want to share this on my Facebook page. I have a couple of professors and lecturers as friends there.