Think about it. Last time I was in Lagos I decided to visit Chi Industries (Chivita) at Ajao Estate.

This was a phenomenal experience for me at the very least.

The beneficiaries of Chivita both direct and indirect are legion.

There are so many different shades of personalities seeking expression there and every day.

Every new product that enters the market creates abundant wealth in the society more for the trader than the producer.

You may think differently but this took me painstaking thoughts to arrive at.

Dangotes Distributors (ditto for distributors of any other major concern) collectively are bigger beneficiaries of the cement production/sales cycle than he the producer himself.

The turnover and profit of the individual distributors who are scattered far and wide will make their principals' financials appear paltry and pedestrian.

Therefore, I advise that you must always seek ways of keeping the company you sell for alive. The relationship is super symbiotic.

Karin001:
Dangotes Distributors (ditto for distributors of any other major concern) collectively are bigger beneficiaries of the cement production/sales cycle than he the producer himself.

The turnover and profit of the individual distributors who are scattered far and wide will make their principals' financials appear paltry and pedestrian.

Therefore, I advise that you must always seek ways of keeping the company you sell for alive. The relationship is super symbiotic.

You are right Karin. The synergy between the producer and distributors must be a WIN-WIN situation.

So true. It's so funny how we always think that the company is the greater beneficiary in the supply chain.

This is superior thinking at its golden best.

Thanks for this paradigm shift.

I must say this is a most rewarding afternoon for me. Two very important lessons.

Thanks Karine and eezeribe who gave it additional flavour.

This is awesome. I extend my maximum appreciation to all the contributors and especially the OP. I'm residing in Ilorin, and I have interest in the business model. How can I join this moving train?

In attempting a deeper foray into the dynamics of the manufacturer/distributor relationship I would like to add that we the distributors in particular and the society in general owe our Manufacturers, Producers, Industrialists, Processors a high debt of gratitude as a matter of duty.

These giants have borne great disadvantages in sustaining businesses especially in thick and even in thin.

Today, my search for another product to add to my combo led me to a small doughnut company located in Okrika village(town) here in Rivers State. It was a most rewarding experience. Whatever a man can set his mind to with laser focus will definitely become a success.

While haggling for a discount with the owner of this business, he revealed to me what I had already known; they were just producing in order to remain in business. The margins were almost non-existent.

Major raw material prices had hit the roof with some of them spiralling as far as 100 per cent in the last six months. He demonstrated this increase using a 12 month purchase schedule.

Earlier this year flour price was N6,300 per bag but today they are now buying at 11,800.
Butter was 4,000 per bucket of 10kg but today it sells for as much as 10,000.
Vegetable oil has moved from 6,100 to 18,500 and sugar did a mega climb from 6,100 to 22,000.

And yet we are still expecting to buy the same size/quantity and quality for the same price.

These guys have really tried. Maybe that’s why they are the entrepreneurs among us. We need to appreciate them and their efforts instead of complaining.

I am now poised to take the sales of chin-chin to another level. I have a brand I am selling now and I am interested in taking either that one to a higher level or any other one that is better and consistent.
As stated earlier, I also intend to add other products to my current portfolio such that I will end up selling a multiple of brands. I am currently doing an average monthly turnover of two Million Naira (during school sessions)and about 1.5 Million during holidays. I intend to double that by December 2017. I intend to achieve a monthly turnover of 5 Million during peak and 3.5 Million during off peak. the only snag I can perceive at the moment is if my family has to make another move. That will only occur if hubby is transferred. (There are rumors of an impending restructuring and total re-organisation of the directorate where he works)

Tomorrow, I will spend some time showing how I intend to achieve this. This is meant to be a guide for how you can jumpstart your business in snacks and indeed any other sales business.

I will take the liberty of advising that you take action as soon as possible. Unfolding events and circumstances may seriously impede your take-off in the future. Take my lead and act fast. I have sent emails to some snacks producers on this forum and i await their responses.

Gala and other sausage rolls may soon price themselves out of the market. We need to provide alternatives as people will always snack. Unfortunately, the bracket of the population we are targeting has either consciously or unconsciously fixed a price ceiling they are unwilling to cross so we have to act in this recognition.

Believe me, if we as much as set our minds to it, we will achieve it.

https://www.nairaland.com/3479028/plantain-city-project-ogun-state
and u will b glad u clicked

I intend to expand the chin-chin offer cater for the smaller but more profitable band of the economy by adding two more pack sizes. I will order for the 100, 200 and 500 packs.

The larger pack size give us the sellers some larger margin. If in moving around for a whole month, one can sell only 1000 packs of the 500 pack and the margin is just 100 per pack then one would have made an additional 100,000 for that month. This pack will be sold through supermarkets, corner-shops and offices.

As a precautionary note may I advise that should you be interested in selling larger pack sizes of any snack product please request and insist on having territorial exclusivity. It is imperative. You really must insist on this. Too much work goes into creating a market for these kinds of products only to have your business upstaged by usurpers.

This reminds me of a lady I encountered while in Lagos. We became friendly and one day she followed me on a visit to the factory where I buy my products.

On arrival there she saw someone paying for plantain chips(yes they also make plantain chips). Smart girl, she immediately requested to see the Sales manager and ordered for plantain chips in jars. She started out with just 20 packs and was selling in her jchurch on Sundays. Each jar was given to her for 700 while she resold at 1000. By the time I left Lagos she was already doing about 100 jars a week.

When we last chatted she had even gone beyond that as she now loads her car with chips and sells on a daily basis to parents at school car parks and even offices. The difference for her is that for each sale she actually makes a significant profit so selling one by one is worthwhile. her target now is selling 100 jars a week.

I just advised her during the week and that advice I have adopted and will share on this thread later today.

Those of you living in and around Ikeja and environs, you may wish to visit a small stand inside Mobil Fuel station by Guinness at the end of Oba Akran and see what the people there are doing. You will be amazed at the volume of sales they are making there in just selling different pack sizes of chin-chin, plantain chips and other snacks.

Can somebody residing in Lagos be kind enough to post a picture of this stall here on the thread? Please !!!!!!

Check it out and be inspired. People are simply making it. Just imagine you had a stall just under the bridge at Maryland (around where they sell bamboo products and you had someone selling chin-chin and plantain chips in large pack sizes, you would have made a lot of money.

Just consider the patronage you would receive from hamper makers this season who come to buy hamper baskets from that vicinity. And what about you offering to supply the major supermarkets the large sized chin-chin and plantain chips packs and making for yourself 200 profit per pack?

Even your church, mosque members can constitute your first line of customers.

Let us wake up in 2017 and act.

The volumes I seek will be quite high and only a properly set up company will be able to partner with me.

For a proper take-off in January 2017, I will like to attract some partners who live within certain towns. I am in Port Harcourt and I can take a bus load every week. I now seek a few people who can buy just 100 bags a week of the 50.00 sachets and yet to be decided quantities of the larger packs to sell in their respective towns.

The preferred partners must be resident in any of these towns; Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ore, Benin, Agbor, Asaba, Warri, Ughelli, Sapele, Onitsha, Ihiala, Owerri and Ahoada.

I feel very excited about the possibilities already.

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I have been a silent follower of this thread and i must commend the good work of Karin and others may God reward you.

Your latest post about chinchin brought ideas running through my mind. I reside in ilorin and i see opportunity in being a Major distributor of chinchin here because I have noticed only mimi brand in the market.

I have a day job and I do not see myself fitting into the initial small scale plan. I hope to be able to benefit from the new plan.

Bionica:
So true. It's so funny how we always think that the company is the greater beneficiary in the supply chain.

This is superior thinking at its golden best.

Thanks for this paradigm shift.

I must say this is a most rewarding afternoon for me. Two very important lessons.

Thanks Karine and eezeribe who gave it additional flavour.

Well said... Thanks

Hello Karin and all, I went to Mobil Filling station by Guinness in Ikeja yesterday and identified the place that you talked about.

Shock rendered me speechless for a long while. I ended up chatting with the lady and learnt so much. I also observed as customers were buying from her. Simply a marvel.

There are indeed great opportunities in this equally great country. I don't know if I should share what I discussed with her on the thread. Can I send you a pm Mma?

I also took some photographs. I will try to upload them on the thread as you requested. Picture quality may not be wonderful as I used my phone but it should suffice.

Finally, I am grateful for the experience this opportunity provided.

Picture one; This is the frontal approach from the pumps.

These were taken from outside the station.

The following are the main pictures of the stall proper. The young boy in one of the pictures is the Sales Attendant.

Some more close-ups.

Some more

Final pics

Permit me to reiterate that this was a most humbling experience for me. A rare privilege to discover the magic of F.M.C.G.

And to think that for several years I've been buying fuel in that station and passing daily through that road without seeing this gold mine.

Once again Karin, a big thank you to you.

Kindly advise on the next step. 2017 should be a year of iconic transformation.

Karin, ur ideas are spot on. Pls, we will be awaiting d details. May God really bless U.

Karin, whats happenin?

Please update.

It has gotten really interesting.

I have observed that there are very few comments coming from other posters. I am not much of a writer but my observation on mairaland is that frequent posts and comments may constitute some form of encouragement especially for the op.

Please read and comment.

Karin001:
The volumes I seek will be quite high and only a properly set up company will be able to partner with me.

For a proper take-off in January 2017, I will like to attract some partners who live within certain towns. I am in Port Harcourt and I can take a bus load every week. I now seek a few people who can buy just 100 bags a week of the 50.00 sachets and yet to be decided quantities of the larger packs to sell in their respective towns.

The preferred partners must be resident in any of these towns; Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ore, Benin, Agbor, Asaba, Warri, Ughelli, Sapele, Onitsha, Ihiala, Owerri and Ahoada.

I feel very excited about the possibilities already.

I stay in onicha ugbo. 20 minutes drive from Asaba and 15 minutes from Agbor. I am really interested and would like to be one of the distributors in this areas. Their are other towns that are close by like Umunede, Issele uku etc. I would like to cover this areas. Cheers.

eddd:
In this period of economic downturn, there's no denying the fact that life has become very harsh and almost unbearable for the majority. But another truth we must accept is the fact that few are still thriving financially in the midst of this harsh economic weather. Why is this? I believe you know the answer already.
There are so many people today with their sight set on big financial goals for their future. More specifically, there are many individuals today who are looking for ways to become a millionaire. In fact there is no end to the different types of approaches and suggestions out there. But unfortunately, majority do not consider the trend in making decision on choosing their approach to building wealth. They seem to have forgotten that in every time and age, people who have become very successful are those that have carefully ride on the tide of trend .
Crypto-Currency (bitcoin) also known as e-currency is fast becoming the trend in the world today.
I strongly advice that you throw away every form of insinuation and open your mind to learn exactly how this works and how you can take advantage of this trend.

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What is Bitcoin? If you have been on the internet, chances are that you must have heard about bitcoin even though it is just the name. However I'll explain briefly what the craze about bitcoins is about.
Bitcoin is an e-currency or digital currency which was created in 2009 by a man named Satoshi Nakamoto and is currently being termed as the most important invention of mankind after the internet.
Bitcoin is one of the reigning and most expensive digital currencies in the world today, known as crypto currency. Presently more than 750,000 companies online uses BITCOIN for their transactions. Its getting more accepted, popular and stronger than the normal paper currency we are used to such as the dollar, pounds, naira etc.

1 bitcoin equals to $760 as at today and financial analysts have speculated that it might get to $1,000 before the end of this year.

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I strongly advice that you throw away every form of insinuation and open your mind to learn exactly how this works and how you can take advantage of this trend.

Note: training will cost you nothing

This is me being polite. Thunder fire yah yansh!!!

Good day and a very warm complement of the season to all.
I really don't want to start with a "Thank you" cause that will amount to a gross under estimation of the gains of this thread for me, perhaps the OP has a grossly over loaded busload of "thank you" in its different shades.
I have been digesting this thread from 0-22 for about 4 day or so.
I have a science/engineer orientation so it was a little bit left handed for me initially, but the way karin expressed and exhausted each concept was mesmerizing especially the concept of "little win". Am like " wow how is it that I am understanding these things". I hope Harvard or one of those Ivy League schools don't whisk you away when they see this thread.
The less obvious gain in some all these overlooked FMCG around us, the importance of exclusivity to an area, the gains of starting small no matter how tempting it is to over shoot from the beginning, especially for newbies and the concept of scaling up; both vertical and horizontal are among the many gains of this thread for me.
The experienced you shared on visiting one of the manufactures was quite interesting. I believe the exponential rise in the cost of raw material mitigated to some extent. Out bigger Ogas can take a cue from this: Register and get a "Form A" or so for buying raw material used in local production at CBN rates and sell the eagerly awaiting producers.
Hope to implement a "timed email" system so you can post an equivalence of your email address that expires at a selected time(like 48hr after you post it), so at least the very zealous ones can reach you without blowing your privacy or being bombarded with mails.
I believe our experiences is whats going to propel this thread further. Please share, the good, ugly, bad and best experiences, those might be the missing electron a lad needs to react.
Thanks all. and than you ad infinitum Karin.

You can also distribute our products in your area,with very encouraging and competitive price.

Click on the link on my signature for details...

I have really learnt so much from this thread...

God bless the initiator and every contributor to the progress of this thread

More pictures