yourself lucky if the business owner does not even try to talk you out of working for yourself.
But seriously, if it is so terrible, why do people do it? The truth is that we secretly love it, even crave it – and many would feel unfulfilled in life if they didn’t go for it.
Yes, being an entrepreneur is crazy. But would we have life any other way? SuccessDigest – this week – chronicles the exciting stories of entrepreneurs who braced the odds in their prime to start the long and exciting journey of learning, building, and growing their dream in their own words.
We bring you story of Jumia.com.ng (formally Kasuwa.com), brainchild of two youths, Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Afeador. (Who says you can’t get the likes of JP Morgan to shell out megabucks for your Nigeria-based internet startup?)Enjoy…. Mr. Bunmi Davies, Producer ‘Stand Up Nigeria’
His Background And How He Started Business
His Background And How He Started Business
Now, these four things I have listed are enough to keep us in business and keep everybody happy.
Even though I have always been a behind-the-scenes person, production and acting go side by side.
Challenges He Faced Before Startup And How He Raised The Initial Capital
There are always challenges when you are doing anything worthwhile. We had our challenges but like I said we started entertainment as something we love doing - our passion. So money was not the primary focus or the challenge; but by the time we started looking at making money from what we already love doing, it was a piece of cake. It is like asking Ronaldo to play soccer; whether you pay him or not, he loves playing football, so giving him money is bonus.
There are always challenges when you are doing anything worthwhile. We had our challenges but like I said we started entertainment as something we love doing - our passion. So money was not the primary focus or the challenge; but by the time we started looking at making money from what we already love doing, it was a piece of cake. It is like asking Ronaldo to play soccer; whether you pay him or not, he loves playing football, so giving him money is bonus.
The real challenge we had at that time was that plays didn’t catch on as they should. It is not that they have caught on anyway, but theatre generally is not a commercial business in this part of the world. So, it was a bit tasking trying to get cash to run the show. But we had one edge, we were young and we started early and the mistakes we should have made while in business we had made while catching fun. By the time we started commercializing it, we had learnt our mistakes.
On the issue of capital, I will ask: If you want a suit how much do you need? How much is a house? You will discover that there are different ranges but it now depends on what you have or what you want. It is so with entertainment. You can’t fix the price or cost; you will have to look at the level you want to come in or the area you want to focus on. What do you have, what is your relationship with other people?
There is no fixed price. You could start on zero kobo and let your goodwill work it out. Fortunately, it is not something that requires raw materials like cement, iron rods, wood, nails, etc; you need a creative and positive mindset - it’s a mental thing. If you have a fantastic idea and you get someone to buy into it, that is all. You don’t necessarily need money to start; all you need is a sound idea that is proven and trusted.
Untapped Opportunities In His Industry
One major advantage we have in this country is the size. We have a very large population – over 160 million people. Lagos alone is the size of other countries and that is a huge market. It is now up to you to say what part of the market you want to service - the bottom end of the pyramid, the middle or even the top - so that’s a huge advantage and the earlier we start looking at that the better. The wise ones are already doing that anyway, you can decide to deliberately crash your rates, you do the lowest possible amount and a high volume and with the kind of population that we have, you just can’t go wrong. We do radio and television programs, we do event filming and we do concerts, now any of these four things I have listed is enough to keep you in business and keep everybody happy.
In Lagos alone we have about 9 TV stations, more than 15 radio stations where we do our programmes.
You can just concentrate on anyone or combine two or three or better still do all like we are currently doing, we already have the platform and the market as a country.
Is His Business Successful? His Idea Of Success
For me businesswise, success is when you don’t have to introduce your services. If I go out and I introduce myself as XYZ and you are racking your brains to know what I do and someone else walks in and introduces himself and say, I am from Afrotainment and he receives a warm welcome, that for me is a success. Again success from my personal point of view is making people happy, giving people strength to do whatever it is that they want to do; empowering them to become what they want to be.
For me businesswise, success is when you don’t have to introduce your services. If I go out and I introduce myself as XYZ and you are racking your brains to know what I do and someone else walks in and introduces himself and say, I am from Afrotainment and he receives a warm welcome, that for me is a success. Again success from my personal point of view is making people happy, giving people strength to do whatever it is that they want to do; empowering them to become what they want to be.
Ways His Business Has Contributed To The Economy, In Terms Of Impact And Size
Without sounding like we are blowing our own trumpet, look at the comedians we have in Nigeria today both established and upcoming. If you ask them today what else they would have been doing outside comedy, a large chunk of them will say: “I really can’t place it”, and I am sure I fall into that category. Now imagine taking entertainment out of their lifestyle; what will they be doing?
We have engaged them positively and we have engaged them seriously; a lot of them would have been idle doing nothing, maybe doing negative things out there in the streets. The impact of that can’t be quantified, you can’t measure it. You don’t know how many hundreds or thousands of Nigerians on whose tables this is putting food on.
Advice To Young Entrepreneurs And Anyone Who Wants To Do The Entertainment Business?
What I will tell them is simple: Do you want to go into entertainment because others are making money from it or you want to do it because it is what you like doing. If it is the former, you will have it a bit rougher than the latter; if it is something you enjoy doing, even in your rough times, the passion will keep you going, It has to be something you really enjoy doing; don’t see it as a job, see it as if you are just catching fun and the money will come. Be real to yourself and be truthful to others, it is not a long story.
Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Afeador, Jumia Nigeria
Jumia’s Background
By Mr. Jonathan Doerr, Executive Managing Director, Marketing, Jumia Nigeria:
Jumia’s Background
By Mr. Jonathan Doerr, Executive Managing Director, Marketing, Jumia Nigeria:
In 2013, the business received $35 million in Series B funding from Millicom to contribute towards its expansion in its domestic market and it moved into a new 90,000 square foot warehouse located in Lagos. Jumia finished a great year in 2013 by winning the title of the Best New Retail Launch. In 2014, Jumia extended its services to Uganda, enabling people to shop online and have products delivered to the region. Jumia’s product categories include:
Beverages and Cigars
Children's items
Computing
Events and Tickets
Fashion
Home Appliances
Mobile Phones
Wedding items, among others
Why Jumia Went Into Its Kind Of Business
Though, Jumia Nigeria started two years ago, as the pioneer e-commerce business owner. We observe that the Nigerian market is a promising one and we as well thought about the challenges they have in buying products and we want to help people to have better and more convenient ways to buy products. So, that was the idea behind our e-commerce company; so that people will have easy access to varieties of products which they can conveniently buy online, as a result of our delivery package.
Battling With Competitors
I think having competitors is natural and very necessary in business and if you look at other markets like the e-commerce business in the US or Europe, you have hundreds of thousands of competitors - I think competitors are good. Take for instance, here in Jumia, we have a lot of things we can offer our customers and I'm very sure we can do better - we are very successful because we have the knowledge of our competitors. These competitors have really helped in bringing e-commerce into Nigeria and to make it more popular.
Start-Up Challenges
One of the biggest challenges then was the delivering of the products but in the last few years, we have built our delivery fleet with over 150 vehicles and we are delivering 100 percent in Nigeria. Another related challenge is that of payment - Nigerians are not really used to buying and making payments online, but with the introduction of "cash on delivery model," e-commerce businesses have been able to face the challenge.
Untapped Opportunities In E-Commerce
If you look at marketing in US and Europe, you’ll see it's very easy, how e-commerce is more organized and complex than it is today in Nigeria. Jumia started two years ago as the biggest e-commerce mall, but if you look at the new ones springing up now, they are more defined business models - smaller business models, which help the main e-commerce business models. So, if you compare them to other markets, I'm pretty sure Nigeria has lots of things that people can build additional business models or different e-commerce business models on.
How Jumia Was Started
Well, we really started small from a team of five selling electronics before moving to personal things and other aspects we are in today. We have tried to create our own market in that area, even at that early and little beginning; we developed the business more and more. We developed our catalogue, we developed our services, we developed our website, among other developments; mainly to justify our present strength and growth - as I can authoritatively say we presently have 1000 employees.
Is Jumia Successful? Its Idea Of Success
Yes, Jumia is successful and there are two great reasons for this. Firstly, we brought convenience to the Nigerian market - convenience to buy products online, which was not available two years ago. So, we made it possible for our customers in Nigeria to buy products online, to be able to compare prices easily and to have a very convenient way of getting the products, because we bring them to the door step.
Secondly, when you look at our company - Jumia, we have 1000 employees. We have employed lots of Nigerians and brought the synergy of e-commerce business into Nigeria; and all the 1000 workers have entrepreneurial mindsets. So, I think that is a very big achievement Jumia has made.
Also, to buttress on our entrepreneurial mindset, we have just launched the Jumia Academy to develop and improve our employees and to make them better every day in entrepreneurial skills and to help them in their career. Yet another thing as an entrepreneur is that, for us, our customers are key. So, everything we are doing from delivery even to employing people is just to satisfy the customers and we have been able to do that so far.
Contribution Of Jumia To The Nigerian Economy
Well, as earlier said, we create job opportunities for Nigerians, especially the youths; we have the Jumia Academy that trains and takes young Nigerians through an entrepreneurial route. In addition to these, we are also growing every month by 60 percent, so that is to say, if we are growing at that rate, there are lots of benefits and contributions to the GDP of Nigeria. About customer service, we have a whole working customer service union with a call centre which takes care of all the customer relations - from the orders to the after sales processes. We as well have our social media channels where our people can interact and communicate with us. In all these channels, we always try to solve our problems and make our customers happy.
Raising Start-Up Capital
You know, there are different approaches to starting up a business. You might not really need much money here, but the very important thing you need is the right team - people who have the right mindset, the same drive you have, with which you can launch a new idea and start a new project.
Secondly, you need to have a good idea of what you are starting and what kind of e-commerce business you want to go into. So, when you look at the Nigerian market, there are lots of things you can do, as you do not need to think far because there are so many opportunities hopping up already. This shows that e-commerce business is possible in Nigeria and you should be ready, as many other e-commerce business malls can start.
Thirdly, funding is the next thing and at least it is very important. So, when you look at the Nigerian market at the moment, there are venture capitalists joining the market, there are incubators joining the market, so this is in the development of the entrepreneurial minds in Nigeria and I think it is very possible at every area to start the e-commerce business.
Success Tips For Up-Coming Young Nigerian Entrepreneurs
So, what you need do is to take an idea that seems successful somewhere else, try to fix the idea to work in Nigeria. Pick one or two things which are different in Nigeria and you have the right idea to start with now. You also need to be passionate with what you are doing, as it is not just about starting up a business, but to strive to grow everyday, as we are doing here in Jumia.
African Farmer Mogaji, An Agricultural Information Broker, Coach And Consultant
His Background And How He Got Into The Agricultural Information Broker Business
Contribution Of Jumia To The Nigerian Economy
Well, as earlier said, we create job opportunities for Nigerians, especially the youths; we have the Jumia Academy that trains and takes young Nigerians through an entrepreneurial route. In addition to these, we are also growing every month by 60 percent, so that is to say, if we are growing at that rate, there are lots of benefits and contributions to the GDP of Nigeria. About customer service, we have a whole working customer service union with a call centre which takes care of all the customer relations - from the orders to the after sales processes. We as well have our social media channels where our people can interact and communicate with us. In all these channels, we always try to solve our problems and make our customers happy.
Raising Start-Up Capital
You know, there are different approaches to starting up a business. You might not really need much money here, but the very important thing you need is the right team - people who have the right mindset, the same drive you have, with which you can launch a new idea and start a new project.
Secondly, you need to have a good idea of what you are starting and what kind of e-commerce business you want to go into. So, when you look at the Nigerian market, there are lots of things you can do, as you do not need to think far because there are so many opportunities hopping up already. This shows that e-commerce business is possible in Nigeria and you should be ready, as many other e-commerce business malls can start.
Thirdly, funding is the next thing and at least it is very important. So, when you look at the Nigerian market at the moment, there are venture capitalists joining the market, there are incubators joining the market, so this is in the development of the entrepreneurial minds in Nigeria and I think it is very possible at every area to start the e-commerce business.
Success Tips For Up-Coming Young Nigerian Entrepreneurs
So, what you need do is to take an idea that seems successful somewhere else, try to fix the idea to work in Nigeria. Pick one or two things which are different in Nigeria and you have the right idea to start with now. You also need to be passionate with what you are doing, as it is not just about starting up a business, but to strive to grow everyday, as we are doing here in Jumia.
African Farmer Mogaji, An Agricultural Information Broker, Coach And Consultant
His Background And How He Got Into The Agricultural Information Broker Business
So after some time my father went into farming, an occupation he was planning to retire to. So, when he started setting up the farm, I engaged his staff to weed my 100 hips of cassava farm and do some other minor things in my own small farm, and I was paying them from my earnings-while I was still in secondary school. After harvesting, I sold all and did another 200 hips, but this time I was converting cassava to fufu; there is this odorless fufu I was making.
From poultry I diversified into rearing rabbits and guinea pigs and by the time I got to Form Four, what you call Senior Secondary One (SS1) I had more than 100 each of rabbits and guinea pigs. I had about 500 hips of cassava and yam and my birds were like 200. This was much for me and after school when everyone else have gone to play, I would go around looking for grass and weeds for my guinea pigs and rabbits, and this for me was fulltime work.
But by the time I was in my later part of secondary school I sold everything to party, youthful exuberance. By my first year in the university, I was very experienced in agriculture, both livestock and crop farming; and my dad went into piggery, massive fish pond and irrigation farming. I got exposed to irrigation farming early because he was irrigating over 100 acres of tomatoes in the 80s. He also had about two acres of rice. I was experimenting with top of the earth equipment.
My dad somehow allowed me to attend a technical school where I know I will get a technical knowledge of agriculture, College of Agriculture, Ondo State, and he gave me N2, 000 which was not enough for my pocket money, but with that money with me, it was like the bridge has been burnt and no turning back. So I began to think what I could do with the N2, 000 I have, one day as I was going from one lecture room to another which is about 2km walk, I began to see massive lands of cassava left and right side of the road, I remembered how I used to produce fufu in my secondary school days.
I made enquiries and I got to know that it belongs to the lower cadre of the institute, so I approached them, and then one un-uprooted cassava was sold for N10, and I knew they needed money, so we had an agreement that I will buy their cassava, pay 50% and after processing and selling I will pay the balance. I also went ahead to make an agreement with the provost since I didn’t have the cash to process from the school processing plant which I was told was impossible for any student to process their cassava, that we will share the garri 70:30 ratio as against if I was to pay cash, it would have been equivalent of 70:20, that is the value of 20 is what I will be paying.
That was how I started selling garri to my mates, I was selling in bulk and also selling to individuals in highbrow areas of Ondo State and I will package it to suit their taste. I was making a lot of money until the lecturers became envious because cars were now driving into the school to buy my Garri, and they increased the ratio to 60:40. I didn’t mind because it was all my brainwork. After sometime, they increased it again to 50:50 and I was not bothered, because by this time it was all done on credit and I was making money.
One day one of the lecturers called me and said, I should be wise, that don’t I see that this can make me fail my course which was the reason I came to the school in the first place.
Untapped opportunities in the agriculture industry
We have not started scratching the surface of agriculture in Nigeria, everybody is talking about catfish now, even at that we are not still producing enough for the country. If our people can get it right in catfish business, the export potential is huge, if we know the best way to smoke the fishes. So best practice creates an opportunity but if you are not involved in best practice then the opportunities are slim.
We have not started scratching the surface of agriculture in Nigeria, everybody is talking about catfish now, even at that we are not still producing enough for the country. If our people can get it right in catfish business, the export potential is huge, if we know the best way to smoke the fishes. So best practice creates an opportunity but if you are not involved in best practice then the opportunities are slim.
Again, Moringa is the rave of the moment; everybody is talking about moringa, which is even abused now. But even at that, I still got an order of a container load of moringa on a monthly basis and we cannot source that now. Everybody that is farming moringa now, I call that myopic farming. If you are farming to fill a container load on a monthly basis, and for a five year contract, do you know what that is?
Major Challenges In Agriculture/ Advice To Entrepreneurs
Major Challenges In Agriculture/ Advice To Entrepreneurs
I spoke in a meeting sometime ago, and I said if only I have five acres of land somewhere I will do this and that, and I didn’t know a permanent secretary was at that meeting, after the meeting she came to me and said , come to my office, and I was like, which office? And she told me she was the permanent secretary to that state government and from there, and when I got there, I got that land the same day without a dime, no bribery.
Take away that impossibility mindset that is killing the society, it limits individual, but the moment you start to see possibilities the way shows up, so it is not finance, it is not network, it is pure lack of information. Unfortunately many attend seminars and not do anything, I used to be like that, I was in a meeting some years ago, Fela Durotoye, said only three percent of people do anything with the information they got from any seminar, and I said to myself, I won’t be part of the 97 percent, but a year later I discover I didn’t do anything with what I got from that seminar.
People get incapacitated because they are not taking action, it is not also true that they are not getting the right information; I think the action to take is what can be missing too.
What Is Your Idea Of Success? Will You Describe Your Business As Being A Success?
I will say am beginning to be a success and for me, success is about impact, before, success was all about how big your farm is, how popular you are, how much you have in your bank account, but now it is how many people will do anything for you, because of the level of impact you have had in their lives.
What Is Your Contribution To The Economy?
We are gradually developing farmers in the rural communities, and we have been doing this for well over 8-10years. Now, we are giving inputs and making information available on abandoned or underutilized government infrastructures or structures to the farmer, which they can embrace to reduce their learning curve and break barriers of entry.
Also we are leveraging on getting the private sector to partner with rural farmers, also changing the perception that agriculture is not profitable, that agriculture is meant for a class of people, agriculture is for anybody and that the more educated you are the better for you. We are changing paradigm in the agriculture industry, and presently we are using the media as leverage to advocate the things that should be done but are not done.
We are gradually developing farmers in the rural communities, and we have been doing this for well over 8-10years. Now, we are giving inputs and making information available on abandoned or underutilized government infrastructures or structures to the farmer, which they can embrace to reduce their learning curve and break barriers of entry.
Also we are leveraging on getting the private sector to partner with rural farmers, also changing the perception that agriculture is not profitable, that agriculture is meant for a class of people, agriculture is for anybody and that the more educated you are the better for you. We are changing paradigm in the agriculture industry, and presently we are using the media as leverage to advocate the things that should be done but are not done.
Entertainment started as a passion for me. I started entertainment related activities when I was in secondary school. Then, I would be the one to organize “House Week” for my house and during the holidays, my cousin [who happens to also be in entertainment - she is into children’s entertainment now] and I will put up a mini concert and invite our family members to come and see all for the fun.
Our job is to buy and sell products online - on the website as an e-commerce business. Jumia is an African online shopping site where people can purchase and browse through a wide range of electronics, fashion, home appliances, kids' items and more.
All my life I have always loved farming. It was a journey I started very early in life, from Form One in secondary school, when I actually used my money to buy 30 cockerel birds and I started nursing them just for the fun of it. At some point my mum was transferred from Ibadan, Oyo State to Lagos, and my dad was a turnaround management consultant, he had his hands full-I was getting a lot of pocket money and I thought of what I could do with my money.
People don’t want to learn new things. I have read a lot of books, the moment I got to know SuccessDigest, anytime the book of the month is reviewed, I will go and buy it and read it, whether it has to do with farming or agriculture or not, I must read it, because if the publisher Dr. Sunny Ojeagbase, a multi millionaire is saying this book is good, it means the book is good.
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