The Buying and Selling Business: My Experience

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“When you are not rich enough, sell a service, not a product." - Samuel Fatokun

I was once with a brother, ruminating on the kind of business to invest in. I had some money, and I just left a job, so I was open to new ideas. I also have the time to move around and see my mentors and other people I have always consulted for guidance. But on this occasion, I’m in a haste to get something done with my money before any other need arises. This brother to whom I decided to pay a visit is a businessman in the telecommunications industry. He handles the bulk sales and distribution of SIM cards, credit cards, MiFis, and other related devices. He is doing well for himself, and I visited him for some advice. Because I had some money already, he advised me to go into what I am familiar with.

I was once a farm manager for more than 3 years. I have handled the sales of eggs and poultry birds, and things went smoothly during my tenure as the farm head. Because I am familiar with egg sales, I decided to venture into the business. I got a shop, bought a chair and a table, got a book to record sales, and contacted the farms I had known to place my order. Of course, I still have contacts of poultry farms. I also created awareness by putting a call through to all the potential buyers. After confirming the number of crates my customers will need on a weekly basis, I booked 100 crates at one of the poultry farms with the best price and started sales immediately.

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Before starting the business, one of my mentors advised me not to venture into egg sales, as he couldn’t see a future in it. I was a bit angry at what he said because I know we sold over a thousand crates while I was the farm manager, and we made lots of profit. After putting the recorded success in his face as an excuse to start the business, he advised me to spend some of my savings on feeding and keep the rest while I search for a befitting job, or get a laptop and start content writing and other services I believe I can render. I feel that was an inappropriate response to my argument. So, he told me he would agree on one condition. He said I must be accountable to him on a monthly basis, which I gladly agreed to.

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As agreed, I send him a report on sales and expenses on a monthly basis. The business boomed at first. The first month I sold 400 crates, the second month, the sales dropped by 40 crates, and it dwindled on and on. My mentor was right, and his fear was confirmed in six months. As of then, I was only able to sell 200 crates. The business couldn’t be sustained, and I had to pause!

Of course, I failed on my first attempt. Apart from condemning me for not listening to my mentor, I think you should check out my thoughts on why I failed. I don’t know it all, but based on my experience, what killed the business was that it was my only source of income as I had just left a job. Also, I had about 15 people working with me when we sold over 1000 crates of eggs, as opposed to working alone. Aside from these, there were times when the supply couldn’t meet the demand, and other days, I couldn’t meet my customers' requests. The egg business has its seasons, the drought (when it’s scarce) and the glut (when it's excess). In addition, expenses such as transportation, calls, shop rent, and other miscellaneous were taken from the profit made, and this killed the business.

Most successful middlemen in the buying and selling business don’t focus on the sales of one product, and if they do, they do that on a very large scale. If you’re currently in the buying and selling business on a low scale, I’ll advise you to conduct research on related services you can sell alongside your business so as to sustain yourself, your business and create the possibility of scaling up.

Of course, I still sell eggs, but periodically. I now have a laptop that helps with sales of my new services, and trust me, the journey keeps getting better. Even if I choose to render a free service, I won’t feel the effect as much as selling eggs for free. I’m still growing, but compared to the profit I got from eggs, writing, editing, voiceover, and studio management generate more income. I only count whatever I make from eggs as an added advantage, which, by the way, is not so constant.

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Finally, I’ll advise you to render a service that meets people’s needs on a daily basis! As for me, my services meet the needs of writers, or people who may need to edit books, CVs, letters, projects, website content (landing pages, home pages…) etc.; people who love to advertise their products (my voice achieves this, and I work in a studio where we easily record and package adverts); the radio station where I work, opens on a daily basis to serve its audience! Aside from these, I can tell you that I love what I do!