Business Strategy

DO YOU HAVE A BUSINESS STRATEGY?

I know a young nice guy, he is handsome too☺️. I will call him Obi.

Obi had served his Oga for years. He was a "Nwaboy" (Igbo apprentice) learning the trade of Motor Spare parts in the North.

After year of serving his Oga and learning the trade, he has been settled.

Obi is now an Oga ooo. A nice handsome Oga😎.

Obi is just few years into his own business but he has so much customers, I mean customers come from far and wide to buy from him. They also place their orders and he delivers to them nation wide.

Currently he has expanded. Just within few years, he has been able to open another shop/branch filled with goods.

On the other hand his fellow "Nwaboy" Val who was settled same time with him is still struggling to keep up. Always complaining of bad market and how there are no customers.

Why is Obi selling out to customers and expanding while Val is still struggling??

What could be the problem?

Is the something this Comrade is doing that Oga Val doesn't know about??

Well let's see.

Chuma is my cousin. He is between the ages of 17 to 19years. He finished secondary school last year and decided that while he awaits admissions he will go to Oga Obi's shop to help him out and also learn a few things. Infact he calls Obi his Oga.

He also visits Val's shop sometimes.

One day Chuma came back home and said to me "Oboy this my Oga is wise ooo. He has business sense oo. And he de make money everyday o. No wonder he has opened another branch and he has so many customers."

"So Obi is not just young, handsome and nice, he is also wise and he get business sense hmmmmm normally na husband material be this ooo... Are you sure I should not shoot my shot??" I thought to myself.

"Uncle Obi get better business sense and that's why all the customers that comes to our shop keeps coming back. I wish Uncle Val can come and learn from Uncle obi. Omoh if I open my own shop, I will be doing like Uncle Obi oooo." He added.

I was so curious to know what Obi does that made my very young cousin decide that he will behave like his Oga Obi when he opens his shop.

When Chuma told me what Obi does, I wanted to go to his shop and buy spare parts even though I don't have a car. Because warris all this????

Do you want know what Obi's format is??

Read on😁.

Chuma said whenever a customer enters their shop whether a first timer or a regular he is always so welcoming. He will ask if he/she will want to eat or drink anything, try to make the customer feel welcome or relaxed before selling to him.

He said once a customer enters their shop, he doesn't allow the person leave without buying goods except on rare circumstances.

"Even if we don't have that particular one, he will send me to another person's shop to collect it, but tell the customer that he sent me to our other shop. Then we will pay the person later." He said.

"Do you know that sometimes we sell below cost price to customers?"

"Haaa if you sell below cost price, how will you people make profit?" I asked him.

Then he answered me with a question..

"Do you know what happened in the shop one day?"

"Chuma How will I know? Am I in the shop??" I àsked.

Then he said to me

" A new customer came to our shop one day, he wanted a product, but we didn't have it, as usual my Oga sent me to get from our neighbor's shop. 

When I came back, the customer was pricing way below cost price not even selling price. He was pricing below cost price and after much negotiation, he sold it to the man at loss below cost price. The man was so happy while leaving the shop that day, but I wasn't happy because we did not make any gain but loss.

He told us that he came from another local government, he didn't live within town.

 After the man left our shop, My Oga used his own money to complete it and sent me to give the owner of the product which I had collected earlier.

 When I came back I had to àsk him why he did that and he told me that business is not all about profit every time, sometimes you have to see ahead because of what you will gain from the customer in the future. He also said trust is important in business, once you can make your customer trust you, then you go hammer."

Hmmmmm interesting 🤔🤔🤔. 

"Then I said Okay ooo. Make we de look na.

The man came 5 days later to buy goods from us, this time around in large quantity and thank God we had all he wanted in our shop. After he hàd finished making all his orders, I began pàcking them for him in carton while he asked for price from my Oga.

Sister as my Oga knack this man price ehh even me I shocked.😳😲😳

I pàused for few seconds to process the what I heard.

The gain from the price he gave the man çovered for the previous loss from the other day and even in the future.😂😂😂.

Do you know this man didn't price my Oga oo. 

He just paid him and told him that the other day he came to buy from us, he had gone round different shops in the market and nobody sold to him due to his pricing but twas only us that was patient with him and sold to him and that he liked the way my Oga treated him and for that reason he now trusts my Oga and he has made my Oga his only vendor. He say my Oga no fit cheat am.😂

After he left I now understood what Uncle Obi told me the other day."

"He is a regular customer now and has referred many customers to use which we have been able to retain."

"He also gifts his customers at the end of year, some with chicken 🐔, some with bag of rice, other smaller customers with small bottles or sachets of groundnut oil as thanks for your patronage."

" And they keep coming back and referring customers to him. Infact many business sense wey I don learn from my Oga wey I go tell you another time, lemme eat food first. 

But Uncle Val needs to learn business sense like my Oga sha.  He needs to find a strategy to gain customers and retain them." 

After I had finished my discussion with Chuma, I realized that Obi had built a business strategy that has kept him in business over the years while Val on the other hand has no strategy.

Whether you are a business owner, Employer, Employee, student or whatever you do, you need a strategy if you must succeed and stand out from the crowd and comepetitors.

Every one needs a Strategy.

Ask yourself..

"DO I HAVE A STRATEGY??"

"WHAT IS MY BUSINESS STRATEGY??"

I Hope you got value.

By 

ONUCHUKWU HELEN