Launching a Cassava Flakes Processing Business

[Dami-B]

This thread is being created to showcase my ongoing experience and knowledge on launching a cassava flakes processing business in lagos.

I'v discovered in my interaction with the market through my last business (which failed horribly by the way) that there is a longing with customers for this product.
My last business left me with unlimited access to farmers and supply of agricultural produce in the most rural of places, but this access is incredibly advantageous to me because i can source products at extremely reasonable prices in bulk in their raw form, repackage it in my brand and sell for a nice profit.
I have put my ears on the ground with managers of supermarkets, retailers, I got talking with them, relationships i built from my failed last venture.
Most customers love their cassava flakes, its in extremely high demand and there are thousands of competitors who are already in the market.

BUT.

There's a variant of this product, which is a lot smoother, and can only be gotten directly from the source...The farmers, and there are no packaged form of this, for what reason, I do not know why? So rather than go with my feelings, I decided to test the waters a bit, I packaged 1 kg pieces of the product at a determined price of reasonable mark-up return for me, and distributed to the top supermarkets without payment, to see customers response to it. Turns out people love it and I have been getting requests already for supply, so i'm going into production and i'm starting out with 2kg and 5 kg sizes, as a result of the feedback i got from the retailers. All things go well, i'll have to buy a processing plant, but for now we can still make due packaging and sealing manually and see how the market reacts. I'm really extremely lean bootstrapping this one until i see some headlight from the market that this is a great product, then I can blow it up with some real production

Online marketing and mobile commerce is still relatively new, and people are just starting to explore this arena, this is a big plus for me, if i can build a proper lead magnet and maximize my facebook advertising my margins online will be unbelievable compared to retailers, unfortunately people aren't really searching for my product, but with the help of facebook and instagram, I can make amazing combination of pictures with my product and the most wonderful African delicacies of soups, to attract their attention, rather than explore the Adwords route.

My goals for next week 7/06/2014 - 13-/06/2014

1. Order products from supplier
2. Hire two interns to work with me on packaging, sealing
3. Get small warehouse for storage and distribution front
4. Get necessary equipment purchased, e.g.industrial sealing machine, scales etc.
5. Set up account with ace.ng for distribution
6. Get my branded nylons manufactured and printed - 3 working days
7. Update my konga (similar to Amazon model) seller hq account with new product
8. Set up an Instagram account and update our facebook fan page with new product

This business should keep me busy, while I work on my ultimate dream of selling 20, 000 turkey by Christmas

Keep grinding

 

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[Dami-B]

Day 2

Been working with a brand specialist on the packaging design, we want something that STOPs the customer right on the SPOT and onTOP of that gets their attention.

Hired 2 sales rep today, these are guys who've worked with me before, and believe tirelessly in the big vision of the company, I really appreciate them a lot. They will be handling two major distribution zones, where major retail merchandisers are situated, and I'll handle the Island zone, and the online marketing and distribution

One of the sales rep came up with a great idea, that we be a major supplier to a firm who distributes food produce to Africans living in the diaspora majorly U.K, canada and U.S. I wasn't ready to get into the export game yet, I wanted at least 3 products to begin with on the international scene and to have the w.c to be able to cater for shipping costs and other expenses, while keeping things tight and working on the local scene.

But this way, I could supply the firm, and they distribute based on the orders they get, and africans in the diaspora still get to see my product, so its a win-win, except for the lack of control. The control issue will be sorted out once we have our website. I called the firm, and i'm having a meeting with them by Wednesday nxt week.

Also got a list of a 100 companies in one sector (oil and gas) today with addresses, email, phone numbers etc. In the holiday season, they do food gifts, I can definitely hit them up with some calls and a proposal, especially since my products are top notch and prices are reasonable, all I need is a couple of yes, maybe 2 or 3 and i'm ok for the holidays. most of them order a minimum of 100 bags of rice for employees and clients appreciation

On my Ultimate dream of selling 20, 000 turkeys by christmas
Need to set up facebook ads, targeting upper class moms who love organic food stuffs, generate some leads from there and see what happens

 

[Tobore]

keep going man!

 

[Dami-B]

Absolutely, Thanks

 

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[Dami-B]

REST and work ON your business

I think it was chet holmes I got this from, you need at least a day through the week, to work on your business, for me, that's two - four hours on a Sunday.

The basic thing is to ask yourself a billion questions about how you want your customers/clients to approach your business, in the first 30 mins,

here are the questions i wrote down:

How do they (my customers) access me i.e mediums

How do they buy my products i.e payment systems

how do they buy my products faster

How do they buy my products quicker

How do they percieve my product as being better than the competition

how do I pre-empt competition in the eyes of my customers

How do i get top of mind indication i.e Think cola drink, think coca-cola, think phone, think samsung or apple

How do they buy my products better

How do they love my services

How do they spread my business by word of mouth

How do i promote my value to them


These are just a few i'v come up with today, and i'll have to answer each of these questions with deep research and a lot of thought, it really helps to have a team when doing exercises like this, remember you work all day IN your business, have some couple of hours to work ON your business.

Have a great week.

 

[jon.a]

YEAH!

 

[Dami-B]

I made a horrible mistake today

The nylons I needed, need to be specially ordered from the factory, and there's only one factory that produces these nylons at a price ok for small businesses like ours.

So I drove down for almost 2 hours + traffic. Got there. After placing my order in what I can only describe as the front runners for the award of "the most ridiculous customer service company of the year 2015 and beyond eternity" and waiting for 1 hour+, I finally got my product, only to drive to my printers place, with another 1 hour+ of traffic, look down into my package and realize I was given the wrong set of nylons underneath.
I ordered Special LD Bags, and I got BBOP nylon bags. So I had to take another drive back to the factory with another 1 hour+ of traffic, by the time i got there, I was so frustrated (and my temper, unfortunately sometimes isn't my best feature) I really let one rip.

I finally got my actual product after checking it like a gazillion times, took another 2 hour+ drive to my printer, by the time i finished discussing with him, the day was already gone. I really don't know whether it was over excitement or over calculation of figures that made me not to check the products fully at first, even though my mind warned me too, and I just nudged off the feeling.

Anyways...I've got the nylons in, the raw materials for the produce will be arriving by Wednesday.

I need to sleep/

 

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[The-J]

One of the sales rep came up with a great idea, that we be a major supplier to a firm who distributes food produce to Africans living in the diaspora majorly U.K, canada and U.S. I wasn't ready to get into the export game yet, I wanted at least 3 products to begin with on the international scene and to have the w.c to be able to cater for shipping costs and other expenses, while keeping things tight and working on the local scene.

You need to make that a goal as soon as possible. There's a huge, and growing, African community where I live. They hate paying the prices they pay for stuff right now. African restaurants are popping up... and actually staying in business. The African diaspora is only going to get bigger as African countries get richer.

Nigerians over here are very rich. I'm sure there's an investor you can meet with in Canada or the United States. Working capital doesn't have to be a problem.

I like this business. Rep+

 

[Dami-B]

You need to make that a goal as soon as possible.

This is my dream, and I'm working day and night on making this a reality, its actually my end goal for this project, and my point of success. Thank you @The-J this is an exceptional advise.

I'm sure there's an investor you can meet with in Canada or the United States. Working capital doesn't have to be a problem.

Yeah, I agree and once I have the figures I need that prove that I can do X and Y with investors A's money, then i'll approach investors, but for now, need I'm still getting a feel of the market and understanding my figures and the metrics. There is such a large demand on the local/National scene and within intra-africa trade, that its so scary and exciting at the same time, I really am hoping for the best with this one, and its not without its own challenges of course.

 

[The-J]

Yea there's challenges but the challenges are there to keep everyone else from doing it... they're for your benefit, not to your detriment

 

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[Dami-B]

Thursday, 11/6/2015

Not much to report, except our supplier messed us up, he was supposed to deliver on Wednesday (yesterday) our raw produce, but now he's shifted it to Saturday, because of the rain.
So I contacted like three more farmers. I now have to inspect their processing plant and see their mode of operation etc. it will all be worth it to have a back-up in case one or two of them suppliers fail us.
The design is with the printers and the nylons will be printed this weekend.
My final product, the first batch should be available next week.
Still on schedule

The b2b supplies for holidays and christmas food gifts is active, we are hoping to approach 50 companies in the insurance, banking and oil and gas sector, we just need a couple of yesses. The banks and insurance managers order at least 100 bags, as long as the price is fair enough. I'v got an old friend working on this with me.

Christmas Turkeys Sales - 0

Keep grinding

 

[Dami-B]

Monday June 15, 2015

A little venting.

Supplier pushed again till tomorrow, (vehicle problem) now i don't trust him

This product is a little hard to acquire, i'v tried every supplier, to get them to supply me, I have gone through all my contacts and they all have one answer for me, "I'll get back to you", which just means they are out of stock and don't have it currently, they need to plant ahead for future orders.

The nylons came in today from the printer and the design is amazing and simple, only thing left is the produce. Just imagine my frustration.

If the Mountain don't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad has to get to the mountain.

One way or another by Wednesday those goods will be sitting in my warehouse.

I got an order today for 100 live turkeys 7weeks old of age, I have to process that tomorrow, once I do that will be my first sale, luckily my suppliers have those in stock.

Pre-Christmas Turkey Sales - 100 (processing)

Christmas Turkey Sales - 0

 

[Dami-B]

Double Victory!

I'm so glad, I got the 100 turkeys delivered and sold like 2 hours ago, First sale checked

My supplier FINALLY came through this morning around 5:30am, he supplied me all of the bags. I still have not slept through-out the night cus of anticipation, but finally the goods are here.


The first batch of the truck...carried like a 100+ of this by myself today.

Tomorrow the bagging, packaging, sealing, distributing, sampling begins.

Keep Grinding.

 

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[jon.a]

Double Victory!

I'm so glad, I got the 100 turkeys delivered and sold like 2 hours ago, First sale checked

My supplier FINALLY came through this morning around 5:30am, he supplied me all of the bags. I still have not slept through-out the night cus of anticipation, but finally the goods are here.

View attachment 9905
The first batch of the truck...carried like a 100+ of this by myself today.

Tomorrow the bagging, packaging, sealing, distributing, sampling begins.

Keep Grinding.

Knock it off, you can't do anything, you're in Nigeria.

 

[Dami-B]

Wednesday, 5/24/2015

I haven't been updating this journal for a while, sorry about that. I'm at that stage of the business where I dread so much, you know the "desert of desertion". I'v distributed my product samples to stores around my location, and uploaded the products online. All that was monday, still no call back, most of them asked for me to check back next week, I hate that it takes so long...Anyway, still making connections, understanding their buying requirements, etc...

 

[Kingmaker]

Wednesday, 5/24/2015

I haven't been updating this journal for a while, sorry about that. I'm at that stage of the business where I dread so much, you know the "desert of desertion". I'v distributed my product samples to stores around my location, and uploaded the products online. All that was monday, still no call back, most of them asked for me to check back next week, I hate that it takes so long...Anyway, still making connections, understanding their buying requirements, etc...

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

Keep Grinding and you may well end up with one of the most unique success stories here

 

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[Dami-B]

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

Keep Grinding and you may well end up with one of the most unique success stories here

Of course, The grind always takes over my lazy mind

I got one promising response from a retailer today, which is good. Still waiting on the other managers, i'll have to call them in the eve. Now I see what I like and don't like about the business, lots of cons and pros, if I were to scale things up a bit, I would have difficulties in usurping the current competition, but there is still a great market for the product. To be fair I could be doing a lot better, but I have an e-commerce site to run, and that has just started to pick up.

My colleagues want to do a test run with food gifts basket for the Ramadan, they believe if it all goes well, we could build a brand around the season and festival, calling it the "Abandry Ramadan Food Gift Basket" only problem is we barely have 2 weeks left in the holidays, it would be good practise for what we are planning towards Christmas. So we got to work on that today. I want to also try out a refferral sales system on this deal i.e for every ten sales a sales person makes he earns a 10% commission on each basket anything less than ten he earns only 5%. I know A LOT of unemployed brothers and sisters of mine who would jump at a deal like this, its all possible, so why don't I do it?

Hell, Why not.

 

[Danweebly]

How did it end?

 

[Dami-B]

Hello Dan,

Glad to have you here.

This business had a slow death. The cassava flakes industry is not one where you want to be in especially with the mindset of chasing money rather than value addition.

Truth is I had a generic product with great packaging, we sold a couple but since the Barrier to entry was so.low competitors kept flooding the space, I ended up in price wars because every dick, tom and Harry i knew was a "garri" producer.

Lesson learned, focus on value addition, create unique products the market needs rather than creating based on assumptions.

I'm working on a more exciting project and way tougher to execute it's taking months to just work out the logistics, marketing, packaging and other arms and it's based on a need of the market, till date I don't get why no one has bothered to solve.

 

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[Danweebly]

Yes thats true. Your packaging was unique but the product was a generic one. Anyone can buy "garri" anywhere. Wish you goodluck on your new project