I am not a businessman or someone who knows anything about a business before. All I knew was the basics of business thought in our business studies class, we were thought about cash book, capitalization , types of market infrastructures , entrepreneurs , advertising, accounting, and many more related topics, little did I know I will finally get to use then in real life when the time comes.

A year ago my national service was a great experience in my life. I am the type of person that loves to remain independent or less dependent on people. I have always thought it would come hard but in the long run, I realize it comes so easy. I always find myself doing things that would add value to my life.

I prefer a lifestyle where whatever I have would be an asset to me and not a liability. My phone, my data, and my PC were my source of income.

After a few months into the service year, I was introduced to a business, this business was said to have been running for years now. It's a bread business.

The business pattern

I lived in the barracks where there were few traders. And most of the items that they sell are foodstuffs and other miscellaneous items. If they are to go and buy bread then they would have to trek a distance to get it outside the gate. So a corp member decided to take that problem and find a solution to it. That was one way to have a good business idea.

He started getting those bread wholesale and then come back to the barracks and sell them at retail price. It wasn’t easy for him at first, because he lacks recognition and all other market strategies. But with time and consistency, it became a better business in the barracks.

One of the problems and reasons why people refrain from getting into the business was that you have to hawk those bread before you could make sales. Hawking is not something easy and not what everyone can do, but as a businessman who is focused, you shouldn’t see that as a big deal but see it as a market strategy. Since you are willing to make money.

I ran the business for more than 6 months which has been the longest ever. And I don't think anyone would beat that duration. I changed a lot of things which made running the business, even more, easier for me

Normally, I met them using the pattern of collecting 40 loaves of bread in a day, then they have to make sales for over three days before they could get another bread again. Many times this bread won't finish after the third day and bread is some kind of perishable foodstuff that runs on a lifespan. If your bread is getting more than 3 days old then it begins to lose its taste and even after 3 days it starts making crumbs. This way their customers would always have to complain and some would buy out of no option.

Their profit pattern also fluctuates, because the amount of bread they get determines the amount of profit. If they should sell 40 loaves of bread for 4 days then their profit is not the same as selling 40 breads for 2 days.

My pattern

When the business was handed over to me, as a businessman, the first thing I had to do was to think of a way out. Way to satisfy my customers and make sure they get the best service from the business, that's the only way to draw more customers and build a better reputation for myself.

My first target was to stop receiving the bread in three to four days. I changed it to receiving it daily. It looked awkward at first but strategy matters a lot. Instead of me taking 40 loaves of bread for three days, I took 20 loaves of bread each day. And make sure I sell all of them that very day so I can get another the next day.

What were my achievements?

Delivered fresh bread to customers: using this new pattern I was able to convince my consumers that if they should buy from me there is no way they would not come back to buy more from me. They love the fresh taste and even at times, I deliver fresh and hot bread to them. This was something my predecessors were unable to accomplish.

I had a steady pattern of profit: coming to realize how tough it could be if I continued with the trail, calculation would be so hard for me. Calculating the profit and loss, and also outstanding payments and debts would become more difficult. But when I have it consistently I will sell and buy the next day, no one would have to owe me much money.

Meeting supply and demand : to my suppliers, it was a turnaround for them since they already have a constant mindset that they would have something to sell to me and I am always ready to buy. Even if they feel like not selling they would come because of me. It was pretty cool. And also supplying to customers was a hit because I gave them my word to deliver it to them fresh. And for demand, it was equal too because the 20 pieces of bread I received per day were sold and at times I had to collect up to 25 or 30 for weekends.

My challenges

As we all know, every business comes its challenges and risks. And for mine, I encountered some too.

Inflation: this was one thing that almost got me down at some point because there is no way to fight inflation on a personal level. I met the actual price of the bread at 600 naira and within two months it increased to 650, after a few weeks I was told the price is now 700, and after a few days, it went on to 750. I was pissed off, not to talk of my customers who are the ones buying. But I am grateful I was able to convince them and make them buy

Reduction in profits: Another tough time I faced was reduced profits because demand got so low at some point and I had to reduce supply too. I reduced the amount down from 20 to 15 and at some point when inflation was at its peak, I had to reduce it to 10 because at that point I started losing customer satisfaction.

Debt and loss: as a businessman you should be prepared for this, going into business is not one-sided you have to be ready for any outcome. So I ran into some debts as I wasn’t able to get my money from customers on time. And also made some losses due to wrong calculations, forgetfulness, and missing loaves of bread.

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