INTRODUCTION.
According
to a wise man, victory is sweeter when viewed against the backdrop of initial
defeat and success, is more enjoyable when the initial story is one failure and
lack. This summarizes the story of Adekunle Adenuga who started his Agro
business with just N10, 000 thirteen
years ago but today oversees business worth tens of millions.
For
the graduate of general agriculture who is now the Chief Executive Officer of
AOF-7 Agro Ventures, Adekunle Obafemi Adenuga, in this interview explained that
his interest and passion in the agro and livestock business emanated out from
the fact that he read general agriculture in the university specializing in the
area of crop production. He shares his story from the scratch to how he built
the business into a million naira company.
APPRENTICESHIP
AFTER GRADUATION.
After
graduating from the university I worked as an apprentice and practiced under a
known business merchant. This period of apprenticeship exposed me to a lot of
things in the business area of agro products and livestock. In spite of your
degree, there are things that you cannot know without learning from those who
have done it for years and have attained a level of mastery in that area.
STARTUP CAPITAL
CAME FROM SAVINGS.
I
had saved a little below N10, 000 in
December 1996 when I left my boss’s enterprise to start my own business and I
called it AOF-7 Agro Ventures. I was able to sustain the business because of
the availability of the opportunities of supplying of goods plus my personal integrity
and honesty in business while I was under the services of my boss and many
more.
STARTING OUT WAS
GRADUAL.
Because
of the opportunity of supplying, it was very easy for me to start. When I
collect goods on credit basis from my boss, I sell them and make little profit.
It was the ranges of goods that were supplied to me for sale to make profits on
credit basis that enabled me to save enough money for my diversification into
other businesses. I met somebody who was into indomie wastes and prior to this
time, the major source of energy was maize and the price was very high. That
was how I became a major supplier of indomie wastes.
DISCOVERY OF A
NICHE THROUGH FURTHER RESEARCH.
After
I was introduced to the business of indomie wastes, I conducted further
research analysis on how to incorporate indomie waste into feeds for both birds
and fishes. It was from this point that I started supplying all the major
dealers and marketers in Lagos state and its environs under the business
enterprise name called “AOF-7 Agro Ventures” which is more of a farm and a
feeds mill company.
Along
the line, I also consulted with people on compassionate level because of my
position as the secretary of the Poultry Farmers Association for the entire
South Western States. And this level, I owe responsibilities to every farmer in
the association to the point that most of my consultancy services were free.
This position and service brought me to the peak of the agro and livestock
industry in Nigeria.
BUSINESS AREAS OF
COVERAGE.
We
have poultry farms and we basically produce eggs from them. We have a four and
half acre of land for fish pond. We also produce and sell fish. The one that is
presently new is the floating of feed for fish. We are the first to introduce
that area of production technology in Nigeria. I.e. using extruder, we produce
feed that can float in the water for fish. We have also started marketing the
machine to other feed producers in Nigeria. This is because the machine is
produced by one of the best producers of such machines in the world based in
china.
INTEGRITY CAN BE
YOUR CAPITAL.
When
in 1996, I resigned from where I was working, I had less than N10, 000 (ten thousand naira) in my bank
account. Like a friend of mine told me, he said my integrity is a great
capital. He was the first person to give me goods worth above N200, 000 (two hundred thousand naira). So
he made me have confident in myself that I have something enviable (people can
trust me). I started building on the products my boss was giving to me. I told
myself that I shouldn’t look down on my integrity. When I worked with my boss
and was able to trust him.
Although,
he seems he was hard at the initial stage, it was so because he felt that he
was going to miss me when I left his management team. I wouldn’t say that I
started with much money since I also had my wife and a son and at the same time
with me and I was running my Ph D programme. At this time, I had neither an
office nor a cell phone. Indeed, I started with less than N10, 000 but I had strong relationships with people who could offer
me credit facilities due to my integrity.
STRATEGY /
APPROACH TO SUCCESS IN THIS BUSINESS.
Every
business has its own approach to success on a general and specific level. For
us, there are two broad aspects of business we focus on and they are practical
farming which include the livestock and the feed production. The feed
production is a little bit easier and to succeed in it, you will start by
making available the following:-
1. FIND A SUITABLE LOCATION THAT IS SPACIOUS.
You
will need to find a good location where it will be easy for suppliers to reach
you with the goods, a location where it will be easy to have access to
electricity supply and other relevant amenities like a proper road network.
Also, you will need a strategic position where buyer can have easy access to
your products. And because of the nature of the business, make sure that the
location has a very spacious office that can contain the machines and the loads
of feeds you will be producing and receiving.
2.
GET THE RIGHT
MACHINERY:
You must also strive to make available all the machineries that are important
for the success of the business. Such machineries include generators, crushers-
used to crush maize, mixers to mix the various grains and other ingredients
together to make the feeds.
3. HAVE SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE OF THE BUSINESS.
If
you want to succeed in the business of producing and selling finished animal
feeds, you will have to engage the services of a personnel who has a good
knowledge of feed formulation to formulate the feed that is required. There are
some people who operate the business without the knowledgeable feed formulation
because customers come with their formulations. Probably the customer would
have met with other people who would have given them these formulations. So,
instead of buying what you have, they will just give you what they want.
This
may not always be to your advantage because they could be wrong and this may
affect their business. And if these formulas do not work, you have lost your
customers. Secondly, if everyone keeps coming to you with their formulas and no
one is buying yours, then you are not producing the right feeds and may soon be
out of business.
4. JOIN THE RELEVANT BUSINESS ASSOCIATION.
You
have to join the associations or bodies that are controlling the affairs of the
business segment that you are involved in. in my case, I am a member of the
Nigerian Poultry Farmers’ Association and I am also serving as the Secretary of
the South-West Zone of the association. When you join the business association,
you will be opened to fresh ideas and new developments concerning your area of
business. New innovations and strategies for growth in the business can be
gained by your membership of the association.
FOR
MORE INFO., CONSULTATION AND COMPREHENSIVE EBOOK CALL 07062374143.
SEE you at the Top
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