Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Steer Your Success: Using Your Business Plan as a Sales & Marketing Compass

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Steer Your Success: Using Your Business Plan as a Sales & Marketing Compass · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:00
Hello and welcome to the show. I'm recording today's episode at
0:04
home and the kids at home, you know, watching Space Jam or
0:07
something like that. Wifey is home as well.
0:09
So expect to hear some interruptions in the background
0:11
if this is your first time tuning into the podcast.
0:14
The goal of this show is very simple.
0:16
It's free business education. So if you're concerned about
0:19
those sorts of things, you are in the right place.
0:21
And if you get any value from the show, then please share,
0:24
promote and talk about it so that family members and friends
0:27
in Nigeria and abroad can benefit from the questions that
0:30
we tackle. And if after we're done, you
0:33
have any sales and marketing questions, then call SMS or
0:36
WhatsApp me on 08064662140. The country code is +234 for
0:42
those of you who are not Nigerian.
0:45
Now today on the show, I want us to look at another business
0:49
plan. And yeah, I'm sure some of you
0:51
are tired of this business plan reviews that we've been doing on
0:55
the podcast. And I don't think it's something
0:59
that's going to go away anytime soon because those of you who've
1:02
been listening to the show for a while already know that I have a
1:05
radio show on Radio Maria, 91.3 FM.
1:09
And sometimes people hit me up. You know, they call on the show,
1:12
they have a business plan, they're trying to raise finance,
1:14
they're trying to do this, they're trying to do that.
1:16
What should they do? And so that is where a lot of
1:18
this business plan reviews, business plan episodes are
1:22
coming from. So today we're going to be
1:23
looking at the business plan from Elijah Patrick who called
1:27
in from Suleja and he had a proposal as he called, it turned
1:31
out was a business plan. He's an agricultural business
1:35
and he wanted to know I have this business plan, what am I
1:38
supposed to do with it? So you can see relevant question
1:42
because there are lots of people who just go ahead and make a
1:44
business plan and they wonder, now I'm here, what should I do
1:48
with this thing? And that's because in this part
1:50
of the world, you know, some people sell business plan
1:53
writing, you know, as a service. So everybody just assumes, you
1:56
know, if I'm going to get into business, I should have a
1:59
business plan now. So you draw it up and you don't
2:01
quite know what you're supposed to use it for now, even though
2:07
in this part of the world writing a business plan in
2:09
itself has become a goal. Traditionally you only need a
2:11
formal business plan if you are trying to raise finance.
2:15
So if you're going to go to the bank, if you're going to go to
2:17
microfinance bank, then you need a business plan because the
2:21
person who is going to give you the money wants to see something
2:23
in black and white to know how much are you trying to raise,
2:26
what business are you in, what are you trying to use it for,
2:28
how quickly can you pay me back, all those sorts of things.
2:32
So to raise finance formally, you would need a business plan.
2:36
If you are in a formal setting, you know, maybe you're talking
2:39
to a rich uncle or a rich auntie, you probably don't need
2:42
a business plan. But if you're going to be making
2:44
any formal case to get funding, that would be nice to have a
2:47
business plan that's number one, one.
2:51
Number two, in my own opinion, the main reason why you should
2:54
have a business plan is just to show yourself that you have 4
2:57
things through and also to have a road map that you can execute
3:00
on because the business plan always has one section that has
3:05
to deal with sales and marketing.
3:07
And I think that that is the most pivotal, pivotal, sorry,
3:11
excuse me, pivotal part of the of the business plan because is
3:17
the part of the document that shows how am I going to make
3:19
some naira and cobo. And of course, if you're not
3:21
making any naira and cobo, then what's the point of being in
3:24
business in the 1st place? You might as well just wind
3:26
everything up and keep this thing as a hobby.
3:29
So yeah, that's the summary. That's the overarching answer
3:35
about what to do with a business plan and why you need a business
3:38
plan. But I'm not going to join all
3:40
those people, especially those people who are in the business
3:43
of writing business plans and helping you draw business plans.
3:46
I'm not going to join them and say that the business plan is
3:48
absolutely essential. So for those of you who are
3:51
trying to raise money, it is absolutely essential because the
3:55
bank would like to see something.
3:56
The microfinance bank would like to see something.
3:58
If you're talking to a serious former investor, they would like
4:01
to see something. Then let's see what else.
4:06
But anyway, Chair, even if you've had a business plan drawn
4:08
up and you didn't use it to raise finance, I mean, at the
4:13
very least keep making reference to the sales and marketing
4:15
section so that you can see, you know what wonderful ideas when
4:19
you are coming up with the business.
4:21
At first, all the wonderful ideas that you thought you could
4:23
use to raise finance for the sorry, not raise finance, get
4:29
revenue, yes, get revenue from the business.
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So let's go into my first impressions when I was looking
4:35
at Elijah Patrick's business plan.
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So my first impression was that his business plan was dated and
4:40
it was time for a review. And yes, this is something that
4:44
happens in Nigeria all the time. You're thinking about your
4:47
business, you want to go into business.
4:49
And so you talk to somebody who draws all business plans, you
4:51
guys sit down who strategize, you come up with some nice fancy
4:54
document and you do all of that in 2023.
4:57
But then you don't do anything. And then 2023 passes, 2024
5:01
passes 2025. It's OK, I am now, I'm serious.
5:04
I want to take this business seriously and take that document
5:06
and you want to start raising funds.
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But you forget that you actually made that document two or three
5:12
years back. And so lots of things that you
5:15
put in it out of date, lots of figures that you put in it out
5:19
of date, lots of assumptions that you put in it out of date
5:22
or have come to pass, you know, things like that.
5:25
And of course, that's one of the problems with Elijah Patrick's
5:27
business review. That's why a business plan.
5:30
So if you're going to be one of these chaps or ladies who thinks
5:35
you need a business plan, please, by all means, if you sit
5:38
down with somebody, you strategize, you come up with,
5:41
you know, the document in 2023, I beg start running this play in
5:44
2023 currently when 2025 and this is March of 2025.
5:50
So if earlier in the year you sat down with somebody, you guys
5:52
come up with a business plan, what are you waiting for?
5:55
If you completed this document in February of 2025, you know,
5:59
it's much already like why are you wasting time?
6:01
Begin start trying to validate this thing and see this why I
6:05
tell people that the main thing you need to pay attention to is
6:08
make sure you have the right idea.
6:09
The next question is, is this thing viable?
6:11
Is it profitable? And then can I build a selling
6:13
framework around it? So yes, you've said you've met
6:17
the lawyer, you've registered the business name, you've called
6:19
the branding person and you know, you come up with the logo
6:21
and everything. You run out the business plan.
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So what are you waiting for? The next biggest questions are,
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is there demand for this sort of thing?
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Go into the market, start putting out sales motions, see
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if you can sell something, start interacting with the market,
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start trying to validate these things, get going.
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There's no point in creating these documents and then
6:41
waiting. So I was like, so I just went
6:49
off and around. So The thing is date and time
6:51
for was now time for the document to be reviewed for
6:54
Elijah Patrick. Now also another reason why we
6:56
have to review these things is because it makes a poor
6:58
impression. If you have a business plan that
7:00
you drop in 2023, you're trying to raise funds and it's 2025,
7:04
you're still carrying that document around.
7:06
It gives the impression that even yourself, you didn't read
7:09
this document, so you have to review the thing.
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Now. Luckily for Elijah, there are
7:15
some things working in his favour because he has a
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certificate in EDT that is entrepreneurial development
7:20
training and is a program that is administered by Smedan.
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Smedan is the small and medium scale Enterprise Development
7:28
Authority. Those of you who have been
7:30
listening to the podcast for the last maybe two years or so, that
7:32
should be a familiar name precisely because you should
7:35
remember the thing that I did with them.
7:38
I think that was their Lagos team, but that was an online
7:41
thing. I can't remember what the theme
7:44
of the program was. BS was organized by Smedan.
7:47
So Alexa Patrick has an EDT certificate from Smedan in 2020.
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And that's sort of like a good thing because when you're
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looking for formal finance, it's it gives some people confidence
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to see that you're affiliated with certain kinds of bodies.
8:01
So that's like a vote of confidence.
8:05
Then one thing that I liked in his business plan was that he
8:07
was looking for a loan and that the loan was going to be
8:10
collateralized by his equipment and assets.
8:13
Now that's just a fancy way of saying this, that look, Mr.
8:16
Financier, Mr. Bank, Mr. Whoever, I want to raise X
8:19
amount of money from you. But when you, when you give me
8:22
this money, we use this money, we'll buy some equipment, The
8:26
equipment that we buy, the land that we buy, that is now going
8:29
to be the collateral for the loan.
8:31
Collateral just means this is the thing that you will hold to
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make sure you get your money back.
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So that is a good way of ensuring whoever it is that is
8:38
giving you the loan that look, you'll be paid back.
8:40
Because even if worst case happens, I'm not able to give
8:44
you this money back. All the machines sell it.
8:47
Make your money back. The land that we bought, sell
8:49
it, make your money back. The building that we rented,
8:53
rent it or sell it, get your money back.
8:56
Oh, no, sorry. If you rented the land, if you
8:59
rented the building, OK, No, you can't use OK, No, they can't
9:02
make their money back on rent. OK, It would have to be
9:04
purchased if you bought the building and sell the building,
9:07
make your money back. So I thought that that was a
9:09
good plan. Now, the reason why I said that
9:11
that was good is because on radio Maria, lots of people have
9:15
been calling in to ask me questions about Islamic finance
9:20
or non interest finance. And you know, this is a really
9:23
thing to pay attention to because Islamic finance or non
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interest finance, whichever way you, you look at it, whichever
9:28
name you like to call it, they have products that deal with
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these sorts of things where you acquire assets for the business.
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And then the assets for the business now serve as the
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collateral for the loan or the security for the loan.
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The thing that they can hold in case they don't get their money
9:45
back so they can sell it and buy it back.
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Then also another thing in his plan I thought was a good idea
9:52
was because was that he was dropping money because lots of
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people can't drop with business plans and then they're using the
9:58
business plan to raise the whole money 100%.
10:01
So you're starting the business, you need like 30 M for the
10:03
business and you want to raise the whole 30 M by yourself.
10:06
Now Elijah Patrick did something real nice, which was I'm not
10:10
going to go into specifics, you know, to protect his privacy,
10:12
but let me just throw up some some made-up figures.
10:16
Instead of him just saying I need 30 M to start this
10:18
business, please give me 30 M What he said was I need 30 M to
10:23
start this business. I personally have been able to
10:25
raise like 12. So I'm just looking for the
10:28
balance of 18 to make this business work.
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So what I'm looking for is 18. Remember these figures are
10:35
made-up. This is not exactly what was in
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his business proposal. Now that's a good thing because
10:39
it also gives investors confidence to show that you're
10:41
not an anyhow anyhow kind of guy or they're just a lazy babe
10:45
because you have done some work to raise some amount that is
10:50
needed. The only thing you're looking
10:51
for now is balance. And I thought that that was
10:53
really, really good. So something to consider if
10:56
you're also thinking of writing a business plan to raise
10:58
finance. If you can raise something
11:00
small, it gives confidence. If it looks like you're just
11:04
going cap in hand, cap in hand, you know, somehow.
11:08
But if you're going and you'll be able to raise some small
11:10
coins, you know, at least they'll say, well, the guy tries
11:14
small, he's serious. You know, the baby has some skin
11:17
in the game. That kind of thing gives people
11:19
confidence. Then something I want to comment
11:23
on again, it was part of the document that is called the
11:26
sales forecast. And well, traditionally it's
11:29
always there. But here's the thing, sometimes
11:34
people just put numbers. You just be putting numbers that
11:36
I'm wondering, ah, all these numbers, you're putting millions
11:39
and millions and millions as in from where?
11:42
So that raises one important question.
11:43
If you're going to come up with a sales forecast, it should have
11:46
a basis. You should have some grounding
11:49
in reality now for someone like Elisha Patrick, who had created
11:55
the business plan and who has started running the business,
11:58
but who hadn't used the business plan to raise anything.
12:00
My advice was him. For him was that his actual
12:03
trading history between the beginning of the business and
12:07
now, That is what you serve as the basis for the sales
12:10
forecast. Because when you go there,
12:12
somebody will be asking you, OK, you say, yeah, when you're going
12:14
to make 5M, how are you going to make that 5 M?
12:17
You now start stammering. It's not a good look, but if you
12:21
say in year 1 we're going to make 5 M and they ask you how do
12:24
you know you're going to make 5 MI say all that simple because
12:27
we've been running this business for five years and in year 1, we
12:30
made 800. In year 2, we did 1.4.
12:34
In year 3, we're able to do 3 and in year 4, we're able to do,
12:41
we're able to do 3.9. So based on the sales team that
12:45
we have and if we raise this finance based on the equipment
12:49
that we buy, based on people that we hire, we really think we
12:51
can hit five. You know, that kind of thing
12:53
will give somebody confidence because they are looking at
12:55
something you can call an account, sorry, an accountant.
12:59
You can bring your Excel sheets, you can show your receipts, you
13:01
can show your, you know, whatever.
13:03
There's something you can show to say this is what we did last
13:06
year. This is what we did this year.
13:08
Therefore, God willing, we hope that next year we should be able
13:12
to do that. Sorry about that.
13:15
The neighbors just switched on their generator cause you know
13:19
how it is now, never just doing their thing.
13:22
And even though it rained yesterday in my own part of town
13:25
in, in Abuja, of course the sun is out.
13:27
So it's really hot here. So you know, people have to do
13:29
what they have to do. Where was I?
13:33
So bottom line, sure. That part where it says sales
13:35
forecast, just make sure that there's an actual basis for the
13:38
sales forecast because especially if you're raising
13:41
form of finance, I mean, think about it.
13:42
Let's say I want to raise money from Dangote now and I carry a
13:45
plan and I tell them what it OK, for this, my business idea, I
13:48
need like 1 billion. Then we go to the sales forecast
13:51
section. Sorry, 1 moment.
13:54
OK, phone call coming through. Just wanted to be sure it was
13:56
not an emergency. So where was I?
14:03
So I tell them which I need like 1 billion for this thing now.
14:05
And then he opens to the sales forecast section and he's
14:07
saying, OK, you say year one, this is how much you do in
14:10
profit. Year 2 this how much you do,
14:11
year three this how much you do. He will not ask me why.
14:15
And of course, nowadays A seasoned businessman.
14:17
So if I start talking and I'm saying, MMM, of course you say,
14:21
look, young man, just get out of my office.
14:23
OK? Well, I hear he's a polite guy,
14:24
so he might not be that rude and say get out of my office.
14:27
But when I leave his office, I know for sure he's going to tell
14:29
his PA. And I say, you see that young
14:31
man Tavishima, never allow him into my office again.
14:34
Now is a waste of my time and then I'll be it.
14:36
But then if I go and sit down with you, I need 1 billion.
14:39
And he looks at sales forecast and it's OK.
14:41
How Are you sure you can do 500 M in profits year 1700, year 2,
14:46
blah blah blah. And I tell him that, oh, OK,
14:48
that's because based on the money that me and my wife
14:51
raised, plus one I got from Mumsy and plus one I got from
14:53
people in the village, this is what we're able to do.
14:56
We're able to do like this. We're able to do like this.
14:58
I got money from Co-op in here too.
15:00
And this is how we're able to do.
15:01
And then based on that, if you're able to drop this back
15:03
that we're expecting from you confidently, we think we should
15:06
be able to hit this and this and that and that.
15:08
He look and he'll say, OK, maybe this young man has something.
15:12
And yeah, and then hopefully he will tell his period.
15:16
How you see that young man, Terry Shima is a sharp guy.
15:18
He's a correct guy. Next time he he comes here, make
15:22
sure that he has an audience with me.
15:24
So make sure the sales forecast, you're not just throwing up
15:28
numbers. This part of the business plan.
15:31
Do not just leave it up to the person who is a business plan
15:34
writer to just start putting whatever numbers the person
15:37
likes. This part of the business plan.
15:39
Sit down with this person and you will need to have a very
15:42
frank, realistic whatever. Don't just put numbers that are
15:46
going to look fantastic. Put numbers that have a basis in
15:51
what you have been doing so far. Put realistic figures.
15:54
Please be honest so when people ask you a question on that you
15:57
will start saying I didn't prepare or my accountant said or
16:02
something. You'll be able to confidently
16:04
speak with a full chest to justify why you think you might
16:09
be able to hit XYZ. But remember everybody knows
16:14
that this is a plan. Nobody expects that everything
16:17
works 100% of the time. So nobody's going to give you
16:19
unrealistic expectations around these things.
16:21
Which is why it's OK to put honest figures and, you know,
16:26
trying to shoot your shot then OK, Another part of the document
16:31
that I found really interesting and I think some of us should
16:33
consider because too many people.
16:37
I'll put it anyway. Another section.
16:42
Let me just go on straight. He came to the part of sales
16:44
strategy. Now you see why I say the
16:48
business plan is an important document, because when you sit
16:50
down with the person to draw up your business plan, you guys
16:52
discuss some ideas about how we're going to sell and you put
16:55
it down on paper. And after you do that, sometimes
16:58
you forget, but then you can refer to the document and see
17:00
that, OK, when I was sitting down with the consultant, these
17:02
are the things that we discussed.
17:05
So in his document, part of their sales strategy was we're
17:08
going to do forwards and futures contracts.
17:10
Now this is just a fancy way of saying they were going to be
17:12
selling because the business that Elisha Patrick wants to be
17:15
involved in this selling sesame seeds.
17:17
They were going to be selling sesame seeds before the time of
17:21
the harvest. In other words, they were going
17:23
to enter into relationships and agreements with processors,
17:26
other people and tell them that look, I have a farm.
17:29
It is also so and so Hector Hectares, this is how many heads
17:32
of plants that were we are farming.
17:35
And because of this, we expect that the harvest should be this,
17:38
this and that that that. So based on that, if you pay us
17:42
now, we should be able to deliver XYZ quantity of sesame,
17:48
XYZ quantity of sesame during harvest time.
17:51
So the advantage of that is that, you know, it makes the
17:54
cash flow position easier be able to collect money now to
17:57
finance the business instead of waiting until they harvest
18:00
before they sell. So you can see now that when
18:04
Elijah Patrick was drawing up the business plan with the
18:06
consultant, they sat down and they come up with some some
18:08
ideas. So you can see that this part of
18:11
the document that says sales and marketing actually is the best,
18:15
the sweetest part of the document.
18:18
So even if you don't do anything at all with your business plan,
18:21
from time to time you sit down, you and your business partner
18:24
open it, go to that section that says sales and marketing and
18:27
start looking at the wonderful ideas and strategies that in the
18:30
planning stage you guys wrote down.
18:32
Because it's possible that you guys came up with a bunch of
18:34
stuff, maybe like 5-6 ideas. And to be honest, since the
18:37
business started like five years ago, you guys have only tried
18:39
one. It's not a bad idea to look at
18:41
our document and say in the beginning what were our
18:44
assumptions, what did we think, what did we execute on, which
18:47
one did we try, which one didn't work, which one can we improve
18:50
upon? So that is the sweetest part of
18:53
the document, sales strategy, sales and marketing strategy,
18:56
you know market access, go to market plan, whatever it is that
19:00
it is called, that is the sweeter part of the document.
19:04
Then there was a part of the document that had to deal with
19:07
labor requirements and costs. And I see the reason why I say
19:10
we should make sure our thing is up to date because for him the
19:14
business plan was prepared in 2020.
19:16
The time that he called in on the radio show was 2025 S
19:21
Definitely the numbers that you put there for rent and machines
19:26
is definitely out of date because between 2020 and 2025, a
19:29
couple of things happened in Nigeria.
19:31
Nigeria went into, we started going through hyperinflation,
19:36
you know, with a cash crunch and then cashless economy policy and
19:40
then increase in fewer rates when balloting book haven and
19:44
anything. So I mean, cost of living just
19:46
but everything was going up, up, up, up, up.
19:48
So hyperinflation and it was an interesting time.
19:52
It still is an interesting time because currently I'm listening
19:55
to I'm still, we're still living through it.
19:57
But you know, you read about things in business books, you
19:59
know, when you are in secondary school studying economics and
20:02
stuff like that. So it's really interesting to
20:04
live out these sorts of things. Especially since when we were
20:07
younger, there was a time that under can't remember this guy, I
20:12
think was Zimbabwe under in Zimbabwe under this guy with a
20:17
funny mustache that looked like Hitler.
20:20
Anyway, they had they went through hyperinflation as well.
20:22
So, you know, we in Nigeria, we've gone through ours not as
20:26
bad as theirs, but you know, we've been through ours anyway.
20:29
But what I'm just trying to say is that keep your document up to
20:31
date because you know, times change.
20:33
You make your business plan in 2025 and now you're in 2027, you
20:38
know, things change, things become more expensive, things
20:40
become more cheaper. You have to adjust those figures
20:44
because they will have a bearing on how on the plan.
20:49
Then of course, one thing that was missing, he did not include
20:52
a financial request. That's a part of the document
20:54
where we say this is how much money I need.
20:56
So you know, what people do is they raise the business plan and
20:59
it's kind of implied that I'm looking for money, but you need
21:02
to put that section, that paragraph that makes a very
21:05
clear request. This is how much I need, this is
21:10
when I need it for. This is how it's going to be
21:13
used. This is how we're going to pay
21:15
you back, you know, stuff like that.
21:16
Just a brief section. It has to be there because think
21:20
about it from a sales perspective.
21:23
If you go and talk to somebody, you put call to action, then
21:26
what are you doing? If you don't show up and have a
21:29
conversation with someone, there's no call to action,
21:31
There's no agreed upon next steps.
21:32
What would the person say? The person will say, let me
21:35
think about it, I will call you later and we all know that when
21:39
somebody says, let me think about it, the next thing that
21:41
will happen is ghost mode. The person is not answering your
21:43
phone again. So business plan aside, there is
21:46
no sales interaction, customer interaction that you should be
21:50
having that you don't put call to action.
21:52
Call to action just means agreed next steps.
21:55
What are we going to do next? What am I expecting from you?
21:58
What are you expecting from me? What are we going to do to move
22:00
this thing forward? You should not be talking to
22:03
anybody and not put any call to action, any next clear steps.
22:07
If not, the other person will say let me think about it, let
22:10
me talk to my wife, let me consider my pastor, drop it with
22:14
my PA. My PA will call you back while
22:17
I'm coming. I'm on my way to Saudi Arabia
22:19
for Hajj. When I come back from Hajj,
22:21
we'll talk again. You know all kinds of excuse
22:23
before you know it. Ghost mode.
22:27
So please, everything, whether it's business plan or or not,
22:32
every single time you're talking to somebody, don't leave this
22:34
meeting without both of you agreeing that this is the next
22:39
step or this is what you, Sir, you will do next or this is what
22:43
me, I will do next to move things forward, Please.
22:47
Very, very, very important. So those are just my initial
22:50
thoughts on looking at Elijah Patrick's business plan.
22:54
Then since he's in the Agri space and was going to use it to
22:57
raise finance, I wanted to be more valuable.
22:59
So I went ahead and did some research about programs, avenues
23:05
that he could raise finance. So I was able to find from the
23:07
CBN, the CBN is the Central Bank of Nigeria that is our highest
23:12
bank in the land, the one that regulates all the other banks
23:15
and determines government policy when it comes to money.
23:21
So the CBN has an anchor borrowers program that is a
23:24
program as at the date of this recording, just in case you're
23:28
listening to this podcast whatever 10 years from now.
23:31
So please just take it as good practice.
23:33
And whenever you hear anything from somebody on the TV, on the
23:36
radio or on the podcast, always do your own research and and
23:38
verify because it's possible that at the time you're
23:41
listening to this podcast, some of these programs are no longer
23:44
in existence or they have been significantly modified.
23:48
So the Central Bank of Nigeria has an anchor borrowers program.
23:56
And the idea behind the anchors borrowers program is this.
23:59
Now they're going to get people who are smallholders small.
24:02
When they say you're a smallholder, it's not an insult.
24:04
It just means that the plot of land that you have is small,
24:07
your farm is small, the harvest that you're producing is small.
24:11
You know, that's just what it means.
24:13
Nobody's insulting when they call you a smallholder.
24:15
OK. So I was going to connect
24:18
smallholders like Elijah to reputable processors, processors
24:25
who are big. The machine that they have is
24:28
big, the farmland that they have is big, The storage houses that
24:32
they have is big, the processing facilities that they have is
24:36
big. And then for the purpose of that
24:38
act, according to those people anchors, so the anchor, the big
24:42
person in the community is going to be hooked up to the small,
24:45
small, small people that now provides What's it called now
24:51
uptake. And that's what they call it
24:53
uptake. It now provides uptake for the
24:56
bigger guys. In other words, you have
24:58
guaranteed places where you're going to get your your supplies
25:02
from. So if I am the anchor and I have
25:05
maybe 5000 hectares of farmland, I don't know if that's big or
25:08
small. And then I have maybe 50
25:10
processors in my factory. I'm not sure if that's big or
25:13
small, but I'm just saying that compared to other people in the
25:15
environment, what I have is big is boku is plenty and then I
25:19
have small small other people there.
25:22
I am the uncle other people in the community that I can be
25:24
buying sesame from. You know, I buy 100 bags from
25:28
this person, 200 bags from this person, 10 bags from this person
25:31
join everything together. You can see that all of us, you
25:34
know who are supporting ourselves while keeping the
25:35
economy going me the fact that I'm there is guaranteed uptake
25:40
for them. They know that any which ratio
25:42
badassi bad these guys over there without big farm with all
25:46
those machines, worst case scenario, he will buy our own
25:49
produce. And then me also know that look,
25:52
worst case scenario, no matter how things go on my own farm,
25:55
there are all these guys around that I can be buying stuff from.
25:58
So that is part of the anchors program just to hook up
26:02
smallholders with reputable processors.
26:05
Please remember, again, it's not an insult because some of you
26:08
look at the document and say reputable processors, does that
26:10
mean I am disreputable? No, that's not what it means.
26:13
They're just saying, look, we have to call it something.
26:16
They're just saying that you, you're a small holder, your farm
26:17
is small, your harvest is small, your machines are small.
26:21
Let's hook you up with someone who is big, then let's see what
26:26
else. OK, those also CBN also has a
26:28
commercial agricultural credit scheme where they subsidized
26:32
credit for processors. So what that means is you're a
26:34
processor, you want to raise money, go and raise the money.
26:38
By the time you raise the money will now subsidized small
26:40
subsidized just means that they will took something for you so
26:43
they will support you small. So they're not really giving you
26:46
the money. It's just that you raise the
26:48
money will shock your hands small.
26:50
So that's the whole idea you know, and then Nigerians living
26:54
now in 2025, of course, you know what subsidy means since part of
26:57
the reason why why in hyperinflation it's precisely
27:00
because we've gotten rid of the fuel subsidy.
27:03
Wendy, that's for a podcast episode for another day.
27:08
Oh, sorry, forgive me my notes just flew away.
27:12
Let me see, where was I? OK, I was at commercial
27:16
agriculture. OK.
27:18
Then there's also another one, the Agri Business Small and
27:21
Medium Scale Enterprise Investment Scheme.
27:25
Some of you might say Kai, these acronyms are long, but
27:27
unfortunately that's just how it is in Niger.
27:29
We don't do short acronyms. Everything has to be long, long,
27:32
long. I mean like C Smith and SMEDAN,
27:35
you know, nothing small, everything big.
27:37
So we always have plenty of acronyms.
27:39
So yes, the Agri Business, Small and Medium Enterprise Investment
27:42
Scheme. So now you remember that part
27:46
where I said in Elijah's business plan, he said they want
27:49
to raise the loan and then the collateral for the loan, the
27:53
security for the loan, the way that the money will be paid
27:56
back. Worst case scenario is that the
28:00
land that they will buy, the equipment and buildings and
28:03
everything that they will buy will be the collateral.
28:05
So that worst case scenario if things don't work out, you don't
28:08
drop the money, you don't want to sell all these things and get
28:10
your money back, at least you won't lose too much.
28:13
So this scheme now the Agri business small and medium scale
28:19
Enterprise Investment scheme, it was being implemented in two
28:24
phases. The phase that I was interested
28:26
in is the one that is non interests, yes, the non interest
28:32
or the Islamic finance one, Islamic finance or non interest
28:36
version. So that version of the program
28:38
was compliant with Islamic finance.
28:42
So what that means there is that this money that you're receiving
28:45
is not going to accrue any interest.
28:48
And of course, if you've been listening to my Radio Maria show
28:51
or even on the podcast a few times I've spoken about Islamic
28:54
financing or non interest financing, They do have those
28:57
products, excuse me, where you acquire things on hire purchase
29:03
or you acquire assets and the assets serve as the, excuse me,
29:08
the assets serve as the security for the loan.
29:10
So this kind of thing now makes a lot of sense that since it's
29:12
already in his business plan and since is the kind of thing that
29:15
he's anticipating. And since you don't have to be a
29:18
Muslim to access Islamic finance or non interest finance, you can
29:22
carry these your documents, carry all these your paper and
29:25
start chasing people in NERASAL was is being administered with
29:29
NERASAL. That is NIRSAL.
29:31
So forgive me, I'm tired of cramming acronyms.
29:36
So just one check NIRSAL Microfinance bank so you find
29:41
out what that means. So you can now go and approach
29:45
near South to access the Agri business small and medium scale
29:50
Enterprise Investment scheme. So it makes perfect sense.
29:54
So that's why I was happy to see that part in his business plan
29:57
to show that truly, truly when he made his business plan, he
30:00
didn't just pay somebody money and say, Oh yeah, go on, come up
30:04
with a business plan. You know, they sat down, they
30:05
thought things true and they came up with a couple of ideas.
30:08
I'm truly, truly, truly, I say on TV, if you must pay somebody
30:11
for a business plan, that is the way to go about it.
30:14
Don't just pay somebody and say give me a business plan.
30:16
That's what kind of rubbish that you don't know inside there.
30:19
And then when you're in front of the investor and they ask you
30:21
small question, you'll be saying no, that's not the way to go.
30:26
Sit down with the person. The person will start asking a
30:28
couple of questions. Who are you?
30:30
What's your business about? What's your vision?
30:33
Where are you going? How much have you sold?
30:36
Are you going to make money? What do you need for the
30:38
business to you know they'll be asking you a question upon
30:40
question upon question and I know you'll be tired of
30:42
answering questions, but The thing is they needed to write
30:45
that business plan. In fact, I'm telling you
30:48
wholeheartedly, if you go and tell somebody do business plan
30:52
for me, the person says why your money is 200K.
30:55
If the person did not ask you a single question, run from that
30:58
person because the person wants to just collect your money and
31:01
the person will put rubbish in your business plan.
31:03
Well, it's not as if it's rubbish.
31:05
It's just that the person is going to write down what you do
31:07
not know, what you don't understand and what you cannot
31:11
justify. So the person that you should go
31:13
with to drop your business plan precisely is the person who is
31:17
asking you questions to the point where you're tired because
31:20
the person actually needs all that information to drop it in
31:23
the document. So that when that business plan
31:27
is done, it reflects your intentions, it inflects your
31:30
wishes, it has your assumptions, it has your goals, it has your
31:33
aspirations. So there's the kind of thing
31:35
that you can stand anywhere, whether you're applying for CBN
31:39
loan or microfinance bank loan or whether you go to Dangote to
31:43
ask for money, you'll be able to talk confidently about what's in
31:47
that document because you you're just speaking what's in your
31:49
mind. The person who wrote the
31:51
business plan, he just did his best or she did her best to
31:56
reflect what is in your mind into that document.
31:59
So that's all for today. There probably will be more
32:02
business plan episodes in the future because I didn't expect
32:06
it. But since I started that radio
32:08
show, people have been calling in.
32:09
I have a business plan, I have a business plan, I have a business
32:11
plan. So expect to hear more business
32:13
plan episodes in the future. But the most important thing is
32:15
this. Even if you don't like business
32:17
plans or whatever, The thing is, all the questions that we're
32:20
tackling on our show on Radio Maria and I will tackle over
32:23
here, questions from other people, even if it doesn't
32:26
directly relate to your own context, you can always learn
32:29
one or two things, Sha, that will help improve our businesses
32:32
now or improve whatever business that we're going to get into in
32:38
the future, especially since we're always looking at things
32:40
from a sales and business development perspective over
32:43
here on the show. So that's all for today.
32:46
Remember, if you've got any sales or marketing questions,
32:49
you can call SMS or WhatsApp me on 08064662140.
32:54
The config code is +234. For those of you who are not
32:57
Nigerian, thank you very much for your time and attention.
33:00
I'll catch you guys at the next episode.