Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / From CBN to Cooperatives: Funding Solutions for Nigerian Pharmacies

Transcript

From CBN to Cooperatives: Funding Solutions for Nigerian Pharmacies · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:01
  Hello and welcome to the show. Taking today's recording at my
• 0:04
  desk so we shouldn't have too many interruptions.
• 0:08
  Now, if this is your first time of discovering the podcast,
• 0:11
  don't worry, this is not a show about my life.
• 0:13
  The goal of this show is business education.
• 0:16
  So if by the time we're done with it, you find some value,
• 0:18
  please share, promote and talk about the show so that your
• 0:21
  friends and family members in Nigeria and abroad can benefit
• 0:24
  from the questions that we tackle.
• 0:26
  They can do that by subscribing on Spotify, YouTube, Apple or
• 0:30
  any player of their choice. And if you in particular have
• 0:33
  any sales and marketing questions, then bring them to
• 0:36
  me. You can call, you can SMS me or
• 0:38
  you can send me a WhatsApp on 08064662140.
• 0:45
  Today on the show, I'd like to. OK, let me get my notes here.
• 0:50
  I'd like to tackle one question quickly.
• 0:53
  This was from Francis in Asokoro.
• 0:55
  She called in on the radio show. This your first time listening
• 0:59
  to the podcast? I don't just have this podcast
• 1:01
  going. I also have a radio show where I
• 1:03
  tackle business questions then. OK, So Francis, her question was
• 1:10
  around what kind of grants or what kind of soft loans are
• 1:13
  available for people who want to start pharmacies or who run
• 1:18
  pharmacies, chemist business, you know, these sorts of things
• 1:20
  in Nigeria. So that's today's question.
• 1:24
  What kind of grants or what kind of soft loans can you expect to
• 1:28
  get if you are trying to run a pharmacy or a chemist business
• 1:31
  in Nigeria? So let's see what else.
• 1:36
  So First off, I started off by giving the usual warnings, the
• 1:40
  usual caveats, especially for those of you who are starting
• 1:44
  businesses where, you know, health and safety is a primary
• 1:47
  concern. So I wanted to be sure that
• 1:49
  Francis has all the legal compliance in check, you know,
• 1:52
  registered by CAC, you have all your NAFDAQ certification,
• 1:56
  NAFDAF qualification, you have all your medical medical
• 2:01
  qualifications, what else, you know, everything that you need
• 2:05
  to do for these particular kinds of businesses.
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  So just make sure that if you're like Francis, you're about to
• 2:11
  start this business, just make sure that everything is in
• 2:14
  check. And before I continue,
• 2:20
  particularly since I started the radio show, I get the impression
• 2:23
  that lots of people think that the problem is, you know,
• 2:26
  finance, you know, funding, you know, stuff like that.
• 2:29
  And I've been saying it time and time again on the podcast and
• 2:32
  I'm also saying on the radio show.
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  But I think it's a gospel I'm going to have to go really hard
• 2:37
  on. For most people, the problem is
• 2:40
  not finance. You think that finance is your
• 2:42
  problem, but the problem is you're doing a bad job when it
• 2:45
  comes to sales and marketing because this is what is going to
• 2:48
  happen. You have your business, you have
• 2:50
  your pharmacy, you have your web design agency, you have your
• 2:53
  poultry business, you have your whatever.
• 2:56
  If your unit economics are wrong, unit economics just means
• 2:59
  have you priced this thing adequately so that the money
• 3:02
  that comes in, there's enough for you to put something in your
• 3:04
  pocket, there's enough for you to reinvest back into the
• 3:06
  business. There's enough for this thing
• 3:08
  to, to, to keep going. So if the unit economics are
• 3:12
  wrong, the unit economics are wrong.
• 3:15
  So even if you go and raise 5 M and throw it into this business,
• 3:17
  the unit economics are crap. So the thing will still crumble.
• 3:23
  The only thing you're doing is you're just delaying the demise
• 3:25
  of your business. The problem that we should be
• 3:27
  fixing first of all is not funding, funding finance,
• 3:30
  finance. Finance is sales and marketing
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  first. Are people interested?
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  Did I pick a right location? Am I able to move this product
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  or serve? I mean, all these kinds of
• 3:40
  questions around sales and marketing, that's what we saw
• 3:42
  first before we go and get funding because some of you are
• 3:46
  just increasing your level of busy.
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  If the business is a bad business or you don't know how
• 3:52
  to sell the thing or it's something that you probably have
• 3:55
  to move out of and get involved in another business.
• 3:57
  The thing is if you go and raise 5M10M, I'll throw it down.
• 4:00
  This thing you just magnify your level of busy and you're just
• 4:04
  moving judgement day down the line.
• 4:08
  That five M, that 10 M, that 20 M, that 50 M, it will just buy
• 4:11
  you some time. But ultimately this thing will
• 4:13
  still crumble if you don't deal with the underlying issues.
• 4:16
  So please, you're listening to the show now.
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  I beg stop thinking that funding is the problem.
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  Stop thinking that finance is the problem.
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  In most cases is not how you know, look guy anyway, if you're
• 4:30
  running the business right and then things are moving, you have
• 4:34
  product market fit. Product market fit just means
• 4:36
  you've been able to establish that there's demand for this
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  product. People like it, people are
• 4:41
  calling, people are buying you. You've been able to find a way
• 4:45
  to connect with your with your audiences, with your potential
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  customers. And then maybe the problem now
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  is that you know, you need money to scale.
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  You see that's a different problem.
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  You've been able to fix the foundational elements first,
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  first before you not worry about scaling.
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  Anyway, let me not go into it rant.
• 5:07
  Let me just answer this question.
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  But I just want lots of you to know, especially those of you
• 5:11
  discovering this podcast for the first time since I got on radio.
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  There are too many people who think if I can just raise 5 M,
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  if I can just raise three M, if I can just raise 10 M, I'll be
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  all right. Your problem is not the finance.
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  The problem is that you've not been able to do a good job
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  selling, marketing, finding customers, finding patronage,
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  whatever it is you want to call it.
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  That actually is the problem. So unfortunately for Francis now
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  when she asked the question, I did a little bit of research and
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  it looks like the finance that is available is probably too big
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  for Francis or maybe too expensive the the kind of
• 5:57
  funding options that are available.
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  So there are commercial banks that have some kind of packages
• 6:03
  that people can take advantage of, like Sterling Bank for
• 6:05
  instance. They have this, at least at this
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  at the date of recording in 2025.
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  They have a health finance package for businesses where
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  they finance working capital and then asset finance.
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  Now what working capital means is you're already running the
• 6:20
  business, but you need some small coins, you need some kind
• 6:23
  money every day or every week to finance one or two things.
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  That's about working capital. Working capital means, so it
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  doesn't mean big money to buy your building or your truck or
• 6:35
  your whatever, but the money that you need to do the work on
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  the everyday. That's what working capital
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  means. Then they also provide, OK, not
• 6:46
  just working capital but also asset finance.
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  Now, asset finance, that's money that you use to get the big, big
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  stuff, like to buy the machines or the, you know, equipment that
• 6:55
  you use in your chemist shop or maybe to acquire the building or
• 7:00
  whatever. So Sterling Bank here, they have
• 7:02
  health finance. By the way, please, whenever I
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  give any information here on the podcast, I beg go and verify.
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  Don't take what I say as gospel truth.
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  You know, I'm human, I can make mistakes.
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  So go and verify the information.
• 7:17
  Yeah, shall go and verify anyway.
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  Then I also found something from CBN that's the Central Bank of
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  Nigeria. They have is healthcare sector
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  intervention facility. That is the HSIF as of the time
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  of recording in 2025. If you're reading, if you're
• 7:37
  listening to this podcast in, you know, 2057, then, you know,
• 7:40
  go and check, find out what the, the, find out what the current
• 7:46
  program is. So this is CBN healthcare sector
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  intervention facility HSIF where they provide credit.
• 7:54
  Credit just means loan means I've given you some money, but I
• 7:59
  will collect the money back. Let's see what else?
• 8:05
  OK, so they provide credits, but this is just to manufacturers.
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  So I don't think it will cover people like Francis because it
• 8:11
  looks to me like Francis is on the retail side, as in she's
• 8:14
  selling, not that she's manufacturing the medicine.
• 8:17
  Well, so they give credit facilities, that's loans to
• 8:20
  manufacturers and suppliers, I think for 10 years, Abby, OK,
• 8:26
  No, they give it to you at 9% for 10 years.
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  Then there's also the Development Bank of Nigeria,
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  that's the DBN. They also have some things there
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  for people who are in healthcare space, you know, pharmacies, you
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  know, things like that. Then of course, there's also
• 8:43
  finance options that are available.
• 8:44
  If you try microfinance banks, that is where you can get some,
• 8:47
  you know, small, small loans, not, you know, gigantic,
• 8:50
  gigantic money. And I hear that the rates at
• 8:52
  microfinance banks are better than regular commercial banks,
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  but still the average Nigerian still considers that to be
• 9:00
  expensive. Well, that's an option then.
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  I also mentioned that, you know, there's still the age-old ISUSU
• 9:08
  contribution cooperative, you know, all these sorts of things
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  because like I mentioned, one of my family members who was able
• 9:16
  to raise I think like 3M or 4M for his own particular business
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  needs. I didn't know that all these
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  small, small associations that people join at work, you know,
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  you know, so, so, so and so association of workers something
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  something Children of Anambra, Emily S something, something
• 9:36
  cooperative. You know, I had no idea that all
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  these institutions that you join and all these money that people
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  are putting aside every month, you know, I had no idea that at
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  the end of the day, it can amount to those it can amount to
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  anyway, Let me just say, if you had asked me before, can
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  somebody join ISUSU or join Co-op?
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  And then at the end of the day, raise, you know, like 3-4
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  million for their business. I would have said no, that those
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  things are too small. How much are you putting aside?
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  You won't pass, you know, 5050 K every month for a hundred 100K
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  every month at the end of the year.
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  How much is that? You know, blah, blah, blah.
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  But yes, more these things give good loans.
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  So you can try and join some of those things.
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  Then of course I also mentioned non interest financing or
• 10:24
  Islamic finance as some people like to call it.
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  Don't worry, you don't have to be a Muslim to take advantage of
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  these. So they have particular products
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  that people like Francis can take advantage of.
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  So in a general sense, you know, you'd have to speak to the
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  particular bank and the people in the sales and marketing
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  department will let you know what's up.
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  So I think OK, Nigeria, this Taj, this Taj Bank, what else?
• 10:52
  Taj Sterling Bank also has a non interest banking section.
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  Sterling Taj, I can't remember which other banks, but please,
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  like I said, I'm not affiliated with any of these institutions.
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  So please go and verify for yourself.
• 11:06
  Don't take it that what I'm saying is gospel truth.
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  So there's a class of products called Mudaraba, which is profit
• 11:16
  sharing, where the bank will provide capital, the bank will
• 11:19
  give the money to be running this thing.
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  Then you, in this case Francis, will take responsibility for
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  managing the business. And then at the end of the day,
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  the profits are shared in a fixed ratio.
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  So Mudaraba, it might be something that, you know, some
• 11:34
  people are open to. So it's not as if you took a
• 11:37
  loan and you know, X percent every month or whatever.
• 11:41
  You know this one is profit sharing then.
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  Okay, I didn't note down the other products because I noticed
• 11:51
  that for this Mudaraba, there are three other banks in Nigeria
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  that offer this particular product that is product sharing.
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  So if you're curious, check your Google, check Gemini, check
• 12:00
  ChatGPT, Mudaraba is MUDARABAH, otherwise profit sharing or just
• 12:08
  Google non interest financing Nigeria.
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  And you see some of the things come up.
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  So that if you are in this situation, you have a small
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  pharmacy, you're trying to do some small chemist business or
• 12:17
  something and you need funds to get the business to to grow,
• 12:21
  then yeah, these are some of the things that you can use to help
• 12:25
  fund your business. However, like I keep telling
• 12:29
  people, and lots of people don't realize this, when you start
• 12:34
  looking down this route to collect money from some kind of
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  financial institution, you will need a business plan.
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  You will need some kind of projection.
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  In other words, you will need some serious paperwork.
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  This is not something that you will go in and tell them your
• 12:50
  life story and they'll feel sorry for you and then they'll
• 12:52
  give you some cheddar does not work that way.
• 12:56
  Everything needs to be squared, needs to be proper, needs to be
• 12:59
  on point. I'm currently talking to someone
• 13:01
  like that who wants to raise equity finance.
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  And then we start the conversation.
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  I'm like, you know, guy, you don't have you don't have
• 13:07
  anything like there's, there's no paperwork.
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  Like how is somebody supposed to invest in your business at this
• 13:15
  stage? Like based on what?
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  Just because you look nice, you sound nice, you sound educated.
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  And then because other people will drop money doesn't work
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  that way. So if you're seriously thinking
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  this thing grants, investment, soft loan, hard loan, any kind
• 13:33
  of loan, any kind of equity, go and drop a business plan.
• 13:38
  Just Google ChatGPT, see the templates, start following the
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  templates. The important thing about the
• 13:46
  templates right is, is that it is a guide to what you should be
• 13:51
  paying attention to. So that's why all these
• 13:53
  templates are are useful. But of course, have someone look
• 13:56
  it over again by the time you're done.
• 13:58
  But sure, you will need a business plan and you will need
• 14:02
  your financials to be in order. So if you're like me that you
• 14:07
  like to harass your accountant by just throwing all the
• 14:09
  receipts to him, print our banks open.
• 14:11
  I say, well, accountant, go ahead and figure this thing out.
• 14:14
  That's not going to work. You know, things have you have
• 14:17
  to be more point with keeping your records, tracking
• 14:19
  everything and you know, proper printed out statements, you
• 14:23
  know, every, every. So then when somebody asks, how
• 14:25
  much did you spend last year in 2025, you can say exactly how
• 14:28
  much. When they say how much did you
• 14:31
  need from working capital in the second quarter?
• 14:34
  You can look at it. OK, second quarter, is this to
• 14:36
  this the working capital that I need needed to run the pharmacy,
• 14:40
  you know, was this is this and that amount or how much do you
• 14:44
  need for the next, you know, to finance the business for next
• 14:48
  year, As in you will need to have very, very, very, very
• 14:55
  clear answers. See, The thing is, even if your
• 14:59
  answer is not clear, even if it's not exact, even if it's not
• 15:02
  accurate, the very fact that there are some things that you
• 15:05
  can be looking to, to get the information.
• 15:08
  These are the kind of things that inspire people with
• 15:09
  confidence. Because I've been on some some
• 15:13
  sessions where the head of I can't remember for Smedan or
• 15:16
  which organization. OK, no, Smedan doesn't give
• 15:18
  money, but one of these organizations that gives money
• 15:21
  and the person said that, you know, lots of people come
• 15:24
  forward and the paperwork is not, is not in order, you know,
• 15:28
  so there's no, there's no confidence.
• 15:31
  At least if they see that you are trying to tidy up the
• 15:35
  paperwork, there's something that they can refer to you give
• 15:37
  somebody small confidence that, OK, this is something we can
• 15:40
  invest in or that we can drop money here.
• 15:43
  Anyway. So summary, what I just wanted
• 15:46
  to say, I don't want this episode to be too long is if
• 15:48
  you're in this kind of situation, please, please,
• 15:51
  please, please my own opinion or stop assuming that funding
• 15:54
  financing is the problem, sales and marketing is the problem.
• 15:58
  If your pharmacy business is struggling, I think it's
• 16:00
  probably because, see, I'm not in this space, but my guess is
• 16:04
  maybe if you have a pharmacy, you need the right kind of
• 16:06
  location because you need access to food traffic or maybe close
• 16:09
  enough to hospitals or something.
• 16:11
  Because I noticed that close to National Hospital in Abuja that
• 16:15
  these there are three mega pharmacy chains there.
• 16:19
  So I'm assuming when it comes to pharmacy, location is the main
• 16:23
  thing, access to food traffic. So it's probable that, you know,
• 16:28
  you picked the wrong location or you're not, you've not done a
• 16:31
  good job with marketing your, your pharmacy, letting people in
• 16:36
  the in the neighborhood know, letting establishments around
• 16:41
  know that you are around, even if you're small thing like
• 16:43
  dropping flyer. So that at least people who are
• 16:46
  working or living in other buildings know that, OK, if you
• 16:49
  have small malaria, there's this place where you can go and buy,
• 16:52
  combine, train or go and buy, you know, as more queen or you
• 16:56
  know, whatever queen or all those things.
• 17:00
  Anyway, bottom line is let's let's assume that we have sales
• 17:03
  and marketing problems first, first, first, that we have
• 17:06
  problems with market access first, first, first, or that we
• 17:09
  have problems with product market fit Fest, fest, fest.
• 17:13
  We have not been able to find the customer.
• 17:16
  We've not been able to bring the customer to us.
• 17:19
  We've not been able to penetrate the market.
• 17:21
  We've not been able to pull the market to us.
• 17:23
  After we solve all these problems, then we can start
• 17:26
  worrying about finance problems. But you still want to do
• 17:30
  finance? Yeah, the options available, a
• 17:33
  quick Google search or a quick ChatGPT search or something.
• 17:36
  We'll turn up some alternatives then remember, if you're going
• 17:40
  to go down this route, paperwork very, very important.
• 17:44
  Nobody's going to give you money based on personal recognition.
• 17:47
  So like I've been telling you guys, if any of you is connected
• 17:49
  with down with it, please hook a brother up.
• 17:51
  You know, I'd like to meet him, you know, have a chat and I
• 17:54
  think me and he him can be very good friends.
• 17:56
  But The thing is when you actually hook up that
• 17:58
  recommendation to that introduction to down with me and
• 18:01
  him now we don't begin the flow. I can't just say down with a
• 18:04
  what's up now you help out your boy.
• 18:06
  I need like you know, like 30 M for my business.
• 18:09
  You know, it's not by me using mouth and just saying how far
• 18:12
  now that spot me 30 M that he will just drop the money like
• 18:15
  that now, you know except with me and he become like boys and
• 18:20
  it's like oh OK guy, let me just help you out.
• 18:22
  Then he will just transfer like that.
• 18:23
  But you know, he's going to have to justify that spend somehow.
• 18:29
  So there has to be some paperwork on my own and to show
• 18:31
  that this my business plan is what I need the money for this
• 18:34
  one which investing this will be the returns.
• 18:36
  This is how much I'll pay you back, you know, things like
• 18:39
  that. So just no show if you must
• 18:42
  raise funds, you know, based on personal recognition, it's not
• 18:45
  based on packaging. And anyway, let me stop here.
• 18:50
  So that's all for today, folks. If you have any sales or
• 18:52
  marketing questions in particular, bring them to me.
• 18:55
  You can call, you can SMS, you can WhatsApp me on 08064662140.
• 19:01
  Thank you very much for your time and attention.
• 19:02
  I'll catch you, dear listener, at the next episode.