According to a World Bank report, women entrepreneurs across Sub-Saharan Africa continue to earn lower profits than men (34 % less on average) and are more likely than men to choose entrepreneurship not because they have a burning passion or the right skills, but because of a lack of better opportunities in the workplace. Additionally, women tend to take on most of the responsibility for home-based work including childcare, so small-scale home-based businesses have become one of the few ways they can generate income to help cover the needs of their families.

Daily, women across Africa deal with so many challenges in business and within the workplace such as:

1. Denied Opportunities: Sadly, many opportunities that are available to African men often exclude the women. Regardless of marital status, African women are often forced to balance their family duties and employment. In the area business, they are often denied access to loans or capital compared to men, to start businesses. In some countries, banks are more willing to invest in projects initiated by male entrepreneurs and require women to put up collateral, something that is nearly impossible in countries where women are allowed to own very little and have no rights to inheritance.

2. Men do not believe in what women can do: Cultural societal norms have historically reinforced the myth that women cannot ascend to the highest corporate and business levels as men. They are old-fashioned ideas that men are supposed to be the primary breadwinners, while the role of women is to remain in the home and raise children. Thankfully, things are changing, more women are starting to challenge the status quo and Yoodalo is pleased to witness and be part of this change.

3. Some women do not believe in the power they have: Across many African societies, women have been told they are inferior to men and over time, many have begun to believe this fallacy. In some West African countries, polls were conducted among female respondents and results suggest that many believe that women in senior executive positions may not be as capable or competent as their male counterparts. Unfortunately, this mindset has led to a self-fulfilling prophecy, with the availability of fewer female role models and examples for other women (and men) to look up to in the workplace and business environment. This is part of the ongoing conversation about why more women aren’t involved in STEM fields i.e., Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

4. Limited access to training and equipment: For the African woman to succeed in business, she needs to have adequate knowledge of their industry. She also needs to have the most recent and sophisticated equipment to carry out business operations. As a business owner, you would need to consistently display proficiency or risk being overshadowed by competition.

At Yoodalo, we strongly believe that more can and should be done to support women entrepreneurs across Africa and we are committed to empowering a new generation with tools that help you prosper, become more financially independent and transform society for good.

Because women rock!

Dear Friend

It’s been a moment indeed. Our theme for the rest of the year is FINISHING STRONG and in this episode we will be sharing the importance of staying true to your journey. In the midst of our own experience of twists and turns, from COVID-19 scares to life changing surgeries, injuries and physiotherapy, keeping our eyes on the prize remains extremely important to us.

We’ll begin with a short story about Chioma Ndukwe, a Nigerian blogger, writer, former model and entrepreneur born and raised in an Anglican family from Isuikwato L.G.A in Abia State, Nigeria. She had fallen in love with writing at the tender age of 12 and had dreams of someday becoming a successful writer. To achieve this dream, she enrolled at the Lagos State University, to earn a degree in English language.

While in her final year at university, “Chi Chi”, as she was fondly called by her family and friends, discovered blogging and began putting her talent and training to use by creating a blog. She started off writing about topics that interested her, such as fashion and social events on campus and it really took off. Fellow students wanted to know the latest fashion trends, where the latest parties and events held and who was in attendance.

Soon, Chioma’s blog became very popular on campus through her witty writing style and crisp accompanying photos, that organisers started sending her exclusive invites and inside scoops to cover and promote their events. It wasn’t always fun though, her grades began to suffer with the growth of her blog that she once got invited by her faculty Dean to discuss her failing grades.

She also got in trouble with some students she’d written about in not-so flattering ways. But stories like those even made the blog more popular and spread like wildfire. Every other week, there was a trending topic on campus, courtesy her blog and within 8 months Chioma had become the center of attention, a reality that made her both beloved and a target at the same time.

As it turns out, she’d realised that the more controversial a story was, the more interest and curiosity it sparked among readers within the community. She wrote more intentionally, expanding her content beyond university life while ensuring events and other stories she covered were always fact checked! This earned her lots of credibility and helped build a cult following among her numerous “fans”, mostly 18 to 45 year old women.

But there was still the problem of failing grades and the risk of not being part of her graduating class. This was the turning point for her as she had to act fast! She had grown her little blog from a hobby and passion, into a thriving business that was earning her hundreds of thousands of naira in advert revenue monthly, not bad for a college undergrad. Chioma had stumbled on gold and wasn’t about to lose this, but she also didn’t want to fail at one of the reasons she’d achieved this success — her English degree.

She decided to look inward and seek counsel from her community and tribe, a group of small business owners she had met at a digital media conference, during the social media week held in Lagos, months earlier. So, what did she do next and did she eventually make that year’s graduating class?

Next time, we will review Chioma’s journey and share some lessons we all can learn from it. What would you do if you were in her shoes?

Yoodalo is an online community of businesses and professionals passionate about helping your business grow and succeed.

Join our community now at: www.yoodalo.com

With the world grinding to a halt in the wake of a pandemic; economies hard-hit, governments sanctioning full-scale border-closures, trade restrictions and in dire situations, widespread lockdown, it was only a matter of time before trade routes got fettered. Business was certainly not usual anymore.

This whittling-down reduced the numbers of available port workers and a consequent slowing in the process of cargo-handling. More and more containers took longer to leave the ports.

The players — the shipping lines, realising this slowing of things, elected to send fewer ships to ports because there simply weren’t enough men there to either load their empty ships or offload their full ships. The result? Parking their inactive vessels in their yards, or to put it in shipping parlance; berthing. The movers aren’t moving, the ports aren’t loading.

China

Because of such an influence on global trade the country has, its lengthy national holiday called, ‘National Day of the People’s Republic of China’ is seeing shipping lines scurry off their vessels to pick up from Chinese ports and offload in North America ahead of Christmas sales. September is always primetime for shipping of wares intended to be traded during Christmas holidays sales in North America.

This means that every known shipping vessel is in China currently, doing the heavy lifting, thereby reducing their availability to other countries and automatically impacting the availability of items that are to be ferried from these places.

Importers

These are the biggest casualties in these crises. Many are having to pay 5x more just so that they can get spaces on shipping vessels to bring in their goods. Atop that, they also have to wait long lines to have their consignments cleared as major ports are still congested. Whether from the United Kingdom or the United States, their agony is jointly shared.

Analysts currently opine that these crises would extend well into 2023. It is humbling to note that from January to March of this year alone, the seven largest shipping lines have posted a combined profit of $16.2b, dwarfing the $13.1b posted for the entire second half of 2020 alone.

Regulatory Compliance is not a fancy word; oh, it certainly isn’t.

You know why?

Because it most certainly ends up with you paying a fine or some levies to a statutory body or agency periodically.

For a small business, say, a nails studio setting up shop in a locale, there are two main areas that require compliance checks with the authorities:

1. The general set up of the business: Registration/Incorporation of business, enrolment with tax authorities, licensing of external signage, enrolment with pension commissions and financial reporting standards authorities.
2. The specific industry of the business: Permits and necessary licenses to operate from government-affiliated vocational institutes.

Sounds complicated for a small business?

Of course!

But, the plan is not to dissuade potential founders. Rather, it is to familiarise them with existing laws, standards and obligations, strengthening the core of their business practices and ensuring they run hitch-free in the long haul. Another perk is that they can now officially do business with large corporates and public institutions as these requirements feature heavily on qualifying criteria for institutional calls for tenders.

The reason for why these standards exist is for governments to control, monitor and order trades for effective commerce, reduce hazards to public safety and increase civic participation in internal development. In other words, giving you a requirement to fulfil before setting up shop helps in determining how serious you are, what extent you are willing to yield to government authority and how much risk you are willing to avoid by managing them appropriately.

Asking the right guys can save you a lot of hassle tomorrow if things go south. Sometimes, a simple search on the internet also cuts it too.

Moby — a single mother of three kids had just completed the renovation of her office where she sold tiles and building wares. Beyond the refreshing look of a once decrepit flat touched up with vibrant tones of emulsion paint, the new look also bore the foreboding of sunrise — a herald of something new in the offing — to her at least.

She had just erected a four-foot backlit signage a hundred metres afar off from the office that skirted the busy access road in front of the office. So elaborate was this signage that one of her kids once quipped that the spot where this signage occupied may be converted to a bus-stop in honour of the flamboyance it offered. This amused her profoundly, as she found it flattering, but also true to what she felt on the inside — ambitious.

Three days later, her office premises was stormed and run over by steely, marauding men, wielding chains, booklets, identity cards and paraphernalia of the signage regulatory agency from the local government. So scathing was the aggression shown that Moby began to fear her safety and the life of her kids. Glaringly, she had not secured the required permit for mounting outdoor signage of that size and had placed herself completely at the mercy of the agents who now began to bicker on the humongous levies they were to serve her. They also dismounted the flamboyant signage and ferried it off to their office.

A glowing moment of self-admiration had suddenly ebbed to a dashed and hopeless situation for Moby. She clearly was unaware at how things could rapidly change in minutes.

You know what she was also unaware of? A thing called Regulatory Compliance for small businesses.

To be continued…

Everyone is in a state of rest unless compelled by an external force — Newton’s first law of motion.

Normalcy bias or the tendency to maintain status quo is why new ideas get tackled, binned or all together avoided. We love familiar terrain. Think of it; the security of knowing and being able to predict what we see, feel and touch gives us the idea that we can control things; that we are in charge and we’ve ‘got’ this.

Bring this over to business, our daily venture and dealings with men. We want to keep talking to the same set of people, stay in the same place, sell the same kind of stuff, use the same supplier, take the same route every time and ‘same’ every other occasion. Now, this is not a problem at all. On the contrary, it’s even how we have thrived as humans, through agelong tenets of repetition, reinforcement, redoing. Neuroscience even tells us that for our brains to completely learn or pick up something, we have to be repeatedly exposed to that thing. So, yeah, safe terrain, right? Well…

Here is where the problem is.

Amongst all creatures of this world, none is as migrant as humans. Our thirst for adventure, exploration, curiosity, inquisition and continuous seeking has driven our kind to extreme places — some, totally unimaginable. It is also responsible for how we have learned to innovate and develop technologies that would outlive us. Beneath it all, it is clear to see that at some point, we begin to ask ourselves, ‘could there be any other way?’

Here is another angle to consider; how can we deep down, like all things new and different and then be most averse to it when it is action time — time to make practical choices? We want the freshness of the new but are too strung up in the doldrums of the familiar? Frankly, we know that at some point in time, our innermost desires would lead us to make choices, choices that would either lead to the expression or suppression of these desires. It is at this exact point that we balk — more often than not — drop the ball and take the ‘easy way’, the choice laced with the most amount of the ingredient called familiar.

This paradox is really worth considering as penny for thought, which, at its best, stays very confusing.

With pursed lips, fixed eyes, itchy temples, stroked chins and puzzled looks, we humbly admit that we do not have the answers. Do you?

Siuuu, the name the athlete’s celebration came to be known as, became descriptive of every moment he scored a goal. Images of this ritual, so widely spread, began moulding his legacy and football heritage. On the streets, in the stands, at malls, in schools, everywhere; men, women and children revelled in it. Beyond buoying the athlete’s already thriving image, it carved a unique identity for him as an entertainer — a feat that became nearly solely responsible for his enormous wealth. This influence of his trademark celebration on pop culture has been responsible for the commercial successes of football clubs he signed for, sometimes, even turning around their fortunes from average to stellar.

Most recent was his signing for Manchester United, an event that shot the English football behemoth to global fanfare and digital stampede. So much so was this public blitzkrieg, that the club confirmed a crashing of their websites, a skyrocketing of their share prices and melees at their physical centres. Cristiano Ronaldo, 36, is returning to his former club with his slew of awards and commercial appeal. Manchester United, the beneficiary in all of this, is now on the brink of a major commercial success that bodes well for their viewership, popularity and merchandise.

How this impacts the average football fan

Thankfully, due to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions on stadiums and crowd attendance, football games now enjoy a measure of physical attendance. With Ronaldo in the picture, more spectators would be drawn to the stadiums, especially games where he would play in, raising ticket prices and seat scarcity. Games would get more expensive to physically attend.

For the handful who took their football love to invest commercially in their favourite teams, Manchester United has already enjoyed a windfall of good fortune, enriching its shareholders by a margin of 7%. Because of this, Manchester United’s shares would enjoy buyer-frenzies — a gold rush of sort, making it even more expensive to acquire now.

We can only look on positively as things unfold, both for fans of Manchester United and the football game across the world. It really is a great time to be alive.

P.S: Worthy mention must be made of Lionel Messi’s transfer to Paris St. Germain earlier in the summer. This probably provided the impetus of Ronaldo’s return to England. The impact of these transfers on the market and the game itself is definitely tell-tale.

Yoodalo is a community of businesses and customers committed to making selling your product or finding vendors very easy for you.

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Men’s fashion has always bewildered observers and spectators; simple, bare but very costly, making wishers of many men. None of these mattered, at least, to Adewale, a suave university lecturer who had a fetish for timepieces — male watches.

His phones, tablet and computer, awash with bookmarks and pin-ups of many, different watches stood as loud testaments to his obsession.

Today, he was shopping, to own a piece he had admired for so long. Off he went, to popular shopping websites, finding his best price and purchasing it. Fingers crossed, he awaited delivery of his item, expectantly.

Several minutes afterwards, some movement startled him around his legs. His phone had vibrated non-stop for the past 2 minutes. An unregistered number had repeatedly tried to reach him. He did not make anything of it. Seeing he had missed two calls already, he waited for the next ring.

‘Hello sir! my name is Akpure, calling from bestshoppers dot com. I am calling regarding your recent order for a black A-list Men’s Watch…’

‘Good afternoon Akpe…akpur…akpurr…’

‘Akpure sir!’

‘Thank you! Good afternoon Akpure. What is it about my order?’

‘It is out of stock sir! We have not had it in 6 months.’

‘Then why do you have it on your site??! That’s very misleading. So what are we going to do? Are you refunding me now or what?’ retorted Adewale.

‘We would do that sir, but that is when we are sure there is nothing else you would like to buy on the site. We are very sorry for the inconvenience. You may have a last look around our Top Picks to see if there is anything you like.

Being a sales and marketing professional himself, he was impressed at the insistence of the company rep in ensuring this impending refund translated into a purchase — another one. He weighed his desire for a new watch that brought him here in the first place and decided to purchase another one.

This time, he was given a date for delivery.

‘Hello! Mr…Waley! Na me be the person wey dey deliver your package, Which side your place dey?’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Na me be your deespash’

‘Ok. The address is on the package, Let me know when you are here.’

***

2 hours later…

***

‘Good day, I have been waiting for my package. What’s happening?’

‘Oga, I dey inside hol’ up. I still dey try find your place’

***

4 hours later…

****

‘Hello, Best Shoppers! This is very unprofessional of you. I have been waiting for my order for the past 6 hours. I have called the dispatch, he has not picked. How long does it take to deliver a package this small? I have other things I need to do with my time!’

‘We are sorry, we would speak with the dispatch now’

***

10 minutes later…

***

‘Hello Mr Wale, your dispatch is outside’

‘I would go meet him now. Thanks.’

Darting out with a cocktail of anger, frustration and impatience, Mr Wale took sweeping views of his street, earnestly searching for a helmeted motorcyclist.

He saw none.

Artisans peddling their wares, pedestrians strolling, vehicles moving, no dispatch.

‘Brrrr, brrr, brrr!’ His phone vibrated.

‘Oga, I still dey find you, I dey your side!’ The dispatch rider barked.

‘I can’t see you, where are y…’

From the corner of the street emerged a lanky, untidily dreadlocked man with rolled-up sleeves and a pair of sagging jeans trousers, making a thumbs-up sign. Mr Wale sank his eyes in disbelief.

‘So, na you be Mr Wale?’ offering up a black and opened polyethylene bag. ‘Na your package be dis.’

‘Please open and bring it out yourself’. Mr Wale blurted, baring his naked disgust and growing rage at the sour turn of events. The dispatcher, sensing the terseness, sheepishly complied.

‘Na im be dis’, he says, pulling out a watch with thin straps and a small head.

The dispatcher showed him a female watch!

Yoodalo is a community of businesses and customers committed to making selling your product or finding vendors very easy for you.

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It certainly was going to be a very busy day for this newlywed. The husband had just run off to work for his weekend shift, the wife — housebound, stayed up sorting gifts from the wedding party.

Then it hit her…

The house had only one ladle spoon…

Heavily pregnant and not agile enough to dash out of the house, she ran through her thoughts for solutions…, …call hubby? Nah…, …knock on her neighbour’s?….Nope, …hmmm…what else?…Silence.

She took a walk to the window — which also overlooked the compound’s parking lot; it was still early in the morning, she was weary and out of ideas too. Then…

She remembered the young man who washes cars for everyone in the compound. He was a handyman who took an interest in assisting with outdoor menial tasks residents were stuck with: fuelling generators, cleaning spark plugs, lifting luggage from their trunks and so on.

She donned her boubou, hung around her balcony and beckoned on him when he was in sight. She relayed her request and a deal was struck.

Forty-five minutes later, she had her new ladle set. He earned N1,000.

Errand services have been in existence for a long time. It was an informal service that was in the cadre of street cobblers, hawkers and scavengers. With the rise of online shopping in urban Nigeria came an increase in logistics service providers and errands businesses both seeking to solve the problem of sourcing and delivery of commodities to customers.

You can now offer to: source and shop for groceries for people, shop for parts and tools for businesses, source and shop for utilities and household items— napkins, bottles, utensils, toothpicks, cruets, matches… the list is endless.

Here are a few things to do to get started:

1. Decide if you would be running errands personally or employing someone to do this on your behalf (create clear contracts and background checks before doing this)
2. Identify open markets and search the prices of common items sold there. They could be buckets, mops, kegs, basins, bottles etc.
3. Reach out to people in your community and let them know you can now help them source these items for them conveniently while they remain in the comfort of their homes or businesses. Reach out to households, offices and shops. Don’t overspecialize.
4. Develop a flat rate you charge e.g. N2,000 if their purchases exceed N5000, N1,000 if it does not or if their errands are in multiple locations
5. Offer them updates while you are in the market, so that they are informed and potential conflicts are avoided
6. Warm up to suppliers in the market. Build a relationship with some so that if you ever have to return items because of customers, it is much easier and you can walk away clean.

Errand services could also involve trips to banks, post offices or any other place customers need you to go. The rules above would still apply regardless.

It is a growing venture with lots of promises.

Yoodalo is a community of businesses and customers committed to making selling your product or finding vendors very easy for you.

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Sir! Sir! We have this lovely package for you and your family, just fill this form here. Have a look at our pamphlets too, they would really enjoy the treat too…

Familiar?

Sir finally budges and gives you good audience. You flip your hair and deliver your compelling product pitch, locking eyes with him and gesticulating meaningfully. Beautiful performance and certain customer checked on the list. Smooth ride you think.

Then…

‘You’re quite pretty, your product is also lovely too…er…er…let me think on it. I’d get back to you’

Good Lord!

‘But sir, you can just make a down paym…’

‘I said I’d get back to you’ — Sir cuts in.

Silence.

****

This all too familiar exchange between marketers or sometimes, product peddlers with potential customers is very common in urban centres of the country. Many have wittingly developed this line and used it for a variety of purposes.

Reason 1: Nice product, I like what I am hearing, but… No Money!

You don’t expect the customer to tell you upfront that he is broke. He has to play along and pretend to be willing to pay. His purse is the ultimate decider.

Reason 2: Product doesn’t look bad, but, I have to get approval from my wife, husband, child or whoever would be affected by this…

He is not willing to tell you that it is not entirely up to him to buy your product. Certain people have to give their approval or permit him before he gets it.

Reason 3: Everything looked fine until I heard the price. I’m out!

He likes what you are telling him, he can see the benefits of the product. He would certainly buy if the price was lower, but, he has to cut his cloth according to his purse. Practical right? Here lies your surest lead who just might convert to become your customer once you figure he is willing to pay a little less than what you are offering.

Reason 4: This is way too off! I don’t use products like this, not my style

He is being diplomatic, doesn’t want to hurt your feelings, so, he tells you this subtle excuse even though deep down, he would never ever ever go near products like what you are offering.

Reason 5: You’re being a nuisance, kindly get out of my way!

Just like the dialogue up there, he clearly was not in the mood of frame of mind for that, but, it would be rude to candidly blurt, ‘Get out!’ right? So he tells you this politely. Push your luck too far here and you might have a story to tell your children.

If you just faced any of these, don’t worry. Watch this space, as we teach you how to overcome each of the above responses to your pitch and eventually make a sale.

Yoodalo is a community of businesses and customers committed to making selling your product or finding vendors very easy for you.

Follow us on Twitter here