It takes grace to run a business and it takes the Grace of God to run a business successfully. We need to give business owners more accolades as often. I used to think it was an easy task, infact I enjoyed playing sales girl when I was younger. I thought itโs just the exchange of money for service and thatโs it, but itโs way more than that. The technical aspect of keeping a business in check is not talked about enough. Running a successful business in Nigeria today requires a lot of patience & laying off staff without remorse. You also have to deal with dishonesty from the people you put in place and the most common, STEALING.
After getting so much complaints from my mom about how incompetent her staff were, I had to step in and assist for a while.
I know her business too well to not be able to run it smoothly. Also being one of her farm managers, itโs just way easier because itโs in the same line of business.
Iโm currently playing manager for two stores, although both of the stores are beside each other itโs still a whole lot of work. It also requires a lot of calculation, stock taking and balancing as well as physical hardwork.
Itโs a store that offers service to everything poultry and catfish. It caters for all their needs.
Poultry feeds are categorized into starters, super starters, growers, layers and finisher feeds.
POULTRY FEEDS
โข Starters/super starters: These are high- protein feeds that help young chicks from as little as a week old to support their rapid growth during the early stages of their life.
โข Growers: There are also rich filled protein feeds but a lesser percentage than the starter feeds. It helps with the middle phases of their lives.
โข Finisher: These feeds are given to already mature chickens/broilers before selling out. It helps with the meat quality and most importantly, their weight.
Same way these feeds differ, their prices are not left out. The starter feeds are slightly more expensive than the grower and finisher feeds. A bag ranging from N19,000 being the least according to the different brands of feeds. Some brands are higher in quality than the others. Each bag of feeds weigh 25kg.
Adjusting to the economic situation and how expensive these bags of feeds are, there are also shared into kgโs and halves so itโs affordable for every farmer.
Poultry drugs like antibiotics, vaccines, anti parasites and anti- stress are sold as well. These drugs help vaccinate and prevent infections.
Feeders and drinkers are also available at the store.
CATFISH FEEDS
There are different brands of these feeds. Way more pricey than the poultry feeds. Catfish feeds are categorized by MMโs in diameter depending on the fishโs age and size. 1.5mm being the smallest and 9mm being the biggest.
1.5mm feeds are given to fry and fingerlings, usually a few weeks old.
The 9mm feeds are given to catfish that has reached full maturity for sale, usually above 5 months old.
I spend most of the time cross checking, keeping records of the stock, engaging customers and keeping track record of the transactions. Iโll be spending more time managing her store and help curb silly activities.
The fun part about my mini job is we get to take brand pictures for advertisement and i indulge them in TikTok content for promotion.
It hasnโt been easy so far but I think Iโm growing to learn and love this style of business.
Thanks for reading ๐
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I can relate with your story because I was once managed a feed store and I tell you, it ain't easy. You'll sacrifice a lot to make it run smoothly, most especially no loss of both physical goods and money. In fact I was playing the role of manager, store keeper and salesperson, and sometimes loader. Lol. Imagine me loading bags of feeds for customers. Ah, na there work finish. ๐คฃ
But I'm glad that all through my stay there, no loss was recorded.
It's crazy how the prices of poultry feeds have have risen this much. I recall when a bag of starter was sold at โฆ3,000 plus, depending on the type. Well, everything is expensive these days.
Wish you the best.
!BBH
Oh wow itโs good to find someone that relates exactly to what Iโm saying.
Itโs like youโre even better at this business than me๐.
I donโt even bother myself about loading feeds, itโs too heavy for me and Iโm kuku small so I just supervise๐. Omo you really tried o๐๐ฝ
A bag of starter for 3000?? Things have gone really bad then.
Thank you so much for stopping by๐
Wow! You're really born to be a business person. You're a big help to your family business. And your business is one of a kind since it is an agricultural products you can also a big help to my fellow farmers. Nowadays in any business, you can face challenges like employee dishonesty or maybe laziness. What truly matters is how you as the owner or manager of the store, handle these situations. Just like what you did instead of letting your mom rant all day because of your dishonest employee you step in to help and assist your mom and that's one of the best thing to be done. Wishing more successful to you and your family business.
You took all the words right from my mouth.. i definitely forgot the laziness part and their lackadaisical attitude towards work sometimes.
In entrepreneurship itโs always the business vs the staff and the business always comes first, non negotiable..
Thank you so much for stopping by๐
I still want that branded shirt! Plus itโs nice helping her. Welldone!
Your own shirt is secured for sure ๐
Thank you ๐
Lovely words and even better post, though
Thank you๐ฅฐ๐
Woah that is a lot of work. What an empowered woman you are @ajumaa. Put a woman in a room and she will do a jobs at once.๐
Aw thank you ๐ฅน
This means a lot ๐
Really insightful post! Managing a family-run agricultural business takes so much patience and discipline!
Well said, I totally agree๐ค
Thanks for stopping by๐
Always a pleasure! Hope you have a lovely day! ๐
Entrepreneurship is indeed not a days job. You have to keep business alive for 365 days and continue same the next year. Good you've gotten more exposure on this field. It will make it easier in case you will have to succeed your mom in this brand. Best wishes.
It sure isnโt an easy task but like you said, the exposure to that style of business is an advantage.
Thank you for stopping byโจ