Unsplash
There are many entrepreneurs in the world that did not study entrepreneurship in school. There are also many business men and women out there that only passed through basic school. One of the entrepreneurs is my boss called Nwachukwu; he's is liberal and skillful entrepreneur.
Some years ago, when I finished secondary school, instead of staying at home and waiting for my result before proceeding to a higher institution.
My sibling took me to him, and told him “I want you to employ this boy as a sales boy for a few periods of time. I don’t want him to stay at home doing nothing”.
That was how he took me in and I started as a sales boy for him. Since I was a new sales boy, and I don't know anything about agrochemicals; he told me to watch and learn the skills of trading.
The following are the skills I learned:
Unsplash
Time management
My boss is time conscious! He opened his business on Sunday. It is crystal clear that Sunday is our resting day, and my boss is a Catholic church, after morning service he resumed back to his shop. Initially, I didn't like going to work on Sunday until he made it compulsory. I began to go to the shop after service, I didn’t know it was training for me.
We open the business as early as 6:30- 7:00 am, closed by 7:00 pm every day. One of the things I learned is that our customers know we were always in the business center from 7:00 am in the morning to 7:00 pm in the evening.
There were customers who angrily left where they were purchasing agrochemical products, and started patronizing us due to time management. My boss always told me, “Never lock the shop to get something outside, call me or send someone to get it for you”.
My boss got many customers and opened another outlet somewhere in the city. 5Km away from the first one.
Unsplash
Networking
To become a great business man or woman, you have to be a networker. Later on, when the business was booming, it was difficult for 3 sales boys/girls to handle customers that were patronizing him. He brought a sales girl that aged me! I was very happy because I was relieved from stress.
He bought us phones, and placed the number on his sign board. Therefore, customers called with the number while we were in the office and out of the office.
Later on, he created a WhatsApp group and added all his customers in the WhatsApp group. That was how he started a delivery service- He was using his old car to deliver agrochemicals to his customers from far places. He did it for a year, bought a new car and employed a driver to continue distributing his products.
I came back to my boss whenever the school vacated, earned money and went back to school. When I was in Year 2, he enrolled me in driving school as a result of a three-month strike. I learned and understood driving. Though, he bought a 14-seater bus i.e three passengers in a row. He removes all the chairs, and used the bus to deliver products; that was a bus i was driving for him
Unsplash
Consistency
Before I graduated, my boss already had 5 shops and 4 cars! Today, my boss is a supplier of agrochemicals to many wholesalers and retailers. He used trucks to buy the products from companies. The last time I went to see him, he told me that, “I buy three trucks every week during the season”.
That is the result of consistency in a business. He built houses, and bought exotic cars for himself and his wife.
In conclusion, if one is consistent, time management, and networking, one will become one of the biggest entrepreneurs in his environment.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
