05/07/2026
Buying and selling goods is good business but...
__Keep your eyes open for opportunities to innovate and scale!
Buying and selling products is the entry point into business for 90% of African entrepreneurs. It also means that you can start with minimal capital: You buy something, put a margin on it, and start selling. It could be airtime recharge cards, second-hand clothes, furniture, spare parts, you name it.
You just have to go into our busy streets and markets to see what I’m talking about. The people we call “vendors” are in their own way entrepreneurs as much as the guys developing new digital apps. Let’s not look down on them!
My own mother began her entrepreneurial journey selling second-hand clothes. And being thrifty and super smart [much, much smarter than her son!] she saved her money and moved into second-hand furniture.
Then this happened: One day I saw that she had erected a shed over our back garden and had hired a few carpenters. She was now making furniture herself and stopped selling other people’s stuff!
The rest is history, so to speak.
Nike is a huge, huge multinational company with a market value of nearly $65.3bn. If you read the book "Shoe Dog" by founder Phil Knight, you'll learn he started out by selling shoes imported from Japan... out of the boot of his car!
Then this happened: He started to make his own shoes with the money he had saved up!
Are you into buying and selling? If so, that is great. I support you 100%... as long as you are keeping your books, paying your taxes, are not doing anything illegal.
BUT:
What is your vision for ?
Aliko Dangote was making good money, as they say in Nigeria, when he was buying and selling imported cement.
He could have stayed doing that and still had a great life as a rich Nigerian. Then this happened: President Obasanjo urged him and others to actually make the cement in Nigeria.
He took the challenge, and the rest is history!
If you are in the business of buying and selling goods successfully, and still doing it after 5 years, you will likely end up getting comfortable.
__Challenge yourself to focus on something you can do to scale it yourself.
The development we all yearn to see in Africa will not come until we turn our attention to encouraging our entrepreneurs to take up the challenge I am giving you today.
Keep listening to your customers, check out market opportunities and gaps, and stay focused on what matters as you scale. Don't let yourself get distracted or discouraged as new challenges emerge as you grow.
That's to be expected. Make a plan!
"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." - Stephen Covey
Image credit: KWB - Ubuntu Hope via Gemini Nano Banana Pro
