Building a solar power business in Nigeria; 11 Lessons that you can learn from.

January 18, 2015.

I sit behind my lap top and I am thinking how I can recount my journey so far. Should I only tell you about the successes and omit the failures? Should I tell you about the ease with which you can break into a market and omit the challenges that are thrown your way at every turn?

As I write this story it will come to me.

In January of 2014 we selected a manufacturer in China who would manufacture the systems we would install for our customers. The decision was based on the fact that they could provide us with everything we needed to install a complete system for our clients. They gave us cables, batteries, racks, panels, control systems and allowed us to be OEM. Knowing very little about solar power, I interviewed and hired someone who was already in Africa but had trained in the United States. I verified his references.

We started to sell our wonderful new system and we were fortunate to get some sales. I also made the fortunate decision to install the systems in my parent’s homes. The systems arrived in Nigeria on May 14, 2014 after spending two months at sea and we did not take delivery till June 21. I had people I was paying salaries to, sitting and waiting for the systems to clear the ports. We took delivery and started installation that night at our home in Lagos. My baby had hatched. We turned it on and all it could power were lights. It could not power a refrigerator. My expert burnt the charge controller on the system because he did not believe in reading manuals. Our second installation went even worse. The charge controller actually caught on fire. The third installation worked briefly and blew up the next day. The fourth one worked but we had to keep sending people back to visit. The fifth one was installed in an empty home and the sixth was an entirely different system (a test project) that served perfectly during the day. We had installed an expensive “I better pass my neighbor”. 

We had installed 6 systems in Nigeria in less than 10 days across two states and under the most challenging conditions. I had spent the months of May, June and July in Nigeria. Spent every dime I had, missed my family and lost more weight than I could afford to. During my last few days in Nigeria, my health yielded to fatigue and poor eating habits. I was shivering mess battling malaria. When I went back to the United States, I was so tired; I could not climb up the stairs without my legs shaking. I returned to New Jersey on the morning of my 50^th birthday. I was broke, tired and seriously underweight. My pictures on Facebook caused panic among my family and friends. I immediately hatched my plan to return and do things better. I borrowed more money and went back to work.

Lesson 1: If you are not bringing in a container don’t use the ports. Clearing agents are ruthless and have no morals. They know they have you by the proverbial nuts and will squeeze till you yield. My pain threshold was tested.  Customs will rape you if you have no Form M.

Lesson 2: The nuts and bolts.  It is good to bring in an expert, it is better that you know your business and your systems. I came back and took NABCEP approved training on installing Solar. I watched as many YouTube videos as I could. The errors in our installations became so obvious. In addition to a horrible system, our wiring and connections were poorly done. Now I had become the expert. A supplier that gives you all your systems can never be ideal. Almost all the systems except one failed. We went to different suppliers to find our components

Lesson 3: Your health, the importance of rest and eating properly. I am yet to recover from the weight I lost. I weighed about 180 lbs. when I left in May. Today I weigh about 165. I am 6’2. My pants fall off. The reserve I had in fat was gone, I lost muscle mass and I can’t build it back in 1 year. Eat well and rest. Sounds easy but when you are like me that is constantly on the move it becomes critical.

Lesson 4: Use the product you sell. All that could go wrong; I experienced firsthand the limitations of the old system. We replaced them free of charge for our clients because our experience was just as bad. The new systems were a planet away from the old in terms of performance. The smallest system powered fridges and pumped water. We also found out that what works well in the East does not work as well in Lagos. Better to find this out with our system than with a client’s. Our new batteries required charging before use.

Lesson 5: Logistics and having a place to stay. Traveling in the cities is not much of a challenge but traveling in rural areas can be a night mare. You wind up renting vehicles that are past their use date at exorbitant prices, vehicles that are unsafe or very road worthy. Breakdowns are common. Expect it and plan for it. Budget and increase your budget by 100%. Having a place to stay is a welcome relief. My family has provided me with homes, cars, drivers and so much that I can’t list here. Hotels in Nigeria are ridiculously expensive. We have paid as much as N50,000 for a night and I can tell you that Motel 6 is better. Don’t expect western standards for what you are paying for. If you are squeamish your are in for a rude shock. The roads are a challenge, the police check points are designed to extract money from you. Always have a bill of lading or receipts. They will ask for it. Even with them expect to pay. Have police inspectors, commissioners on your speed dial. They will come in handy.

Lesson 6: Source local. I purchase my batteries in Nigeria and I will be purchasing my panels in Nigeria as well. I spent $3600 to get panels delivered to the office. The panels came into MMA (the airport warehouse) November 14, 2014 and I still don’t have them. I have to pay another $4100 to get them delivered. The quality can be as good if you do your homework. The customs officials and agents will kill you faster than you can die. I went to Alaba Market where you can buy everything you need but it is a live circus. Someone told me on seeing me there. “I will chop your money today. I will feed my children with your money”. Such is the atmosphere at this very dynamic market.

Lesson 7: Employees. Hire and fire at will. The schools are graduating idiots. I met an engineer who had never used a multi-meter. I met another young man that had a certificate saying he had trained in solar and he did not know what a charge controller or what a parallel and serial connection was. The employees that have some experience are sloppy and take short cuts. They believe the way they do stuff is the correct way. The results have been a couple of blown inverters, blown fuses and blown battery chargers. I have had employees drill holes in Solar panels because they wouldn’t fit the place they wanted to place them. Recruiting is a constant function. Never stop hiring. You MUST SUPERVISE THE WORK THEY DO. Walk away and come back in tears. Stay there all through, till they have done that function at least ten times.  Customer service is a foreign concept to them. Drill it in. The younger ones feel a sense of entitlement. I remind them that they are entitled to unemployment. Their sense of knowledge is over inflated. Prepare to train every day. The young driver I hired drove the car I purchased with a broken belt. The result was a burnt head gasket. The response you get for each time they do damage is “sorry sir”

Lesson 8: Burn the bridge. If you think you can go back, you will. I have borrowed everything I can; I have maxed out my credit. I missed thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, my family depends 100% on my succeeding at this. I have no choice but to succeed.

Lesson 9: Singular focus: Nigerians and Africans tend to dabble in this and that.  When you ask them what they do, they say this and that. Pick what you do and focus on that thing. People will know you for that one thing.

Lesson 10: Be passionate and have fun. I thoroughly enjoy what I do. The running joke is that to befriend Christopher you have to talk solar. I come alive talking about it. It is a miracle watching the sun restore the batteries you depleted the night before. I won a sale in which I was 50% higher priced. The reason the client gave was “you spoke so authoritatively on solar”.  I am not the best at my craft yet I keep getting better and having fun.

Lesson 11: Be Present. Since May 2014, I have been in Nigeria every month except August. People want to see you. They want to make sure you have staying power. They see you and they buy from you. Till you become established it is critical to your success.

I will stop at 11. I am sure there are many more experiences that I can share. 

We will have a total 18 systems running by the end of January. That will make us one of the larger installers of complete residential and non-governmental business systems in the country. Last month I got a phone call at 230 am Nigerian time.  The caller had been at the home of a client who had uninterrupted electricity. He asked him if he was using a generator and he said no. He asked if it was NEPA, he said no. He asked him what it was and his response “Christopher’s light”. At another function at the country home of a mogul the power had failed as expected and his generator for the first time in 15 years had failed too. The meeting had a senator, members of the house and other important dignitaries present. He apologized and told them that power they were experiencing was provided by Christopher. My father has saved people around his compounds 100’s of Naira in phone recharge costs. They charge their phones in his compound for free. The running joke is the Ikeja Disco (former NEPA) staff that charge their phones in the house in Lagos when they come to read the meter.

Comments and things like this have made the challenges worth it. Hoping you got something out of my post and here is to wishing you a successful 2015