Setting up a Succesful business in Nigeria

In 2018 I hired a director of operations to run our company. He had been interviewed by the team. We had a team that worked very well together and I jealously guarded that. I did not want anyone disrupting the manner in which they worked. Within 40 days of the new manager coming on board, team members had either been fired or had quit. What went wrong? I listened to this Ted Talks video and I learnt something from it. It is about chickens, but it is super instructive. I hope you can apply some of what she says to your business.

My youngest son was asked by his older brothers, why do Dad and Mom give you more than they ever gave us? His answer "I asked" Do you ask? Do you go after what you want?

Thank you for coming back and reading my content. In this chapter I discuss how I became an Original Equipment Manufacturer. I also tell you how I fund my initial purchases. Please comment and feel free to tell me what you liked and other sources of funding that you have used.

“The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry our their dream.” ―   Les Brown

The beginning is the title of this video, because we actually decided to be an entity. We had incorporated, established partnerships and our first conversation with a governmental agency.

In 2013 I decided to focus my efforts and skills on building a business in Nigeria. My middle son had built a model of a landfill that could produce enough gas to power a fleet of garbage trucks. This prompted a visit to the Rutgers Eco Complex where I was given a tour of a waste to energy facility. Nigeria has a lot of organic waste and a deficit in power. So why not. Watch the Video to learn more

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 ins...