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Karim Olawale Mojeed is the founder of Odunayomi Logistics, a company that is into logistics and related business that is based in Lagos, Nigeria. In this interview with IKECHI NZEAKO, he speaks on the operations of his company, the state of the logistics business in the country and the general business environment. Excerpts:
Please, give a brief introduction about yourself, and what your company does?
I run a logistic business, which I call Odunayomi Logistics, which is into clearing and forwarding, freight forwarding, and cargo shipping, importation and exportation of goods.
And how did you get into the business? I got into the business through my dad; initially I had interest in the business, so I followed my brother who was in the business.
How long have you been in this business?
I have been in the business for about eight years now.
Initially, I was only operating in Nigeria, but thank God, I have two stores running presently in Lagos and Ijebu-Ode, where we do cargo shipping, we do dispatch, and door-to-door dispatch, and thank God, we are actually doing well.
It has not been easy, but we thank God, there have been some kind of ups and downs, but in the last two years, I think there has been a positive change now, so I can say we are getting there.
Sir, also tell us how has the economy really affected your business?
The economy has really affected the business, and the reason why the economy has really affected is that there is a hike in the cost of the things we do, like shipping in goods from outside the country; we need to wait for a long time before we can access foreign exchange.
The value of the naira has really gone and we have to spend a huge amount of the naira to access the dollar and other freeing currencies. It is difficult to access the dollar and other hard currencies because we cannot get dollars directly from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The black market rate is always high; because we need to remit in dollars and other foreign currencies if we want to achieve whatever we want to achieve, and the time frame in which we access the dollar and other currencies to do that. But I think in the past one year now, it has been better; but it has eased a bit.
And what are the challenges you face?
The challenges I face include dealing with customs and other government bodies. Actually, dealing with Nigerian ports is difficult and challenging; you have to pay different fees and it is always to clear goods at the ports.
It also takes too much time to clear goods at the ports. All this increases the cost of goods. The examination process was taking too much time. But thank God, it is better now, everything, almost everything is being done online now, let me just say, it is a bit faster now.
But, the challenges are still there; the kind of pay money on demurrage, the kind of money we put into paying all these local duties. So it is always challenging.
If a young person wants to do the logistics business, what qualities do they need to have?
One thing I will say is that consistency is very important.
So, the qualities you need to have are, you need to be someone who is always ready to be up and doing because one thing about logistics is you should learn to appreciate time.
What you pay today as a demurrage may change the next day.
So, the business will make you appreciate time, you need to be time-conscious, you need to be up and doing, you need to be ready for the business.
We have few youths in the logistics business; there are few youths who are below 30 years that are into the logistics business.
I want to advise more youth under the age of 30 years that they should embrace the business.
The logistics business is lucrative if you apply yourself to and if you are dedicated and you know your onions.
One slogan I do hear them say at the ports is that “clearing and forwarding money is bigger than money from internet fraud business money”.
This is actually the truth because the profit margin in the clearing and forwarding is high. However, you make a lot of money in the first five years.
I will not expect people to make it big in the first few years. I will not tell people to expect huge profit but with time, the business will actually pay.
So I will encourage the youths to let us face whatever we are doing.
What is your advice for youths who do not want to learn a skill and do something with their life?
I want to tell young people who don’t want to do business, or don’t just want to roam the streets to learn a trade and make themselves persons.
The truth is, nowadays, people are not ready to patronise laziness. People will pay you if you solve a challenge in the community. When you depend on charity to survive, you will be disappointed one because they will get tired and will not listen to you. When you solve a challenge or provide a service, people will pay you because you are making yourself relevant.
People are not patronising laziness anymore. Everybody now works. So, most people that work, before someone can work to get N10,000 and you are coming to ask for N1,000, the person will look like, I know the kind of stress I passed through before making this money and may respond to you positively.
So, I would advise young people to embrace doing business. Yes, it’s actually tough but it is doable and satisfying. Let us embrace doing something.
Being jobless is not a paying business anymore. So, I would advise to face reality and take the bull by the horns.
So, I would advise young people to put more energy into getting one or two things done, because the truth is, we are getting old every day. So that our offspring will be free and not suffer for our sins.
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