Choose to swim

Not all things we regard as disadvantages are actually so and vice versa. Let me give an example of a girl who for reasons beyond her control, resumed school two weeks after her classmates. She ends up beating them all to take first place. Of course, there can be a number of reasons for this but one which I know from experience is this. So, she resumes after everyone else and finds that she not only has to work hard but has to be very intentional and disciplined in her effort to catch up. She goes about it systematically and soon gets herself into the groove. Soon, the momentum she builds up from this laser focus pursuit successfully carries her through. So yes, she may have been disadvantaged because she resumed late but her attitude turns this into an advantage. The extra focus she needs to catch up gives her an edge and she surges past those who feel they only need to cruise. Life is all about choices. The attitude we adopt is our choice and that’s why two people with equal talent may face identical circumstances; while one succeeds, the other fails.

I believe we’re all familiar with the David versus Goliath story; the minnow squaring up to the giant. It’s something I personally lived out when my former business partner and I founded our supermarket. We knew the dominant South African supermarket chain was preparing to open a branch in the locality we chose, but it didn’t put us off one bit. Friends thought we were crazy but our attitude caused us to see the imminent competition as an advantage and this is why. Residents of that area had for long yearned for a quality supermarket; the likes of which would normally be found on the island. They envisaged this SA entrant would give them that and so we decided to give them something even better. The longing for quality meant there was already a pent up demand for the premium service we were coming there to offer. Now, because the highly anticipated entrance of the SA giant couldn’t quite live up to that expectation, our success came because of the competition and not in spite of it. Their “expectant customers” came to us instead. It may sound counterintuitive but this was one of those instances when competition became an advantage.

Our location was excellent, being on the main road and convenient for customers to quickly pop in on their way back from work. To access our SA competition on the other hand, customers would have to veer off the main road, making the journey awkward for someone who just wants to get home quickly after a long day at work. The SA giant, we knew, will always have ample parking space so we made sure we had the same – plus our customers were not charged a fee to park. The SA competition offered “Made in SA” goods but we knew the Nigerian palate’s preference for European and US products. We studied their pricing, including the tricks they employ to deceive customers into believing that all their prices are competitive. We approached suppliers of the fastest moving products and guaranteed a minimum volume of monthly sales if they could give us the same prices that they would typically give our competition. After studying our sales for a brief period, they agreed. Quite cocky and surprisingly ballsy for a startup business, you might say. Anyway, we exceeded our projections. Pricing was critical as research revealed the price sensitive nature of that area’s typical customer, despite being a well to do, upper middle class area. Aware of the date our competition planned to open, we made sure we opened a shop a few months before then. This would not only give prospective customers time to discover us but would also give them time to get used to us. We ensured we gave our customers excellent personal service from day one; something we knew our competition would not offer. Unfortunately for our SA competition, delays meant they didn’t open until almost a year later, by which time we had already built up a sizable and extremely loyal customer base. Like many of them told us, they had been longing for a quality supermarket in their locality. They yearned for that experience. They were besides themselves when we gave them just what they wanted but the icing of the cake was that we were 100% Nigerian. That a Nigerian company was able to deliver on its promise of excellent quality service made them super proud. A beautiful, welcoming ambience, an attractive and spacious layout and friendly service were just a few of our somewhat unique offerings that kept bringing customers back for more.

It must be said that Nigerians love it when one of their own proves he can mix it up with the best of foreign competition. When the competition did finally open, our sales revenue dipped for three days and then sprang back up. Interestingly too, our sales that had already been growing at an impressive rate, now grew exponentially. It was as if all the other people in the neighborhood, who had refused to shift loyalty from their usual retail outlet, in anticipation of when this SA juggernaut opens, shifted to us at the same time. They tried out our competition only to discover it didn’t live up to the hype.

This experience taught me one thing. Never fear giants. Their size just gives you more to aim at, so you will always find a chink somewhere in their armour. Being a smaller business made us nimble, as we were able to make quicker decisions. We were able to swiftly adapt to what the locality demanded while the juggernaut, which offers a standard package at all their branches, was held up by bureaucracy and awaiting instructions from SA. We turned our smaller size (traditionally regarded as a disadvantage) into an advantage. Knowing the biggest player, not just in the Nigerian retail industry but in Africa was going to be around the corner from us, meant we had no choice but to up our game. There was no room for slacking in any department as we knew we faced a certain sink or swim situation. But we had made our choice. And we had chosen to swim.