NG724
This metal work firm started operation in 2019. Inability of of the firm owner to secure government job prompted him to venture into the business as means of survival. He has some apprentices who pay to learn the work from him.
When I got to the firm for the scheduled financial reporting last week, the firm owner was not around. I called him on phone and he told me that he had an emergence that took him out of the state but he will come back next week.
When I asked him if such travels usually disrupt his business, he informed me that those his apprentices didn’t start work at the same time and that the most senior among them normally manages the firm in his absence so the firm remains open for business even in his absence.
NG233
This firm owns a milling business and most times when i visit on our meeting days he is working and you know how it is have a milling firm inside a major market. The noise and other distractions that won’t let us hear ourselves well. Anytime i visit, he brings out the diary and hand it over to me except on few occasions when i have to conduct firm profile survey we do it while he grinds. Last Friday on our regular meeting days he was less busy and we got to discuss about his record as i saw a figure on his diary which I didn’t understand even though it was under repair so i asked him and he mentioned that he got to repair one of his machines at N125000 then i probed further asking how he was able to raise this sum considering his revenue. He opened up and said he got a loan from a cooperative which he used to repair and get a new machine as well. I was more interested so i asked for the details of the loan taken and recorded it appropriately on FINBIT with the interest rate and payment plan. I then told him to also record all of those activities as they the activities we are interested in on SFD.
NG580
The respondent started this piggery business to serve as additional source of income for her but things have not gone as she planned.
She lost most of her big pigs due to the swine flu outbreak that ravaged the farm few months ago. According her she incurred huge loses. The livestock she has in the farm currently are all weaners ( young pigs ).
On my last visit to this firm with my supervisor, the firm owner told us that she has been funding the farm from the income she generate from her retail stores inside the Airport. According to her it will continue like this until the pigs grow before she can start selling.
Livestock business according to her requires a lot of patience because sometimes one can stay for for months without any income from the farm but only expenses.
NG496
This firm owner is usually receptive and cooperative. Today he got his L-IFT phone and was super excited about it ,he signed the phone terms and condition form. He sent his appreciation to L-IFT and also said the phone was timely because his phone has spoilt for some time.
NG736
I got to this firm this morning for our normal weekly transactions and special event survey, he complained bitterly of how bad sales was lately so he decided to call some of his wholesale customers to ask why they are not coming the customers complained that most of the fish Farmers has refused to stock because of high cost of feeds. After our regular weekly transactions and survey i presented his tablet on behalf of L-IFT he was very happy and grateful that his birthday gift came early as he will be celebrating his birthday later this month.
NG215,
This firm usually do proper documentation of their financial transactions and they got their tablets today. He was excited and rained prayers.
NG943
When i got to this firm yesterday their generator was faulty, the customer were complaining of heat and the staffs could not attend to them because they will need light to power their printers and computers, the technician he called came and said he was not with the appropriate screw driver, then he went back, they waited for him for over an hour before he came back,the firm owner was not really happy about this he was forced to reschedule the special event survey.
NG 160
Today was a wonderful session with my respondent as my Supervisor and Mr Bello visited and supervised my reporting session. Luckily, firm owner was around all session, unlike most sessions when his wife (firm’s co-owner) sits in for our sessions. Firm owner was in such a happy mood as we listened keenly while he gladly explained issues ranging from the current rice boom season to areas where the raw materials are abundantly sourced, firm’s drive towards getting a multi-level complete processing unit comprising a destoner, de-husker, milling, polishing and packaging components with time, in answer to both my Supervisor and Mr Bello’s probes. He also discussed firm’s expansion drive which has led them to a large, empty and well fenced land where they’ve paid for and intend developing into a factory, less than a kilometre from current location; all these as a result of the recent increase in their current factory’s yearly rent cost from #114,000 to an astronomical #300,000 for each factory space in a space of just 1 year.
In the end end, both firm owner and wife (co-owner) were so happy to receive the promised phone token from L-IFT, as according to them, they’d started feeling some doubts about the sincerity of the promised tokens.
NG254.
I visited this milling firm today to record his financial data as usual, but then, i noticed he wasn’t happy 😕. So i asked if everything was ok with him, he replied and said yes but lack of electricity has been a major challenge for the week, so he complained that there was no income for the week, neither did he pay any of his workers due to poor power supply.
Below are some pictures of maiz he his yet to grind.
NG239
Continuation of the story…
This particular firm has been closed temporarily since 15th of October because the firm owner put to bed. Since then all effort to pay her a courtesy visit proved abortive. So, I decided to visit her today as promised because I had called her on phone last week. (my supervisor is aware of it). When I got to her shop, I met her neighbour who is also a tailor who asked one of his apprentices to take me her house, so I thanked him. As she was taking me to my respondent’s house, she kept telling me that we’ll soon get there, but then we’ve been trekking for 20 minutes without reaching her house (I suggested we take a Tricycle, but she kept saying it’s not far) Few minutes later, i asked if we’re almost there, then said to me in a faint voice that it seems she has missed the way and that she confused. I was like whattttt😡😡😡😡😡 after all this trekking ????😡 and my respondent’s number is not going through. Hmmmm my people, that was how I humbly went back ooo without seeing my respondent. 😔😔😔
It wasn’t a funny experience 😐
NG238
This respondent runs a photocopying and printing firm, she also does retails and wholesales of stationery. I had told us about this mummy before (the mummy that kept saying “my darling, my dear” but she forgot me and Omolola, left us in her office, went downstairs to gist🙄🙄) So a quick history on this firm, she said she bought the space for #2000000 about 19years ago now, she used to use more than one shop, she was training people interested in learning computers and she was making good money from that alongside her printing, photocopying and selling of stationery, at a time she had to let go of the other shop, she had fewer students, her business competitor had left, so she continued making use of this current space alone. She is the leader of the plaza and anything that goes right or wrong is first reported to her. She is the one helping them hold the savings, they have an informal saving group, and she gets #1,000 from everyone whose money she is holding for them. So, she used to be very available at her firm to hand me her diary by herself where she had written her previous week’s transactions but in recent times, things have changed for better for her I will say, she is supervising her building and the laborers contracted to work for her.
She said, “my daughter, I have worked and I think I want to rest now, I can come around here one in a week to collect people’s savings and check the plaza and know how things are running, I will collect rent from my tenants when we put out this house for rent, they’re almost done with everything there, so that is what I will do.” She said she is looking for who to sell the shop and all the contents of the shop to, including the machines there, if the person agrees to pay her #200,000 monthly, but in the mean time, she has employed a new worker to take care of the shop while she’s out supervising the building.
NG835
This firm is into printing, typesetting and photocopying and also sells religious books alongside. When this firm was added, I always get financial transactions from the employee who always keep record on their desktop computer. Everything changed beginning of last month when the only employee left. The firm owner is in his 60s and is not use to typesetting, laminating and the likes apart from photocopying. 3 weeks ago when I was there with him someone came to type and print, since he cannot handle that he directed the customer to a neighboring shop in the same line of business. This coincidentally has been happening whenever I visit. For about 3 weeks no financial transactions from the firm and he doesn’t come early to work. He sometimes open from 12 pm. Yesterday I was with him again and he told me he has placed advertisement for a computer operator. The business started January this year and he feels they would do better with time.
NG394
This firm usually updates his records and uses the SFD diaries judiciously. He got his tablet yesterday, he was excited and grateful, he said after the 1 year project he wouldn’t mind if training or workshop is organized for them
NG257
This respondent runs a poultry and a fishery business, she started primarily because she just wanted to for the fun of it and to have plenty to eat whenever she felt like, she said she started developing interest, then somehow, someone suggested to her that she could start up and make it a business, she thought through the suggestion, then she took the big move, went for inquiries, started learning about it in bits, then she started a poultry and fishery, she said she wanted to add up raring snails, but she reconsidered it and said to let that go or wait till later.
She got the needed items, cages, made a pond, bought day-old birds. She said when she first had the birds and the fishes, she lost a lot of them, especially the birds, due to her inexperience, but now, she knows better how to take care of them and grow them healthily. She is happy with her decision to rare and sell birds and fishes.
NG544
This is a laundry firm, he has another business, a travel and tour business. He is most of the time not available at his firm, he said he stays far, but he visits his firm and still knows how things are operated there even in his absence. The washers and ironers have days they work, but that does not stop them from coming around to work.
Respondent said he is making efforts to move out of his current location because the current building where he has his firm in has been sold out and to avoid any form of embarrassment, he is actively looking for a new location.
NG 262
Respondent who has a school said the school was on mid-term break last week Thursday and Friday and that they were going to resume activities on Monday (01/11/2021).
I called him on phone and he said they were in school on Monday and we’re going to keep going and not listen to the order if all nursery, primary and secondary schools, both private and government should observe the compulsory one week break to unify the time table of the schools. He said after the back and forth his school had experienced, he does not want them to miss more things.
Yesterday when I got to his firm for his financial transactions, his school was locked. I called him on phone, but he did not take my calls, so I carried on with the observation survey, I was about leaving the premises of his firm when his call came in, he said they just had to obey to avoid his school being locked as he was not ready for that trouble that could come with.
NG754
It was an emotional interview experience for me when I met my respondent for the regular interview. My respondent is almost 80 years and is into fabrications. Last week when I went to interview a respondent who is close to his firm I noticed he was quiet. I greeted him and tried to kno wif he was OK. Unlike his normal person who will joke about me getting married and all that. He was not looking ok. So when we met for our interview I noticed he was summoning the courage to just talk. So I stopped the interview and asked if he was OK. He began to tell me that he is not ok. He got married late and has just a son who is also married now with children and lost his job because of covid 19. Now he doesn’t have anyone to support him. He should be resting now not trying to survive. He broke into tears and I could not help it. Remember this firm has not had any reasonable income since we started the diaries. And he tries to come to his firm everyday. I had to assure him that things will be better. I pray for a miracle for him.
Magdaline Musa
This other story is my battle with network last night.
So my supervisor sent a message that only 11 of my observation was uploaded instead of 16,😳 . Due to the network issue I knew I needed to try something else. So I had to drive out of the house to another area inserch of network so I can download it but I think my village people meant me yesterday. After spending almost an hour none had uploaded I decided to log out and try loggin. That was an error I regret because I never got to loggin 😆 🤣 😂. That was how I came back home,logged out of the finbit app wondering how my effort for all the observations I had done had gone to waste and the time I wasted driving around looking for network. And this is what we have to go through for another 2 months. Pray for us in kaduna ohh because I found myself speaking in tongues on top of my phone this morning. 😆 🤣 😂 😹 😆
NG808
Good morning from the stables of FR1 Lagos😁
Monday was my meeting days with this firm but he wasn’t at the firm at thr time of visit and sometimes when i call he doesn’t respond to calls or messages due to his busy schedules. I got to record the firm’s FT and left. Yesterday i worked around the firm’s location so i decided to stop at his firm. Fortunately i met him and i smiled in saying “i am happy to see you today”😂😂 He smiled back and said same. I greeted him as usual and asked him general questions about his business then i said we have some pending surveys i need to administer with him. You need to see his reaction 😜 he screamed saying he is very busy as he is short staffed. His front desk staff had gained admission into a polytechnic hence he didn’t resume with them in November even though he had notified him. One of his craftsman also called in sick on Monday 😌 He also said some of his customers they couldn’t meet up with their repairs asked for refund of their money picking their items. The other staff standing in as front desk too doesn’t know which customer owned which item for repairs. I empathized with him and asked what he planned to do, he said they have made arrangements to recruit two experienced craftsmen as the sick craftsman is always calling in sick most times which in turns affect their productivity. After spending some time and i noticed he was a bit calm, i introduced the financial tools and asset survey to him explaining what it entails. Immediately he heard what the financial tools entailed he said oya, oya, ask me questions about the loan maybe your firm will help us with some loan. I laughed and said this is just for research purposes oo, don’t get it twisted. That was how i was able to get his attention to answer the two surveys.
NG272
This firm is a food processing firm with their production site on the mainland while their distribution outlet is in my location. When we started SFD they had three employees including the manager and as at now, it is only the manager that is fully functional. The two other employees were not performing as regards to sales activities and their monthly income sometimes is not enough to pay their salaries let alone making profit. This made the manager increase their task which entails going out to market the products and sell in the major markets which will increase their sales revenue. Well, the employees took it south and resigned from the job as they prefer to sit down at the store from morning till closing hour without making any sales. Ever since then its been a struggle getting employees who would fit into their expectations. Most of the applicants either complain of not meeting the sales target without trying or not wanting to take up the responsibility of a marketer or they expect a higher income.
NG718
I am sure you remember this firm, he is yet to continue his bakery business as he doesn’t have the capital to put things in place or lets say to get a delivery van and operating cost. His wife who is into baking and sales of cereal doesn’t have a full time employee which makes her ineligible to participate in SFD. He started to learn another line of business😁 which is forex trading: He is still learning how to do Forex trading online which has the stucture of learn and earn training. And he subscribes every month for the classes which goes frm Mon-friday at most 2hours per day or at least 1hour. A US based academy which provides resources to learn, forecast and monitoring of the market which can be done at the students convenience. Presently he has been trading on his own while learning. He makes gains and losses while trading. When he can’t afford to subscribe to his training in a month he practice the trading on his own.
NG275
I have always tried to make this respondent to know the importance of good financial record keeping but on each occasion he do tell me that he doesn’t have time start writing anything in a book and that he can remember all his financial transactions.
I, my supervisor and FM visited this firm yesterday and the respondent informed us of a loan he applied for and he was asked to get document showing his financial transactions and he has not been keeping record. The incident he said, made him to understand more the importance of financial record keeping which I have always encouraged him to do. For the last two weeks he has now kept a well detailed record in the L-ift notebook and he intends to continue keeping the record so that he can present it to the organization he applied for the loan as an evidence.
NG236
When i got to this firm today she was complaining about how power holding company disconnected her light because of the huge debt on the meter she was using because she cannot afford to pay it, she managed to attend to me and answer her special surveys, her records is usually intact and up to date so i gave her the Android phone she was so happy, said a lot of prayers for the company.
NG538.
This firm is no longer interested in the survey.
He told me he’s an elderly man, he’s unlearned and he’s fed up of weekly transaction records and doesn’t want to participate again, he said he thought probably L-IFT would change their mind and not offer him phone again but money that’s why he rescheduled lastweek because he was fed up. If he can’t be given money to support his business I should not come again else I’m looking for his trouble except I want to bring money.
Supervisor called to know the progress of work.
NG152
This firm I’ve been unable to see her for 3 weeks because she always has impromptu meetings, her employees manage her firm she has 2 employees, I can’t enter her firm because of bird flu ravage so i conduct financial transactions details with her in another location away from her firm but still within the agric farm. I only observe from a distance.
NG167
I called this firm owner yesterday to schedule our appointment for her weekly transactions, she told me meet her at her factory around 12 noon but i should call to confirm her availability again, i was about to set out to her factory then I called again as promised, she immediately asked where i was and told me not to come because there was unrest around her factory area, a police man stabbed a tricycle driver and unfortunately the man died,so other drivers wanted to reiterate,she suggested we meet in her house so i can get this week transactions done.
NG796
This firm is one of my respondent that is very detailed when it comes to their firm’s record keeping, yesterday was supposed to be our appointment but he told me he was very busy that i should reschedule for today, when i got there today he reported that the generator has been giving them issues, meanwhile he has been complaining about high cost of repair and maintenance lately. The generator was down for 3 days, they could not work. Getting there today i met the technician working on the generator.
NG266
This my respondent has been doing great things since we started SFD with her, from displaying her signpost for advert to getting a Point of sale machine to starting a POS business. Some weeks or a month after we started SFD she told me about getting a POS machine which i recorded on FINBIT. She didn’t start the business immediately as she told me she was still looking for a space to use 😳 which means she doesn’t want to bring the business to her fashion store because her neighbour was also into the business. On one of my visits i needed to withdraw from the POS and i asked her again when she will start the business. Well, she said she is running the business in her house as she was avoiding her neighbours witch-hunt. I encouraged her saying her customers will come to her and her neighbours customer too will go to her, that she should summon courage to bring it to her fashion store and start making money. On getting there on Tuesday, i am happy to let you know that she has brought the POS to her store on the 1st of November and has started making money from the POS business since then.
NG263
When I presented the phone to the respondent after the weekly Financial reporting on Wednesday, she was very excited and said that the phone will serve two main purposes.Firstly she will like to start using the Finbit App herself and secondly she will use the phone to promote her business by posting her products on social media. She extended her appreciation to the entire management of L-ift and promised to continue to participate in the project as long as it last.
NG286
I met a slightly unhappy firm owner today who took out time coutesy of the special events survey to relive the good old days when business was very profitable and she could handle family’s expenses single handedly from proceeds of business as the bread winner of her family, unlike this year when she feels so uninspired coming to the market most times due to prevailing uncertainties.
In the Financial tools survey, she emphasised that with the rising cost of raw materials and uncertain business market, her suppliers rarely want to give supplies on credit even as she had to maintain a strict no credit policy with all her customers to avoid stories that touch.
NG194
I was rounding up my financial tools survey with this firm when my laughter commenced. I asked if he collected any covid 19 subsidy, he replied No and then I jokingly followed saying “Baba Buhari no give u anything, even rice or cow? 😂😂”. The man laughed and said ” this tenure is just terrible, they had nothing to offer anyone”. Then he started the gist of how he was a big boy during PDP regime. He said most PDP guys are his bosses “Oga”. That during the PDP era, he had 3 tricycles working for him as a transportation business and he could just give out 100-200k to people. People in his area loved him bcos he was a giver. He said if PDP returns to Govt, he is leaving Kaduna to Abuja, I asked if I could enter his bag and he said I shouldn’t worry, no problem at all. So, if u are interested, I could ask him to get a bigger bag to take us all 😁😁😁
This same firm had his meter stolen 2 weeks ago. He was moving from police station to the court for reports and affidavit. He submitted necessary documents to KD electric but he’s been told to buy a new meter for 50k 😢😢 and that he has a 40k debt on the previous metre 🙆♀ (He still doesn’t know how this happened). Needing almost a 100k to solve light issues has been discouraging and saddening for him, considering how tough things are generally.
Any way, my guy improvised by washing in his shop and taking the clothes to a neighboring shop in the same business line, for ironing. With his unreliable employees (he is practically alone at d moment), he now relies on the employees in the neighboring firm to help him iron the clothes. He pays the boys, as he would, his workers. This light problem affected his work for almost a week before he fully started this new method.
NG730
Remember my respondent that was robbed some two weeks ago and all her sewing machine was stolen? She is the same one that said business has been going well since the robbery and she has replaced one machine already.
Well, on my last visit to her she told me she went to market and got new materials and sales are going well so far though not as good as the last time she went to market. She was happy to receive the tablet and thanks everyone
NG130
This respondent is one of my replacement firms. She is a special respondent because she has a problem with hearing. To communicate with her you need an interpreter or you write on paper for her and it is not everything that she can read. I initially wanted to request that she be changed because of the communication barrier but my supervisor encouraged me to work with her and now she is one of my most friendly respondents. On my last visit to her for scheduled interview, she told me she did not make much for the week but business is going and she has been able to pay her rent for september.
NG706
This respondent runs a school and has been very cooperative since we started with her. On Tuesday she told me she travelled for her father’s memorial and only came back that morning. That it’s because of me she came to work that day as she would have ordinarily stayed indoors and gotten some rest. I appreciated her for her commitment towards the research and told her the entire team is grateful.
NG158
This respondent is into sale of frozen meat and fish, eggs and some provisions. He had assigned one of his workers to be the knee writting down transactions on our notebook. On My last visit he told me that one of his workers had stopped work because she said she wanted to process her admission at school and start this year. That he hopes he finds time to continue with the record. He also said business has not been very good the past week. This is the respondent that was duped and given fake notes last month
NG324
The respondent said he needs money now to do a lot of things and buy materials before they add money. Surprisingly during the financial tools survey he said he doesn’t need a loan and never takes a loan as he believes it does not build a business but keeps you in debt. He also said someone hit his head lamp the previous day and was begging him that he doesn’t have money to pay. Also noticed the respondent takes a break by 12 to say about 5-10 minutes prayers with his employees before they continue working.
NG302
This respondent is into tailoring with her sister who is a co-owner. She told me on Thursday that this season is not looking like other Christmas Season at all but she is hopeful that things will get better soon as we are close to Christmas. That business has not been as usual and the sit at home actions have not been helping at all.
NG116
This is my respondent that first lost his phone and hasn’t been able to retrieve his line till date owing to National ID challenges. On our scheduled visit on Thursday, he said business has not been easy but they are trying their best. He was happy to receive the phone and thanked the whole team for the gift. Even though he already bought a new phone within last week as he wasn’t sure whether he will still get a gift from us
NG296
The respondent is also into tailoring and lost her phone at school sometime last month. One of her employees stopped working while the ither went for National Youth Service so it has been only her running the shop for some time now and because she is still in school she said it really hasn’t been easy for her combining school these days but she is trying. That she is still looking for a tailor so that she doesn’t have to lock up her shop when she goes to school and also so that she doesn’t lag behind in meeting people’s orders for this Christmas season
NG260
This my respondent is very dedicated towards the research.I visited the respondent after business as usual I present the phone LIFT gave him,He was very happy you all need to see the level of Joy when he was busy showing his workers and customer is new phone as he called it his new office for record-keeping.
NG706
Respondent complained that parents have not been paying school fees because of sit at home and when you ask them they will say sit at home is also affecting their business and they don’t have money to pay yet. That the bulk of her income this term are from fresh intakes. She further said parents are also saying they should reduce school fees since sit at home has reduced number of school days.
NG430
This respondent is one of my most cooperative respondents, she’s very detailed in terms record keeping. So, my supervisor, I visited her yesterday afternoon, so after the normal business of the day with her, I presented the tablet from L-IFT to her, she was very happy 😊 then she said we’ve made her day and that she’s always at our service even if L-IFT has another research aside the SFD project.
NG308
This particular respondent is into leather bag production, so when I got to her shop today, she welcomed me as usual and gave me a detailed explanation of her book record. So when I presented the phone to her, she was excited and jumped at me(ah.. we almost fell down😁😁😁).
She showed her workers and people around her the phone L-IFT gave her.
She was really thankful for the phone and promised to keep being faithful in her record keeping.
NG 532
When i got to this firm yesterday, she complained of low patronage , whenever i visit the firm there is usually a lot of customers to attend to but yesterday was somehow, she was a bit worried but hopeful that things will change for better
NG922
This was the last firm selected for me. During census he said he wasn’t interested but later when the farm president gave me an opportunity to speak with the whole farmers he was convinced that L-IFT was real. After census, bird flu ravaged his firm and he lost the entire birds (thousands)when he was selected for intake(3months after census) I called him and he said I have your number saved come to the pen, I got there and the place had been pulled down he told me bird flu ravaged his pen and lost all birds nothing could be salvaged yet he signed consent form that he would still like to participate because he will start back his business. True to his words he started back, bought another place, did construction and boom started afresh. He bought 2600 birds but lost 1293 due to bird flu ravage again at the brooder house and was able to bring in 1307 birds to his pen. So I started his financial transactions which has only been expenses no income yet. I got there yesterday and saw he wasn’t too cheerful as usual. When I did special event I asked the first question his mood he said good, when I got to the next about profit he said bad, because he lost 100 birds due to short change in the formulation he feeds his birds, those producing the feed have reduced some nutrients in the feed drastically which affected the birds and died. In all he’s still hopeful that some of the birds will survive and when they grow to the point of laying birds he’s hopeful to get some income.
NG281
This firm is a photocopying firm that sells cars as a side hustle (second income source).
The way he comfortably says the “I have not made any sales”, but he still runs his usual expenses, like fuels his car, goes about his regular expenses, but no money comes in from the photocopying business. So I have not been able to record his financial transactions for the last 3 weeks now. As at yesterday when I called to visit or reschedule my visit, he said clearly, there’s no show, no business. No money has been coming in from the photocopying business or selling of cars business, but he runs his expenses and says he gets financial gifts from people. He has expenses but because he doesn’t take the money from the business that we’re carrying out our research on, I can not take those records as they are not useful to the research.
NG182
This firm owner is a female. She’s into fashion designing and makes good cloth design. Yesterday, I visited her shop as usual after going through her record-keeping, we interacted a little on the way the business is going, she explained how things are expensive now and the patronage from customer’s been low due to hard times after the normal discussion I presented her phone to her she was so happy that she dance all round.
NG 406
When i got to this firm yesterday, the firm owner was not available at the time of visit l was surprised because we had agreement earlier so i called him again, he then apologized that he has to go get raw materials at the leather market and was very urgent. He rescheduled and the firm’s observation was done.
NG316
I visited this firm, into leather shoes production yesterday and in the course of our session, respondent disclosed having visited his loyal but sick apprentice who wasn’t available the past week, at home and supporting him with a token to help get drugs while permitting him to stay home and recover even as he and the second employee continue to manage to manage production at the firm.
NG113
In the course of our session yesterday, my respondent who is into processing palm kernel oil and its derivatives disclosed that 2 personnel of their market security team quit, leaving all firm owners in the production cluster to come together at their general meeting to find ways of raising funds to collectively solve the security deficit soon.
NG123 episode 4
Let me tell you a little about this firm owner. She is in her 50’s, she started her business august last year. She loves to put her things in order and doesn’t like to be put under any form of pressure. She runs a computer-based training school where they teach students on different types of professional exams like JAMB, TOEFL, IELTS to mention a few. I have been visiting her weekly for close to four weeks now so we can set up her FINBIT account, we eventually got to set up her employee list on Wednesday. Please applaud me on this for not giving up on her. I am sure Anne Marie and Bello Salisu can relate. To the main story, she has different categories of employee, like a very peculiar case. Even though she had initially hinted me on that but asi was recording the list of employees i understand vividly what she meant. So let me break down those categories.
1. Full time staff that works 8-6pm 5days a week, they earn monthly salary
2. Part time staff who works twice a week/2-3hours per day some of them earn per hour while some earn per month and some earn per number of student. Sounds interesting abi😂😂
3. Standby staff who works only when there are students that enrol for their course. Some earn full month salary as they work full time for five days while some work as part time and earn wages per hour…
Please tell me why you won’t buy me pizza this weekend😂😂
Hmmmm after capturing her employees on paper as she is always busy and try to squeeze out 20-30mins on each visit. I appreciated her and asked for one little favour as i am an Oliver twist who always wants more.. I asked if she has FT for the past three weeks as we would need to be recording on a weekly basis after taking that of the past three weeks. Dear colleagues, guess what this woman said? She said i know your company work doesn’t finish once, you will keep asking and asking then we both laughed. She said she has all her record up to date written in the book right in front of her and she has inputted them on her system. I smiled and said, wow, that means we don’t have a problem. Ma, can i please take a snapshot of the last three weeks FT so i can input them on my FINBIT. She said not now my dear😂😂 I have completed today’s meeting with you, at least there is no rush😢😢😢. That was how i jejely carried my body and bid her goodbye till the next visit.
NG146
In one of my financial reporting sessions yesterday, my respondent who runs a medical laboratory expressed her displeasure at the incessant sit at home orders and complained that on such occasions, firm’s already paid recurrent bills like rent and utilities keeps running even while they are non operational.
She hoped that both the Federal Government and IPOB will come to a truce soon so that everything will get back to normal again.
NG544
Today I was eventually able to meet up with this respondent who is interested in the research but because the distance between his house and firm is a lot, but he already has his secretary documenting the financial transactions from his business, she is the one who I usually meet to get the already written financial transactions which I input on FINBIT. I have been rescheduling our meetings for quite sometime now, there was even an option of using WhatsApp, but I’d rather it’s conducted in person. I’m glad he was available, to give me some time to conduct the Special Event Survey and Financial Tools & Other Assets Survey with him today.
NG278
This respondent who is into clothe making has been busy with work for some weeks now, though she still makes out time for the weekly interview. According to her this period is always a busy one as she has numerous clothes to sew due to the upcoming Christmas festival. In the course of recording the firm’s weekly income, she told me of the money one of her apprentices paid to her. According to her anybody that wants to learn tailoring from her usually pays seventy thousand naira as apprenticeship fee and this also serves as source of income for the firm.
NG790
During our weekly interview yesterday, this respondent informed me that funding has been the major factor hindering her business. According to her she intends to purchase some chicks next week that she will sell by Christmas though she regretted that the birds will not grow to the size she wanted by Christmas. She noted that she would have purchased the chicks 2 months ago but no money, she therefore pleaded for financial assistance from L-ift.
NG188
When I got to the firm today for the weekly interview, I saw so many customers around. I asked the respondent the reason for such number of customers during our interaction and she told me that her major competitor in the area has not opened for business for the past one week and this made to some of her competitor’s customers to be patronising her. She said she is not wishing her competitor bad but prays for such patronage to continue because according to her it is very good for her business.
NG724
The respondent complained bitterly that business this period has been slow unlike other years. According to him, by this time other years, he would have gotten so many contracts to make doors and gates for people packing into their new houses during Christmas. He blamed the economy of the country and security situation which he said will prevent some people from coming home for Christmas and completing their new houses.
NG244
In the course of our interaction today, the respondent told me that he has adopted an approach he called “ Double feeding” in order not to allow the incessant sit at home to affect the running of his business. When I asked him for the meaning, he said it simply means keeping enough feed and water for the livestock that will last for two days. With this the pigs will have enough feed and water till he comes to the farm again after sit at home day.
NG314
Visited this firm today as it’s our usual meeting day. We exchanged pleasantries and she handed me her record book. Her neighbour who has been meticulously monitoring my visit walked in and sat with while I was asking my respondent questions about her transactions. When we were done, the neighbour came in. She said ” I have been watching you all these while and the kinda questions you ask this woman, sometimes I wish I was part of your research and I said I will see you today to ask if it’s not late, I want to be part of the project too”
Me: It’s actually late now to be part of the project ma. We are interested in selected businesses and your line of business is not part of the project which is why I couldn’t come to your shop during the census.
She: 😔
She sells charcoal. Now that gas is expensive you can patronise her😂😂😂😂. My respondent is very happy to be part of the project. She’s appreciative of how she keeps her records now even though those who are owing her are not showing any intentional efforts in paying back. She wishes that the project will continue beyond August, 2022.
NG124
Consistency is key. This firm is into fashion and design. She sews beautifully well. 😍 one of the dresses I saw today would fits in well with Precious Ita . 😍 😂😂 She was very pessimistic about keeping record because she has never attempted that before. She has about 9 apprentices so she assigned the responsibility to 2 of her employees to always update the record book for any transaction and she go through it for confirmation. This has really helped me too. She love the the notebook distributed and like Oliver Twist, she’s asking for more 😂😂😂. She got tablet and she’s very happy with it.
She has very cheerful employees. I have never had failed interviews with her before. All pictures posted here were taken with the respondents’ approval.
NG514
This firm owner wasn’t available today only his employees were there. I called him and he said he lost his father so he couldn’t come to his firm today and financial transactions could not be done until he is back in town.