Small Business Owners

[Che -Guevara]

Alright folks, let's put politics aside, there are any small business owners among you?

 

Please share your experience and lessons learned in starting and running business.

[Che -Guevara]

Thinking differently

 

[Alpha Blondy]

What's your business Che? A service or a product....Warka so daa.

[Che -Guevara]

Hello Alpha,

 

I actually don't have one. I was hoping those that do will share their experience. I am tired of 9-5 thing. Need to do something new, being your own boss is what appeals to me most.

 

It's big risk but who knows. So what's your take?

[Che -Guevara]

Galbeedi,

 

Let's hear it.

[galbeedi]

 

 

che,

It will take me few minutes to write it all, so wait for second.

[Che -Guevara]

Saaxiib, take your time, the more in-depth ideas the better.

[galbeedi]

Che,

 

I saw this tread about business, but the political treads consumed concentration and I forgot about the topic. Let me add my few senses.

 

The engine of the North American economy is free enterprise and ingenuity of the business people. More than 80% of businesses are small and medium side businesses run by dedicated people. I am not an expert of the economy in the larger sense, but I would like to give you some tips if you are interested in owning and running your own business.

 

The longer you operate a business the more successful you became. Doors will open , you learn more secrets and finally , the loans from banks will be easy to access.

 

 

1-Food and restaurant business.

 

It s the worst job if you are selling to your Somali community. Most of the food is cooked or precooked before service, and you will experience a lot of waste. usually , there are not enough space in the kitchen or lack of modern equipment makes your job labor intensive. A huge plate of rice, goat meat, mango juice, a bowl of soup, and banana would only sell $10. That same plate with less rice or meat , coupled with style and services , sells $25 dollars at the Boston Pizza.

 

Yet, if you are in to food service and eager to enter, I would suggest a donair shop. A Khums bread loaded with few slices of chicken or beef with tomato, and little sous and fries would sell $10 dollars. They could choose and add their a pope or juice. No dishes to wash and no major other labor is involved. Two or maximum or three employees could run smoothly. Hire a middle eastern chief and you could be successful.

 

2-Insurance broker.

 

Big cities with large Somali populations need insurance services. All you need is nicely decorated, and professionally looking office. You and someone who will be acting both as a broker and Secretary to help you manage the customers. While insurance rates are almost similar in price, most people, especially Somalis would like to talk to someone and give a comparative prices. After you register the clients, most of other inquiries like accidents will be dealt by other agents from the head office.

 

If you advertise well and show competence and professionalism, you could get large number of Somalis and others. These days, Most Somali families have two or three cars to insure.

 

In the meantime, while you growing your clients, you could operate a travel and ticket agent on the side. It does not cost much to add to the existing business. Do not cell cheap or stand by airline tickets,especially international flights which may cause hardship to the clients and eventually could ruin your reputation.

 

3-Transportation broker.

 

The oil prices are coming down and the trucking business is getting bigger. China as the second biggest economy of the world is the manufacturing hub of the world. Trump keep musing about China, but an operation manager in my company told me that if ships leaving Chinese ports are delayed 60 days, most malls in north America will be closed. Any way those huge products are moved either by train or trucks. Service industry is always growing in North America.

 

If you are business oriented and fluent in the English language , you could set up small office in the run down area of the city and set up your office to dispatch freights. You do not need to own tractors or even five ton trucks. You could hire an agent to get freights from companies, but also like the stock market, freight forwarding, cargo's and loads are accessed by members through your computer. You could bid and get the load. There are significant number of Somalis who own both short and long haul trucks, but, lack of education and market access, they do not own freight forwarding companies or freight dispatching companies. . Somalis are independent and would not mind the freedom of the highways.

 

I had one here, but I did close after the financial collapse in 2009, also high oil prices of $100 dollars made less profitable for the owner operators. In America, long haul freights from the California carrying fruits could be as high as $6000 one way. As broker, you would take between 15 to 18% of the rate. In these business managers and owners are mostly white people just learned the trick, while most of the owner operators are either immigrates or whites.

 

4-Cleaning and maintenance.

 

This job is one of the most profitable businesses if the labor market is flexible. You can operate from your house and keep most of the equipment in your garage. Most contacts are owned by other people and if you became the third person, you margin of profit will be small. You can combine by buying some contacts directly , while searching the rest by your efforts. You could hire a local people mostly white girls and guys as agents and find contracts. You will pay them small basic salary and good commissions. They will look new buildings and other offices and get the contact directly. If you could get directly, the profit margins are huge.

 

You could send two people twice a week and they will clean the office. If you get 20 offices, that will be a success. You hire supervisors to run things for you. I use to clean and maintain the largest mall in the city and even hockey arenas in the city. It was difficult to hire people in Alberta. Almost everyone quits and goes to the oil sand and makes three times what I was paying. The minimum wage was 11/hour, yet it was difficult to find people. Finally I sold it to an Indian. By the way, business does have any colors other than green.

 

4- Distribution

 

This is one of the most successful businesses if you do the necessary research and get some starting capital.

 

 

 

will finish tomorrow, i get to go ... My son needs help in his home work......

 

 

[galbeedi]

 

Distribution business is more than 3 trillion dollars in North America. Rather than operate a retail , you will sell business to business. You need a good warehouse and a sales team. You buy the products from the manufactures, and sell whole sell.

 

For example , large cities like Columbus , Minneapolis have number of groceries of Halal meats, restaurants and other middle eastern shops that sell meat products. The average Somali restaurant cooks one goat a day, combined with beef and other meat products. You could buy whole sale meat directly from Australia and other goat producers and sell to these shops. Frozen meat could be stored for years in the warehouse freezers and nothing will happen in terms of quality or taste. With your frozen truck , you could distribute hundreds of goats of meat and other products per week from your warehouse. The Australian whole sellers will deliver to your warehouse directly in weekly basis. That Somali directed business only.

 

Every company needs to expand and sell their products as a whole sale and reach as many people as possible. Retailing is tough and the competition is throat cutting. Also most companies need a franchisee to distribute., they will train you and supply you with products. In most businesses, I found America to be more flexible and densely populated than Canada. here in Canada , we got only six or seven big cities while the rest are medium size towns. In America almost every state has six or seven cities to do business. Also, unlike Canada, there are no monopolies in certain markets. Actually , when I was in America, in early 2000, I thought to be the best place to do business with less regulation and taxes, although that may change under the leadership of the deplorable.

 

5-Consulting (engineering) and construction management.

 

It will be difficult for young Somali graduates to open their own businesses in the early years of their career. They have to get the necessary work experience and earn some money to pay back the school loans they owe, but after while they must think big. They are no longer immigrants like as , but as the first generation of Canadian born Somalis, they must look ahead and participate the larger economy.

 

Construction management businesses are available if you get the right connections. Most small or medium size builders could build and manage condo's or small housing projects. Even the larger ones do not own equipment or other expensive tools. There are this companies building 1000 units of condo throughout the city, yet they do not own one single heavy equipment. last year I was chatting with this site manager that I deal with regularly , and asked him about his qualification or if he were an engineer of some sort.

 

He said no. He had 2 year of diploma about construction management offered by the local community college. He told me that his company is running around 20 sites building condo's, duplexes and town homes,and they do not own one single heavy equipment. He said, it would be a waste of time, resource and money if we keep relocating and moving the excavator, the bulldozers , the heavy equipment, forklifts, roofing elevators and so on. Instead, all this work is done by contractors. It is up to them to bring and do the job, whether they have to dig trenches, install under ground plumbing, roofing, siding or finishing products. His job is to manage which one has to come first. If the house is at the last stages, toilet fixtures, laminates and counter tops, and electricians will show up different days. They manage contractors.

 

If the housing market slows down , they will just stop building new ones until the market recovers. Before that house is sold, ten or more contractors will do the various jobs. It is a great way to distribute the wealth in the industry. People with engineering degrees could set up small firms to get contacts and build things for larger companies.

 

It is all involved in trade jobs that our young people need to learn , but have not got in yet. In Canada , the construction industry is 70 billion dollar industry. Before we own small construction companies, we need our young men to enter trade jobs instead of the usual political science and management degrees that do not help them gain full employment. Developed countries means technological development. What we all see is shiny tall buildings, clean streets, working sewage and toilet systems, but all that is through technical and trade knowledge. My biggest worry is that with all the technologies and other life altering modern mechanics that are available in these developed countries our youth are not getting any of that. We do not need liberal arts that does not elevate poverty here or back home.

 

 

The biggest obstacle for the Somalis is that we do business with out meager savings. When we enter or buy , we use our own saving with no cash flow to use when we face difficulties in the early months. Loans or grants will help you buy the right equipment and lasting assets that sell if the business fails.

 

[Alpha Blondy]

@Che -Guevara

said:

Hello Alpha,

 

I actually don't have one. I was hoping those that do will share their experience. I am tired of 9-5 thing. Need to do something new, being your own boss is what appeals to me most.

 

It's big risk but who knows. So what's your take?

 

Well, if you follow your passion then it'll work. You just need a lot persistence. Good luck.

[Dahireeto]

This is a great topic. 

 

I am in the construction industry (I am a builder) but I want to start my own business in Somalia. Construction is in such a poor shape in the country that I want people to learn to appreciate the value of good workmanship. To become a truly effective construction company, you need capital and I am in the process of saving some money for that venture. 

 

Is there such thing as surety bonds in Somalia?