Across Nigeria, markets are a lot more than just a gathering of people looking to make a trade. For people like Joseph, who spend their lives surrounded by them, they often form the experiences that decide the path they eventually take. 

When Joseph finished his university education in 2017 at the age of 35, many of his friends were concerned about getting formal employment. There was constant income to be secured without the ups and downs that were rife in owning a business.

But he was determined to become a businessman, and a few things had led him down this path.

Growing up in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, he had often been mocked for being the son of a “provision store” owner. “People believe that the provision business is all about making N5 naira, but there’s a lot more to it,” he says.

What made Joseph different from others, is that he grew up surrounded by a thriving business community, spending most days in the market. Where other people looked down on business owners, he knew exactly how much success was possible by going down that path.

Two people influenced his perspective – his father, and another wealthy merchant in the market where he grew up.

“This man looked haggard - he wore slippers around all the time and never had his shirt tucked in -  but everyone in the market knew that was far from his reality,”  Joseph recalls. “Sometimes a truck brings 5000 cartons of goods to the market, and where everyone else struggles for a few, this man easily collects about half of it.”

Joseph’s father explained that this man had started as a roadside kerosene seller in the market. But the person Joseph saw did not match that picture at all, and that inspired him.

While his father and this merchant seemed poor, their commitment to building sustainable businesses helped them both find wealth. Where other people looked down on business owners, he grew a sense of pride because he saw all that was possible.

With this image in mind, he worked for his father for a year after school and eventually took over in 2018.

Joseph quickly saw business success, but there were also pitfalls. In his line of business, losses often happen in two ways.

“The first is from your staff. Being a cash-intensive business, bulk sums often needed to be taken to banks. “Sometimes you count money in volume, and when you give someone to take it to the bank, it’s N30,000 less. Sometimes that’s even more than the profit you made, and you can’t even tell if it’s true or not”.

The other more serious problem, was how often he experienced robbery. In his line of business, he had been robbed a few times before. But when he came into his shop in October, it was one time too many. Confused, he locked his store, went back home and remained indoors for two days.

This time, it wasn’t just about the money. He also had a building project at the time that he didn’t want to stop, so he needed more money. For a businessman who had built what he had from scratch, getting loans was never something he had considered. Pride in his business, and confusion about the process made him unlikely to get one.

But something had to give.

Joseph’s first encounter with Moniepoint was as a payment solutions provider, and bank. By digitising his payments, he solved the first problem he had with cash. He no longer needed to send anyone to the bank, since they could pay to him digitally, and the holes where his profit dripped through were plugged.

However, providing access credit was the turning point for Joseph’s business. After his last robbery encounter, he needed some money to bring his business back from the edge, and he got that with Moniepoint.

70% of informal business owners borrow money for their business.

We recently launched a report on Nigeria’s informal economy, taking a close look at the sector, which accounts for almost 90% of MSMEs in the country. One of the things we found was that 7 in 10 business owners have gotten some sort of external funding for their business.

The bulk of them (71%) receive this funding from family and friends.

To find out more about Nigeria’s informal economy, and the everyday people like Joseph who contribute over half of Nigeria’s GDP by being a part of it, visit informalreport.moniepoint.com