Stories by Bimbola Oyesola

Do you know that residential and commercial painting delivers over $22.5 billion a year investment in the industry.

Painting is a skill that most people can pick up quite easily. It is one of those rare home-based business opportunities that actually work and it is very possible to make thousands of naira within hours without much effort.

A good painting job requires practice, precision and patience, and because it’s so time-intensive, many homeowners are looking to outsource the painting of their homes, both inside and out, to a professional painter.

If you enjoy painting and do it well, you are in a great position to start a painting business that has the potential to be very profitable.

But if right now you want to go into this business, but have no experience, you can as well hire professionals for your business to take off.

For those who enjoy painting, along with being able to create a business around an activity you enjoy doing, some of the benefits you can experience when you start a painting business include:

– It’s easy to get started, especially as a part-time business.

– The start-up costs in this area of investment are quite minimal and you can also operate from home.

– You have the potential to make a good income once your business is established.

– It allows you to have fun and be creative, especially painting for schools, banks, and some other commercial outlets.

– You can specialise by providing services such as faux painting, special finishes and historically authentic painting.

– There are franchise opportunities available.

– You can offer related services such as wall papering for added income.

– You can target homeowners, builders, landlords or interior designers.

However, despite the advantages, there are some potential challenges, which a would-be entrepreneur should watch out for:

– It’s very physical work, so you must be in good health.

– You may face stiff competition.

– Some of your work may be seasonal.

– You have to paint exceptionally well; it’s also a good idea to offer some kind of speciality service to differentiate yourself.

– You need a thorough knowledge of paints, primers, cleaning solutions, etc.

You need basic painting tools and equipment such as ladders, rollers, brushes, sprayers, etc.

Are you still sceptical about venturing into this money-spinning business? The following reasons would further help you to make up your mind.

Volume of work

Everyday homeowners across the country (and around the world) spend millions of naira/dollars to have a living room, bedroom, kitchen, etc, painted. In the same vein, business organisations like banks, manufacturing companies, and schools equally repaint their premises virtually every year. This is an industry that has an unlimited amount of work available. There is far more work than there are painters.

Skills

It doesn’t take much time at all to develop basic painting skills. Just about anyone can do it. Most painters who learn through on-the-job-training pick it up in just a few weeks. All it takes is a little practice.

Very low capital to start

A painting business is one of the best businesses because it doesn’t require a lot of money to start. For under N50,000 (depending on where you live) you can get a painting business up and running and earning money.

With start-up costs this low, it doesn’t take long to become profitable and if you target small high paying jobs, your overhead costs are next to nothing. Also, if you work from home, you will not have to pay for rent; that is another savings on your expenses.

No expensive advertising

Unlike most other businesses, a painting business does not require a huge monthly advertising budget. In fact, it is completely possible to build a profitable painting business without any traditional advertising at all.

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Smart painting business owners spend time building relationships with people who “know people” that can refer them for jobs. But in this age, one cannot rule out the power of technology, so you can make good use of social media, like facebook, instagram and tweeter.

Freedom, lifestyle and security

The best thing a house painter can do to secure their future is to start a painting business of their own.

The potential to earn an above average income working part time hours is one of the biggest benefits of owning a successful painting business.

Many painters are making a great living running their own painting business. They drive nice vehicles, live in nice homes and have the time and money to do the things they love.

Outstanding tax benefits

Running a small painting business out of your home offers many outstanding advantages like high profit potential and low over head. The tax benefits of owning a small business are wonderful.

As you can see, the sky is the limit for painters. Unlimited work and top pay draw a lot of people to the painting trade every year.

With government supporting the small and medium scale investors, an entrepreneur in this industry can also key in into several opportunities on offer to grow the economy.


SON intercepts N200m fake cables

As part of its efforts to safeguard lives and property across the country, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has intercepted two 40ft containers loaded with electric bulbs and 20ft container of substandard cables worth over N200 million. 

​The SON Director  General, Ostia Aboloma, told journalists during the inspection exercise that the agency would not relent in its efforts in ensuring that only goods that meet the minimum requirements of the Nigeria Industrial Standards (NIS) would be allowed into Nigerian markets.

Aboloma, who was represented by Bede Obayi, Director, Compliance, ​noted that this move by the agency was to restate the commitment to zero tolerance for substandard goods while also complementing the present administration’s quest to provide the enabling environment for businesses to support local production. 

He said, “this is to brief you on the activities of the men of Compliance Directorate of SON. We have said if these importers of substandard products do not sleep, SON too will not sleep. We intercepted these two 40ft containers containing fake electricity bulbs released from the ports. We have tested them in our laboratory and the result we got shows that these bulbs are far below the requirement of the standards and we cannot allow that.

“​The packs of these bulbs indicate that each bulb is 105 watts, but when tested, it was not up to 50 watts and this is not even up to 50 per cent of the rated capacity. The importer will sell to the public as 105 watts thereby short-changing the unsuspecting Nigerian end-users. If you know you have the capacity to do 50 watts, why not indicate 50 watts instead of making the consumers to pay two times the amount of the price. This is not acceptable and we will not allow this to continue. We must destroy these bulbs. We have tested them and they have failed the requirements of the standards.”

​According to him, the agency has been advising importers on the need to desist from illicit and unscrupulous trade activities, maintaining that the agency would relentlessly continue to combat the preponderance of substandard goods until it gets to the barest minimum. 

“We have the documentation and we will trace the product back to the importers so that we can deal with them appropriately in line with our SON Act of 2015, which has given us powers to deal with these culprits to address the influx of substandard products,” he said.

On the seized cables, Abololma said the importer falsely declared his containers as electrical switches and sockets to deceive regulatory officials at the ports, but stressed that SON has intensified its efforts to ensure that substandard goods that escapesthe port must not find its way into the Nigerian market. 

​“These are house wiring cables after interception, they were declared as electrical switches and sockets and so how will you expect this economy to grow when importers are using false declaration to bring in goods into the country. They are bringing in substandard products and declaring it as something else.  We are stepping up our activities to protect local production and also key into the present administration’s effort to create an enabling environment for doing business in the country”, he added.


Nigeria Breweries appoints new CEO 

The Board of Directors of Nigerian Breweries Plc, has announced the appointment of Mr. Johan Antonie Doyer as its new Managing Director/CEO. 

In a statement signed by the Corporate Affairs Adviser of  the company, Kufre  Ekanem, the appointment of Mr. Doyer takes effect from June 16, 2017 on an interim basis pending the appointment of a substantive Managing Director/CEO. 

Ekanem said Mr. Doyer will succeed Mr. Nicolas Vervelde, who has been appointed as the Managing Director of Heineken Asia Pacific Region. 

According to the statement, Mr. Doyer joined Heineken Netherlands in 1978 as Product Manager and subsequently held increasingly senior marketing management positions in different regions. 

He said, “He became the General Manager in Vietnam followed by La Reunion, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chile and the Sedibeng Brewery in South Africa.

“Mr. Doyer retired from Heineken in July 2015 as the Managing Director of Heineken Ethiopia. While in Ethiopia, he was responsible for building the new company, integrating two acquired breweries, building a new brewery, launching new brands and overseeing the tripling of that company’s volume. He set the stage for the growth Heineken Ethiopia has recorded.”

Ekanem added that the board is confident that Mr. Doyer’s wealth of experience stands him in a very good position to help the company continue its twin strategy of cost leadership and market leadership towards sustaining its leadership position in the market with the philosophy of winning with Nigeria.