SENTINEL CONSULTING – “THE MARKET PLACE” SERIES

CASE STUDY #1: LADIPO INTERNATIONAL MARKET
The market place series brings to us the lessons from various locations, classes of businesses and price
ranges where commerce is widely acknowledged. It’s about looking at several hubs of commerce from
different perspectives to see what can be learnt and adopted in our own enterprises to make them as
profitable as they have the potential to be.

In Lagos Nigeria, when the name “Ladipo” is mentioned in the context of a market, one major
product comes to mind, spare parts of automobiles! It is true that is the signature stock and trade of this
lively commercial environment, but it isn’t exclusive to it, other items too can be seen when going in
through the unmarked and unofficial entrance of the market.

On display on both sides of the road, you see mobile phones and accessories (mostly fairly used ones),
clothing items, food vendors, hawkers with goods of all kinds to sell. And of course the environment,
which is equally, categorized by very fast movements, the occasional shoving and constant yelling by;
sellers trying to attract customers, vendors pushing wheel barrows with vehicle parts in it and some with
no clear purpose whatsoever.

ANALYSING THE BUSINESS CULTURE
ANTICIPATION OF THE CUSTOMER’S NEEDS: from the ‘entrance’ of the market there would
always be someone to follow you for at least ten (10) paces to tell you what he can offer you not
what you necessarily went there to purchase. Some speak to you with such conviction that you
have gone to buy what they are selling, even a psychic couldn’t be more convincing. These
fellows are usually ‘Agents’ who bring in customers and get a percentage of the sale made from
such an introduction, they serve as resource persons to the seemingly busy shop owners who
cannot afford to leave their goods to go on individual marketing.

PUBLICITY: either through audible means or strikingly visual approaches, you rarely miss what
each vendor has to offer. The art of being noticed and acknowledged has been mastered, with
the fundamental understanding that to make sales you must first be identified to be selling.
From deafening loud Music to inscriptions with mind-bugling spellings, their case is always made
with or without the prices being mentioned for good measure.

MOBILITY: the environment is never stagnant, the need to be on the move is almost like a
survival instinct, ‘you stop you are done’. Buyers and sellers have to keep going until each party
gets to achieve the purpose for being in the center of such chaos. The need to move and
constantly changing strategies for marketing and eventually making sales.

DETERMINATION: this is an element that fills the air almost by default, every single buyer is
positioned to outsell the other. Vigorous marketing tactics alongside tricks of the trade a
potential customer might not understand (depending on how often you’ve interacted with
them). But the will power and actions to back it up are always evident no matter the
merchandise being sold, no matter the price, from the cheapest to the most expensive.

NEGOTIATION: before the interesting discounts are agreed upon after the blotted asking prices
would have been offered, the mind games begin, with the never ending back and forth of two
wills trying to get the best deal out of the transaction. Several vendors are visited to get an
average of the price, then the seemingly most reasonable one gets the sale. The arrogance that
you have been done a massive favour with the price cuts after maneuvering with all your tactics
never escapes the vendors. All they are saying through their teeth is,”today I gave you the best
deal you could get, next time remember me for your next purchase”.

NEVER SAY NEVER: determination is a side of the coin which they trade with, the other side is an
attitude of never quitting. If a particular vendor doesn’t have the particular item specifically
requested, he makes you wait for him to check for it somewhere else (mostly with a
competitor). Anywhere he gets it from, the money for the initial sale goes to him, which is all
that counts in this trade they engage in. there must be sales made, irrespective of whose shelf it
comes from. They never say NO, they find a solution to the challenge at hand.

RETURN POLICY: depending on what item or part of a vehicle you buy, their return policy is quite
flexible and they understand the power of repeat customers. They can only sell so much before
they peak out in their clientele base. So they make sure you are satisfied with your purchase,
even if a single one unfortunately brings you back like three to four times. They own your
business by buying your loyalty through their flexibility. No bad referral has ever grown a
business. A cardinal rule they believe in and live by.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER: a particular food vendor had quite a number of ladies in hair nets and
numbered aprons. Their job; take orders of food from other vendors too busy to leave their
shops, deliver the food, get paid and return to collect the plates. These ladies where
everywhere, it was like a mobile food conglomerate, their sites dominated the scene. At least
one operative from this food court was seen in 120 seconds and then another no later than the
next one. The boss has obviously learnt to deploy her resources accordingly to serve her
customers maximally with as much ease for them and fascinating efficiency for her business.
The mobile marketers did just that, market, go hunt and bring the bounty home, leaving behind
clients with greased mouths full of their products looking forward to the next purchase.

These lessons might seem like textbook rules for businesses, though practiced by the maybe not so
learned. But the fundamentals hold true in their practice and the results they bring irrespective of
whatever venture you find yourself in at any given time. Having a thriving business environment is
always a possibility.

Understand that knowing what your client wants or needs is what gives credence to what you claim
to provide in exchange for money. Learning to communicate what you do offer to attract the buyers you
need to grow your business sets the boundary between window-shoppers and making makers.
Adaptation as a strategy is always the way to grow, a rigid business doesn’t make flexible profits. Actions
are more tangible than your will power, so do something about that drive to make things work. Fair
prices bring in customers, unfair ones takes them anywhere else but with you. There is always a way out
no matter what the challenge is, think through it, it is your best strategy before acting. Good referrals
make good businesses. Give your customers reason to smile after engaging you, that’s where your profit
is hidden. Massive human resource management is a key rule that has repeated itself in their strategies
and something that can always be noticed, so learn to harness yours and deploy them effectively and
maximally.

The looking glass to measure the success of an Enterprise is not just by their books, but by the look on
their customer’s faces when they are remembered.