As I have said on my Cost Saving Ideas Farm Business Support mini-site, and also in many of my previous writings, I got a unique insight into the catfish farming business as it is done here in Nigeria. I have moved quite a bit within Lagos especially, visiting various farms in places like Iyana Ipaja, Egbeda, Ojo, Gbagada and outside of Lagos, most recently, in Akute – Ogun State.
During my interactions with farm owners, I often ask the same questions about operating practices being used, farm performance achieved, expenses incurred, etc. My goal is always to establish how efficient and profitable individual operations are. Time and time again, I have found that most of these farm owners just focus on doing what they do in the same mechanical way they always have. Little or no effort is made to spend any time THINKING about how to operate more efficiently, especially to reduce the time, effort, money, and labor required to produce and sell the same output within one production cycle.
But times are hard. Business is tough. Costs have increased. In order to continue making profits, it has become even more imperative today that ALL businesses explore ways to REDUCE operating costs, even while maintaining or possibly INCREASING production. That is why IDEAS, NEW IDEAS, on how to better run the business SHOULD be routinely requested and explored in a practical way, with an eye to improving the way we work, so that the business can run better.
But there is something even more compelling: SELL. This is the ultimate goal of a business venture, which if NOT actively pursued could lead to its eventual demise. Until you receive a CASH PAYMENT for your product or service, you have NOT done business profitably! And that goes for ANY business. I had to say this at the risk of stating the obvious, because it seems that many business owners often forget this important FACT.
In fact, many people seem to go about their business by focusing more on DOING the technical aspects of production, and spending minimal time on the SALES part. However, if you don’t have customers READY and WILLING to part with CASH for your product or service, ALL of your technical and production knowledge and skills will be nothing! Your bank account would be empty!
This is a message that needs to be drilled into the heads of many Catfish Farm (and other business) owners here. I have repeatedly been contacted by people who seemed more interested in PROVING my knowledge of how to “inject” catfish or “stripping” them with eggs, than in hearing my field-tested ideas, for example, on how they can raise daphnia in glass tanks for food. to your catfish fries instead of wasting time/work searching different streets for dirty pools of water, to collect wild daphnia, or even worse, feeding your catfish fries exclusively expensive Artemia.
I often wonder if it ever occurred to them that today almost ANYONE, even the unschooled, can learn to independently carry out virtually every aspect of raising and rearing catfish for commercial production. Isn’t it obvious from the rate that seminars, manuals and VCDs teaching the subject are now abounding in various places (with advertisements appearing in the media like newspapers etc.)?
The truth is that we have a lot of people involved in catfish production in different ways, at various scales of operation here today. The PROBLEM, however, is that very few, if any, do so by following a tried or tested standard operating procedure that ensures consistent production of a quality product. Worst though, and which is the POINT of this article, is the almost TOTAL lack of attention to developing reliable strategies for FINDING GOOD buyers for ready-to-sell catfish, whether fingerlings, juveniles, or table-sized catfish.
This last point explains why in my conversations with many owners, they often complained of being frustrated by the very exploitative offers made by the market women who come to buy the harvested fish. The woeful stories I have been told about how these greedy traders take advantage of the need for fish farmers to get “ready” fish out of the ponds, to buy them at rock bottom prices (and then sell them at maximum profit) are heart. representation.
Every time this problem has been brought to my attention, I have responded by telling farmers to take personal ACTIONS to find BETTER buyers, so that such traders NO LONGER feel that farmers have no choice. This is where farmers need to employ CRITICAL THINKING skills. The fish farmer needs to think of ways to find other people who want his fish products and are willing to pay what they are worth!
In case you are wondering how the farmer will accomplish this, I offer some ideas based on my personal experiences and observations.
For table size, ready-to-sell catfish: The farmer will need to search for breweries, restaurants and bars, hotels, motels, entertainment venues, event planners, etc. who may need a regular or periodic supply of catfish in large quantities at good prices. Such buyers are more likely to offer rewarding prices, compared to market women. In fact, they WILL OFFER better prices; I say this because I am aware of the prices that some of them buy from the farmers that supply them.
The challenge is for YOU, as the farmer, to invest reasonable time and effort to locate them and approach them with an attractive offer. The resulting relationship would be mutually beneficial: they get to buy good quality catfish in bulk at AFFORDABLE prices. You get reliable, TIMELY and regular outlets for your catfish at PROFITABLE prices that allow you to STAY in business for the long haul.
Similar thinking will allow you to find better outlets for the fry, if you choose to do so.
You would ask yourself questions like this: Who else needs or can use this catfish product, besides those I’m already dealing with? The answer will lead you to securing potentially more rewarding outlets for your business.
You see, if you don’t GO OUT and actively recruit potential customers who will buy your caught catfish in bulk, to the extent that you can always sell everything you produce, at a profitable price, your business will suffer. I have seen farms with awesome looking LIVE catfish products, but have no idea how to get enough buyers for them. And the owners just sat there, complaining without conviction!
Very often these owners attend training and learn how to successfully raise fish. But their trainers (assuming they knew!) would have “forgotten” to advise them on how to sell their products. Therefore, enthusiastic startups would launch assuming that buyers would arrive in large enough numbers to empty the ponds, at harvest time. When this doesn’t happen, they are forced to continue spending money feeding mature fish, which inevitably increases their cost of production.
My argument is that these farmers should have started looking for, and notifying, potential buyers a few months BEFORE the fish arrived on harvest date. That way, they might even have gotten some potential buyers to reserve the fish in advance.
A business that does NOT generate sales will DIE. Producing (or retailing) good products and services is good, BUT of much GREATER importance is the effort you put into finding the RIGHT type of buyers for them, who will pay you profitably. In essence, I am asking you to NOT stop at taking pride in the fact that you know how to make a good product or provide a great service. Spend MORE QUALITY TIME THINKING about how to find people who WILL PAY YOU GOOD to get YOUR good product or great service. If you don’t do at least that much, you risk FAILING financially in that business of yours!
Please note that the approach I outlined above is one that I have used successfully for years to drive sales of my own products and services. It is based on my experience based understanding that ONE high paying client is better than ten (10) greedy and/or exploitative clients. It can be applied to ANY business, with an equally effective impact. Call me at 234-803-302-1263 if you would like more information on how you can use this approach or strategy to find BETTER paying customers for your business.
