5 WAYS TO FIND BARGAINS ON THE INTERNET AND CREATE WEALTH –MANNASTORES.COM CEO

Ayo Benson Olarewaju

Could you please tell us about yourself?

My name is Ayo Benson Olarewaju.  I trained as a Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of ACCA, a member of ICAN, CITN etc. I also did my MBA at Oxford in UK. I am currently pursuing the integration of Nigeria to the rest of the world through e-commerce and thats why I have created 3 online platforms namely MannaStores.com a procurement and logistic company helping  Nigerians find value on the internet and help them buy and bring whatever they want to Nigeria albeit within the laws. We also have Mannamart.com a platform where people can buy and sell their goods and services free of charge. We also have a blog Mannamart.blogspot.com where we publish news, entertainment and most importantly show people where to find value and how to grow their businesses.

What is the first secret of using internet to create wealth?

Former British Prime Minister Churchill said ‘ some people will stumble on the truth once in a while but they would simply dust themselves down and move on with their daily routine’ I quoted this because some people will read this and make judgement one way or the other and may never take action and yet they complain about circumstances stopping them but one action is better than 1000 excuses!  I am sharing my experience of the power and opportunity inherent in the use of internet because of its reach and cost effectiveness.  The ideas I am going to share is about the opportunities of the internet which has benefited our company  tremendously and I would also show you the examples of how it has worked for us and how we are trying to create same opportunities for others.  The number one advantage is the reach of the internet which is limitless; in order words you can reach the whole world in a matter of seconds without any barriers at all!  In Nigeria alone, there are now more than 44million people accessing the internet, whatever you sell this is a big opportunity to exploit. www.mannastores.com

The secret of buying laptops and electronics cheap  from UK was interesting, could you please share it with the readers?

If you go to Amazon.com, PC World, Argos etc and you type ‘refurbished laptop’ you will be amazed at how low the prices are! If you don’t know you may think, it is used laptop sent for repair and then put back for sale; the secret is that it is brand new but not in original packages from the manufacturer. There is a law in UK that if you buy something and you don’t like it or want it for any reason, you can return it within 14 days, the PC World and other retailers are not allowed to describe it as new anymore so they call it refurbished laptop.  I have bought over 20 refurbished laptops for my company and personal use and it is technically new but not in original package, and I have paid about half the price of new most times! Our company MannaStores.com can help people take advantage of this either to resell or use for themselves.

You talked about 44million Nigerians on the internet, how would someone take advantage of this access to customers through internet to make money?

The relatively low cost of reaching your potential customers via the internet has changed the face of business globally and Nigeria should latch on to the opportunity.  My company Mannastores.com  is a procurement/logistics company which helps Nigerians buy from the UK directly from all UK websites. There are 2 key services here, to procure the goods at the price advertised by the retailer in UK and then logistics involve bringing the goods to Nigeria; if you use the big courier companies you pay about £52 per kg but we charge only £3.50 per kg; the difference shows you the value we bring to our growing customers.  What we learned is that reaching your customers via the internet is relatively very cheap, for example our advert on Facebook got 17million impressions and countless visitors in just 3 months and you can do the same for your business and it is very easy to do. The social media phenomenon is transforming businesses and if you are not at the cutting edge of the usage, you will be left behind!

How can small businesses take advantage of the internet to improve their businesses?

Small businesses  can use the internet to achieve low cost whatever the business you do; for instance, our team in Nigeria and the team in UK communicate and share information instantaneously at very little cost because of the internet; the days of wasting money on travel tickets and hotels to buy goods abroad is over; you can now sit in the comfort of your home and order your goods and get it delivered to your doorstep through our company mannastores.com. This is the reason we have a Research Function with the database of top wholesalers in UK selling top quality products at ridiculously low prices; we share this secret with our customers to take advantage of the offers and then we deliver the goods to them in Nigeria and they sell at huge profits!  

How can people use internet to deal with the issue of fake products from Asia especially?

The world is now a global village but Nigeria is being excluded because the big players are avoiding Nigeria like a plague; this is the reason why our company decided to step in and help Nigerians. We help our customers buy original products directly from UK without any middle man, we also show them where to buy even cheaper especially during ‘sales’ where goods are sold at 70% the retail prices because they want to get rid of their stock to replenish it for the new season. We alert our customers on our website mannastores.com and on our blog www.mannamart.blogspot.com as to when those offers are available.

 So you get good quality products at reasonable prices and this includes designers products directly from the top retailers.  Henry Ford said ‘the surest way not to make money is to be greedy for it but when you provide excellent services for your customers, money will naturally flow to you’; we model our business to make it affordable therefore we charge just lowly 10% for the excellent services we deliver to our esteemed customers and we have received rave reviews from them some of which are published on our website.

How does you company provide opportunity for small and medium size businesses?

After reading this you may wonder why didn’t I think of that! You can buy quality products and even designer goods  online from UK through mannastores.com and still sell online in Nigeria; we have a website mannamart.com where thousands of people come daily to find bargains and we give our customers featured advert worth =N=5000  free of charge so they can sell their goods without the need to have a shop.  This is a perfect way to gradually build a small business into medium and ultimately big business by reinvesting your sales and profit over time. Our company also provide specialist advice free depending on the products you specialise in such that you have the latest information of trend guiding what to buy for a quick turnaround.

How do you help businesses grow through your services?

Our major contribution to businesses in Nigeria is our knowledge of where to find value at competitive prices online for traders, there is this wrong perception that UK goods are not cheap but we know better as we have database of wholesalers selling quality products at low prices and we show this to our potential customers to stop them wasting money going to Dubai to buy sub-standard products which would end up being much more expensive when  cost of air tickets, hotels, travels etc are added. Success in business is about access to the valuable information and we pride ourselves on our ability to find where values can be obtained and then support our customers in taking advantage of it. Other common areas of profitable endeavours online are  affliliate programs, work from home schemes, article writing etc; our blog mannamart.blogspot.com features these opportunities periodically to our teeming readers which are now in excess of 300,000 in less than 6months. We have examined areas where we can make a difference through our business model to help young Nigerians create wealth; we are not just saying it we have created platforms to help Nigerians take advantage of these opportunities.

Why do you give your customers free perfumes regardless of the value of their order?

Some of our customers have asked me that question with raised eyebrow too and my answer is ‘how much value do you place on getting a customer that stays with you for life?’ Priceless!  The reason we give free designer perfume is to reward loyalty of our existing customers  and attract new customers to try our service for the first time after which they would never be able to leave us  because our goal is to exceed the expectation of our customers. Whatever business you do, find something of value to give your customers free, it tells your customers that they are appreciated. However, delivering excellent service if the first priority and the gift is the wow factor!

 If you are struggling or stuck in a dead end job, you better take the first step and visit our website and register and we would hold your hand until you succeed. On the other hand if you are doing well, I would give you a quote from JF Kennedy ‘ the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shinning’ .  I have a rule about opportunity, if I think an idea is worthwhile I move and take the first step towards it no matter how little and this is how to create the momentum to becoming a winner in whatever you do in life.

What is your hope for Nigerian youths?

I hope our youths would be re-oriented to find solutions to their problems within themselves and stop thinking about getting something for nothing, it is not the circumstances of life that shape our destiny but rather the decisions we make now.  The founder of Matshisuta was interviewed when he was about 85 years old and he was asked the timeframe of  the long term plan of the company and his answer was 250 years and was also asked what they need to achieve it and he said PATIENCE! Youths of Nigeria must be patient about goals they must know that pursuing  get rich quick schemes always end in sorrow, tears and blood; to borrow Fela’s song! My advice to our youth is that when you live your life with integrity whatever you do will certainly prosper long term, don’t look for short cut, it always end up in a long winding road! If you need further information on how to take advantage of the above, please contact www.MannaStores.com on admin@mannastores.com