Thoughts:
Every level asks a new question. Old answers send you back to your old class.
Running out of stock is the only time success punishes you.
You didn’t get promoted and keep doing the old work.
Nobody repeats a class because they are dumb.
They repeat because they got promoted… and kept reading & studying for or like the old class.
Ecommerce does the same thing.
I see it on my calls every week. (And yes, I’ve made my own version of this mistake.)
You had the courage to start ecommerce…
You dropship with no money. The ads work, and one day you’ve done your first ₦1M.
Then you do what many of us do.
New phone. New wristwatch. Mummy, see your son/daughter have made it!
Meanwhile, the business is standing in the corner like a child whose school fees you spent on owambe.
The habits that got you to ₦1M will keep you at ₦1M. Every level asks a new question.
At ₦0: how do I sell without money?
At ₦1M: how do I own my product?
At ₦10M: how do I never run out?
At ₦100M: how do I stop using my own money to buy stock?
Answer the new question with the old answer, and the market sends you back to your old class. No warning.
The money you make at one level is the school fees for the next one.
Your friends will clap for the phone. Your business won’t.
And ₦1M in sales is not ₦1M in your pocket.
After ads, product cost, delivery and failed orders, you may be holding ₦250k.
That small money has one job. Move you up.
Dropshipping is a great start. No stock. No risk.
But once sales get steady, the supplier controls you. Price goes up. Quality changes. Then the call comes: “It’s finished. Next week.”
And he sells to your competitor at the same price. (Sometimes better.)
So at this level, your first real money should buy stock.
Dropshipping means your business lives in another man’s shop.
Think of fuel scarcity. The man with a full 50L jerrycan of fuel at home keeps moving while everybody else sleeps in the queue.
Simple example.
Your supplier charges ₦8,000 per unit. You were cool with it, until you went out to take more risk.
You find the source and buy 300 units at ₦4,500.
Sell 300 a month and that’s ₦3,500 × 300 = ₦1,050,000 extra profit EVERY month. Same ads. Same closers.
How to do it:
- Start with your best seller only.
- Buy about one month of sales. Not three or six.
- Order a sample first. Check it with your own hands.
- Agree price and quality in writing.
One warning.
Stock is money sitting on a shelf.
Only buy it for a product that has sold well for weeks. Not the one you “have a feeling” about.
Owning your stock feels like winning.
Then a sweeter problem shows up… and it eats more money than the first one.
At the ₦10M level, your ads finally work. That’s the danger.
Sales grow faster than stock. You reorder when the last carton is gone, and the goods take weeks to land.
So you pause ads, or your closers spend the week saying, “Sorry, we’re out of stock.”
Say you sell 40 orders a day at ₦6,000 profit each.
You’re out of stock for 14 days. That’s 560 orders and ₦3,360,000 that walked to the next shed.
The fix is a reorder point. You order BEFORE you need it.
Daily sales × days to restock + a buffer.
40 sales a day × 30 days = 1,200 units.
Add 25% buffer and you get 1,500. The day stock hits 1,500, you order. No feelings.
How to do it:
- Recount daily sales every week. It changes as you scale.
- Know your real restock time, payment to goods in store.
- Put the reorder number where your inventory person sees it daily.
But don’t swing to hoarding. Extra stock gets damaged and eats storage money. 1,500 units at ₦4,500 is ₦6,750,000 sitting in cartons.
Bigger risk = Bigger reward.
At the next level, the smartest ecommerce owners refuse to tie up money like that… and they still hold more stock than you.
Many of us grew up watching it in local markets. The big trader hands goods to a retailer he trusts. “Take it. Pay me next week.”
From ₦10M to ₦100M, cash is the problem.
Every money in stock is money that can’t run ads or hire a media buyer.
COD makes it worse, because your money sits with the logistics company for days.
Products now. Payment in 30 or 60 days.
Buy ₦20M of stock a month on 30-day terms, sell most of it, and collect the cash before the bill is due.
Your own ₦20M is now free for growth.
Meanwhile, some traders who never finished school move containers on this exact trust. Some of us with degrees still pay cash for every carton.
How to do it:
- Give one main supplier most of your volume.
- Pay on time (or early) for 1 to 3+ months. That’s your credit score.
- Ask small first. 7 days on part of one order.
- Grow the terms as volume grows. Put everything in writing.
Credit isn’t always free.
Some suppliers charge more for it, so compare the cash price and the credit price.
Never use credit for stock that doesn’t move. Credit plus slow stock is debt with a smile.
Miss one payment date, and years of trust can go in one week.
You can do this. Traders in our markets have done it for generations, with less than you have now.
We teach how to get supplier credits to launch or scale your ecommerce business inside Launchpad even if you’re not in the local market.
If you need us to walk you through it, you can book a call.
On a call, we look at your numbers and tell you which question your business needs to answer now. Then we help you answer it faster.
Book your call here: https://ecomwing.com/call
If you need more help, you can also join our programs below.
