Banking industry boom could not quench the entrepreneurial passion in Mikail Jimoh, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Products, manufacturers of herbal cosmetics household products.
He graduated in banking and finance from the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in 1991. After his National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) service, he had a stint with Nichebel Merchant Bank where he earned over N25,000 per month.
Being a banker with all the perks that go with the job, Jimoh could be said to be comfortably engaged.
That notwithstanding, he resigned in 2004 and to manufacture a range of herbal products that earned him Products of the Year 2014 Award by the Association of Micro Entrepreneurs of Nigeria (AMEN).
He desired to create jobs in a country where the majority struggle for a few employment vacancies. He did not want the passion to die without putting it to the test.
“If you have the passion for manufacturing as an entrepreneur and you remain in paid employment, you’re like a fish out of water. A fish will always survive in water. When it is out of water, it is bound to suffocate and die,” Jimoh told TheNiche.
The Jim Aloe Vera Dental Powder is his flagship product. He calls it his cash cow. He has 20 other products, all registered with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), including Jim Herbal Toothpaste, Jim Herbal Skincare Soap, and cream. He plans more herbal based products.
Herbal lineage as motivation
While in the banking job, Jimoh manufactured the products on a skeletal basis at weekends. He started manufacturing in his apartment when he noticed the high demand for the products.
As at the time, there was no mobile telephone and it was difficult to know when customers paid into his account. He went on leave from his day job and never returned; he was enthralled by the huge demand for the products.
Jimoh said he has herbal practice in his lineage which he integrated into cosmetics production. He acknowledged that he is not a chemist or scientist; he only acquired the technical know-how and infused his in-house knowledge to get the formula for the production.
Start up capital
His start up capital was his salary of N25,000. His wife and their first son, now a university undergraduate, were his only employees, offering services he could not afford to pay for.
Driven by a common passion, Jim, his wife, and son worked late into the night to get the products ready for supply to customers the next day.
“That was how we grew the company and the initial capital by multiples. Subsequently we started to engage workers gradually.”
But due to incessant harassment by the police and customers’ debt burden, everything went down the drain. He was left with only the credit he was yet to recover from customers.
However, his wife rose to the challenge and became his prop in the time of distress. “My wife fired me back to reckoning with N1,500 she gave to me. I went to Ojota and picked materials and resumed production.”
GROFIN relief
Jimoh expressed regret that Nigerian banks are only fair weather organisations willing to partner only entrepreneurs that are already successful.
But what the banks failed to do, a non governmental organisation based in South Africa, called GROFIN Nigeria, did it with ease. GROFIN granted him a credit facility of N76 million without collateral.
“They have done what Nigerian banks will never do. Today I have a factory of international standard at 8, Kalejaye, Sango Otta, Ogun State.
“The complex was co-financed by GROFIN. They brought in a lot of equipment from India for our use. In addition, they have been quite supportive.”
Police harassment
Before his products got NAFDAC registration, there was a lot of intimidations from the police. In one instance in 2010, he slept at Alagbon police, Lagos cell for three days on allegation of manufacturing bombs.
“That experience boosted my morale and not dampen it as detractors wished.”
He said the police shut down his factory and he paid N300,000 and was issued with a receipt before he was discharged.
Nightmare police stations
Jimoh narrated that several police stations in Lagos had a field day with him. He said they detained him and extorted huge sums of money from him. On occasions when he was not around, police arrested any of his staff they met.
He was detained by the police at various locations and they invaded his factory on spurious allegation that he was manufacturing ammunition and explosives devices.
“They (police) would cook up charges and whisk away my staff each time I wasn’t around. I would go and present self and asked them to release my staff.”
Police capitalised on the fact that the products had not been registered by NAFDAC. But they beat a retreat the moment he got NAFDAC registration.
Police stations where he was locked up included Ilepo, Alakoko, and Area F. At the time, he was based in the Cement area of Lagos, along the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.
Employees
Jimoh currently has 75 employees in his factory. He expressed regret that Nigeria’s business environment is structured in favour of established entities without room for start ups.
He said when he went on a business trip to Ghana he saw government officials encouraging and persuading entrepreneurs to bear with them if their product registration was delayed.
This, according to him, is a remarkable departure from Nigeria where government officials exploit entrepreneurs for having products not registered with NAFDAC.
Advice to aspiring entrepreneurs
Looking back to where he started and how much he has achieved by dint of hard work, Jimoh said his wish is to come back to the world as an entrepreneur.
He advised aspiring entrepreneurs to be passionate about the business they have in mind, because when the chips are down, it is the passion that propels.
He also advised his colleagues in AMEN to remain steadfast in doing genuine businesses, never to be deterred by police harassment, and to be focused and dedicated to achieve their aspirations.
Above all, he urged them never to lower the quality of products because that is what serves as their unique selling point to beat competition.
