Menders of broken automobile headlamps and rear lights are making it big.
Besides being a money spinner, the business fetches regular income that is sufficient to restore the hopes of a man neck deep in poverty.
And for those specialised in the repair of scraps and broken lights, there is more to the business than meets the eye of a casual observer.
Two dealers in Ladipo auto spare parts market in Mushin, Lagos, Augustin Oyiboka and Kelechi Onyekuru, told TheNiche that they cannot imagine a better business.
Both found themselves in the trade by circumstance. They admit that more profit is made from broken lights bought as scraps and sold after patch up.
“There is wealth in scrap auto lamps and rear lights. In the business, it can only get better, better, and better,” Oyiboka disclosed.
Scrap auto lights as trump card
Oyiboka had tried his hands in a couple of businesses without success until he became a mender of broken auto lights and dealer in used ones.
Before he relocated to Lagos, he was in Onitsha trading in technical machine tools, and later Lister generator tools.
On arrival in Lagos, he sold plumbing materials at Coker building materials market, Orile Iganmu.
“When I noticed that the business at Coker could not pay me since I didn’t have enough take off capital, I had to relocate from Coker to Ladipo. At Ladipo, I started with a sales run boy. I made little money and started to learn this business,” Oyiboka recounted.
He buys broken lights and repairs them for sale. He also repairs auto lights broken in car brushes for a fee.
“If we work on an old broken light, it turns into a new one. It is difficult for anybody to recognise that it was mended.”
After secondary education in 1992, Onyekuru aspired for civil service work in Imo State to save up money for further education. But the aspiration for a white collar job ended when he ventured into patching and selling auto lights.
He started the business in 2002 and has prospered so much that he married and sponsored his spouse in the university where she graduated in French Language.
They have five children and the wife teaches French in a school in Lagos.
Onyekuru said he would gladly encourage loved ones to go into the business, saying it does not incur loss.
Turning point
Oyiboka started the business in 2006, and nine years on, he is doing well.
He said it was form the proceeds he got married, had children, and is educating them in private school. He has also built a house back home in the village.
He recalled that he had no specific business in mind when he was coming to Lagos, and only thought of any business that could help him be a better person.
Start up
Onyekuru started the business in 2002, four years earlier than Oyiboka who went into it in 2006.
Onyekuru started with about N50,000 because he had to rent a makeshift shop, Oyiboka had only N10,000 as start up capital.
But both said the business is more capital intensive today due to the drop in the value of the naira and high cost of motor parts, particularly of new models.
However, it also depends on the scale a beginner wants to start, Onyekuru explained.
Some of the auto lights they bought for N500 a few years ago now cost between N5, 000 and N100,000 or more.
A beginner needs to pay an agreed fee for apprenticeship, learn for about a year, and thereafter set up his own.
“He has to learn the ropes because he needs to know the different models, fixing broken lamps, how to install them and other issues relating to the business, or else he may end up wasting his resources without achieving anything, ” Oyiboka counselled.
Comparing all the businesses
Oyiboka said dealing in auto lights is better than all the businesses he had tried in the past because “no matter how bad the market may be, this business must fetch N1,000 to N3,000 daily.”
On a good day, he could make between N10,000 and N30,000.
There are four of his colleagues in this line of business, all of whom confirmed Oyiboka’s claim but added that one could make much more.
All the four “are married from the proceeds of the business and have their children in school,” he added.
The flagship
No specific auto light could be regarded as the flagship. It depends on what the customer wants, Oyiboka explained.
But he admitted that customers often do not want to buy Toyota auto light.
Since more people use Toyota products, the tendency is that one out of every five vehicles with damaged light is Toyota. Therefore Toyota auto lights, particularly the new models, are in higher demand.
“Nevertheless, you sell anyone the customer comes looking for. If you don’t have it, you secure it from your neighbour who has it.”
Why they sell more
“We sell more because our items are cheaper. What we sell for about N10,000 costs about N15,000 elsewhere.”
Advice for job seekers
Oyiboka faulted the attitude of those who indulge in crime under the guise of no employment. He said there are rewarding engagements anyone can go into outside paid employment.
He illustrated by saying he could as well have started by pushing truck, loading and offloading wares, or hawk fast moving products, save some money and go into more dignified business.
Jobs are available but most unemployed people are looking for white collar job, he explained.