Sunday 01 July 2018
C002D5556
BDSUNDAY 41
BusinessDay MarketPlace with CEO Megasea Paint and executive director of Megasea Industries NIG Limited, Charles and Biola Oladapo It might have started out as a family business but these brothers have taken Megasea Group to a whole new level. Find out more about what they’ve been up to and where the business is headed.
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hat’s the Megasea Paint Story? Megasea Group of Company is a family run company incorporated in November 1992. Initially the company was involved in the manufacturing and marketing of top class wines and spirits, the brands being Megasea Gin, Megasea Rum, Arewa and Libra wine, with a trade name Megasea Distrillers. In the year 2003 the company diversified into the production of Table water under the trade name of Megasea Water. In 2004 the company further diversified into the manufacturing and marketing paints under the trade name Megasea International Paints. Our paint products are one of the highest quality in market. Over the years, we have introduced and upgraded the wide range of products to meet our customers demand/need. Our other subsidiaries are Megasea petroleum, Megasea Real estate and our CSR arm codename Megasea Foundation. Megasea dominates a very chuncky share in the paint industry, how do you keep that up? The paint industry harbour alot of players and the competition is quite stiff. Our goal as an organisation is primarily to deliver quality products and services, this is the sole reason why Megasea Paint is waxing stronger with each passing day. We have a support system that enables our customers get the best out of products after purchase. Megasea Paint knows who our ideal customers are, therefore this has equipped our organisation with the right tactics on how to hold onto our market share and steadily expand. Within our market share, our organisation has implemented notable paint projects around Nigeria. How do you generate revenue now? Presently, Revenue is generated through outright sales of our product through our various distribution and marketing channels - be it wholesale or retailing. We are actively learning involved in both public and private partnerships that has resulted to bulk sales of our products. Furthermore, our ability to create bespoke colour mixes for our clients has proven to be highly profitable, our customers are always willing to pay as long as the result displays prestige and premium quality. So far , we have executed various large scale project across the country and it is one avenue to generate solid revenue for the sustainable growth of a paint company. What’s been your biggest challenge as a business? For me the challenge in a broad scale is that unlike most countries in the world, some Nigerians are yet to derive pleasure from the beautification of the
personal space and this includes the use of painting coupled with the price to pay for quality paint. In order to tackle this challenge we have a variety of brands that cater for various budgets and diverse clientele. For a very long time, we have talked about Africa producing a very wide range of raw materials but processing has always been the problem in Nigeria, how do you cope? Flexibility is one of the core characteristics of a business owner in Nigeria, without that attribute one will run out of business. The management of Megasea Paint has a culture of sustainability plan that we have developed and has evolved over time. Part of our approach includes partnering with processing companies that share same vision as ours, that includes having a proper schedule and timely delivery.
we can chew. How do you deal with competition? So far so good, Megasea Paint have a different perspective and approach on how we tackle competition. Most companies are using same overall approach in the market space and this means everyone has to squeeze through one narrow door, when all that is required is strategic planning, innovation and marketing flexibility. At Megasea Paint, we are constantly exploring, systematically
pany with operations in all major states and geo political regions to cater for the demands of our client. It is the joy of every business owner to see their organisation break through barriers and also improve the socio-economic status of the community they are present. We are working towards these goals through various means including exploring digital opportunities on social media. At Megasea Paint, we work to be actively involved in community capacity building and one of such way we have highlighted to
Where do you see Megasea Foundation in the next 5 years?
Do your cost ever run higher than your profit? Like any other business irrespective of the Industry, sometimes your cost run higher than your profit. Alot of factors lead to this Anomaly, some you have control over and other you don’t. We always ensure there is a proper balance between how much we have spent during cost of production and how much the product is been sold eventually. We keep track of the prices of raw materials in the market, study how much our competitors are selling; so therefore we don’t have to run at a loss. This has been our approach over the years. If we foresee a sudden drop in the prices of raw materials, we take precautions so we don’t end biting more than
will grow incrementally and so will our market segment.we will continue to be a major employer of labour, as we expand our operation with our Youth Empowerment Program that trains young adults on how to be come Entrepreneurs through painting as a skill. If we can help produce motivated youths who can display entrepreneurial skills. And speaking to the co-founder of Megasea Foundation and EDMegasea industries NIG Ltd, Biola Oladapo, he had this to say… The purpose for the creation of Megasea Foundation is simply to provide clean drinkabke water to urban and rural communities across Nigeria. The most recent report by UNICEF states that “No fewer than 69 million Nigerians do not have access to safe drinking water especially in rural areas”. We are targeting children mostly as it affects their education and their overall health. Megasea Foundation introduced into the market a handy portable filter, this water filter is cost effective and sustainable. It is important to note that this filter exceeds EPA requirement by the removal of 99.9999% of impurities, bacteria and protozoa. There you have it, the right tool to get the job done and lastly, We are to using our platform as a rallying point to raise awareness on the problems we are facing, bringing together all local and foreign organisations who are working on U.N Sustainable Development Goal number 6
testing and executing new strategies to stay ahead of the game. The use of New Media, creating custom bespoke paint colours and the right Partnerships with different brand outside the paint industry has paved the way for our products to become widely acceptable in the market. When will you say your business is “successful”? My definition of success for Megasea paint is continuing to build a truly Nigerian that com-
deliver the growth we wish to see in our communities is creating opportunities for employment. We are strategic about this as we know can contribute our quota regardless, towards Nation Building. Where do you see your business in 5 years? Megasea paint in 5 years will be an innovative Nigerian company that will continue to grow and capture markets. With the right strategy in place our business
We are ambitious in our approach, we hope to deliver clean water to over 100,000 school pupils every year and expands the number of beneficiaries progressively. In 5 years times we must be able to provide potable water to roughly 1,000,000 children because they are the most vulnerable. This is a monumental task we have taken upon ourselves and with teamwork, hardwork we will definitely achieve our goals our objective. We hoping that in the next 5 years, the awareness level among the populace as regard the effects of contaminated water on Education and Health will increase by 50 percent. Furthermore, we envision Megasea Foundation playing a pivotal role in forging partnership that will bring a lasting solution to this clean water crisis, so individuals, stakeholders and the government can have a unified approach to this problem. Interview By Uzochikwa Akumah