On November 15th, 2021, we launched in Nigeria. It was a series of permutations, deep thinking, etc that led us to this point but we did it anyway. You can read the story here.
One year later, and we are going even stronger than ever.
I sat down with the Group VP of Marketing and Country Manager of the Nigerian team, Olumide Akinsola for a chat on the journey so far.
This is the story of how a Business that had never been done in the country is thriving amidst the craze.
One whole year! How has that been for you as Country Manager?
I didn’t actually start out to be the Country Manager; that was added that my initial role of Group VP for Growth & Marketing and it’s been full of loads of experiences. If I start to talk…
What are the lessons that you have learned from running a business that is revolutionising transportation in the country?
They are a lot. And they are unending because we are still learning. If we had more time, we could talk about how the sit-at-home in the East has been a major headache or how a bus company’s partner-driver revolted against the owner for deepening their partnership with us or how tier-1 bus companies constantly remind us of their size or even how owners of bus companies renege on their initial agreement with us but we don’t have that time so, in summary, we’ve have had hits and we have misses and with each day comes a new challenge but we press forward.
Looks like there’s a lot to unpack there. Did you face full on opposition from Bus Operators?
I wouldn’t call it an opposition but they were afraid that eventually, we will try and become a bus company ourselves and it took a lot of reassurance to let them realise that we have no interest in owning physical assets, much less handling all the hassles that come with running bus companies; our job has always been to make it easier for operations in the transportation space in Africa to function and grow — from handling drivers, repairs and maintenance, park/terminal management and a whole lot more; we help make them better and we are focused on this goal.
How have these lessons/learnings influenced or changed the business approach in recent times?
Like I said earlier, the lessons are a lot, in different ramifications, and in a space as interesting as ours, we’ve learnt to question and challenge everything we think we know, or that appears a kind of way. Our tolerance for potential disappointment is higher and our radar for sensing potential bottlenecks is highly tuned and because of that, we anticipate issues, and react to them in good time. It’s how we are able to make simple fundamental changes in the business model such as deciding to be more supply-driven and focus more on the bus operators, then work our way back to the travellers.
You’ve had to pivot your business model to operators in recent times. Has this approach yielded more results than the previous business model?
It’s not so much a pivot as it is a natural evolution from listening to what the market was telling us, and reprioritising our approach based on the feedback. We had to focus on our customers’ pain points on both sides, and determine which point would solve the most problems, then carefully innovate our way to a solution.
Innovating your way to a solution. Those are words on marble. What are the industry challenges you faced and what structures do you have in place to mitigate them?
A key challenge we have had is technological penetration; for a space like ours, there is a lot of work to do in deepening people’s access to channels through which their lives could be made easier. Innovation in that space has improved tremendously over the past decade or so, but there is still so much to be done. We have had to innovate for different cadres or segments of the society and not treat the space as a monolith. We are in an industry where the bulk of the audience on both sides are very analogue and cash-driven, so we have had to innovate to be able to thrive there. We have also spent resources on stuff like USSD and WhatsApp bookings channels, agents portal and network, and are also leveraging key partnerships for scale, basically riding on the back of all the good work that other companies have done to bring a lot more people online.
We have had to incorporate stringent risk management and compliance methods into our relationships with the way we partner with road transportation companies, and also do a lot of education and community building to truly allow them to understand the extent of their business and growth opportunities present in the space. We have also set up to position and acquire customers more easily, plus focus on improving their experiences by creatively and dynamically educating and hand-holding those who need to show how their lives can be made easier though less stressful channels and plans for bus travel; we currently work with several Tier 1 and Tier 2 and 3 operators to do this.
We have also dealt with internal issues affecting different staff in their roles, many of them an offshoot of remote work, and create a very healthy culture that enables everyone to still feel connected to the larger goal. This list is by no means exhaustive but it has been one heck of a ride and I could not be prouder of everyone I have worked with so far in the delivery of QuickBus’ mandate.
Based on the trajectory of the past year, can you say that the Business is on track?
We’re more than being on track, we are surpassing even our own expectations and we intend for things to stay that way. We started out this year projecting $600k in sales by December, by September, we had done over $700k. We have also identified more profitable channels for the business than we’d thought, and have been able to leverage these to improve commissions. We have constantly focused on processes, procedures and other drivers to build a moat that allows us to be market leaders in this space, whilst also having fun with it. We are currently seeing a 10–1 return on marketing spend, are core operationally profitable in Nigeria, and growing GMV day by day. We have also been approached for acquisition over the past year by two of the biggest global operators in our space who are considering expanding to Nigeria. There’s still tons of value to unlock, but I don’t think we have done badly at all. Credit to everyone who has busted their asses to get us here.
What are your numbers looking like now?
Amazing! There literally is no other word for it. We’ve 10xed our growth in 10 months while reducing our burn rate by about 20% within the same time frame. And we are not a fintech (yet); it has been amazing watching us grow from literal zero in Nigeria to almost $800k in total GMV.
Does that mean we should be expecting an announcement of a raise?
Absolutely. We’re in the middle of the process right now to raise a small round as a precursor for a bigger one in a year or so, and we’ve had really positive interactions with some very interesting investors. We have had conversations with some of the biggest guys in the space globally who have been amazed at how much innovation has gone into our offerings.
What do you want the average Nigerian/African to immediately think about once they hear the name, QuickBus?
For the average customer, convenience. For the average bus operator, ease and growth. We want them to see us as their enabling partners for growth, as we have a mandate to optimise and help grow the transportation industry, not just in Nigeria but other parts of Africa and other emerging markets.
What is your advice for anyone looking to start a business like this in the future?
Start by operating with Murphy’s law at the back of your mind and understand that it will not be easy.. Be ready to hit the streets and get your hands dirty. Be malleable and creative with solutions. Think of it as running a full length marathon in crutches with no water breaks or rest stops. If you still want to start, then by all means do.
Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.
No problem.
