As a licensed Business Dev’t Service Provider (BDSP), I ensure that my client takes quality very seriously. Quality should not be an afterthought in business, it’s the most crucial thought on which every activity is rooted. It communicates the vision of the owner(s), what kind of business do you want to build? Are you concerned about building a sustainable brand? Are you building an exportable brand?
Let me tell you about one of my recent clients, Mrs B. She called when she saw the flyer for the ‘Business of Agroprocessing’ training by Agrochains Consult last year. The sessions were facilitated by Jane Omojokun, an international standards and food safety expert, Paul Ajayi, a packaging expert, and my humble self. Mrs B called excitedly when she saw the flyer, “Titi, this training is for me!” In fact, she was the first to pay. And after the 4-day training, she called again and said, “Titi, this training was for me”. She dragged me to see her factory the next day, a Sunday. Mrs B doesn’t waste time, and I could see that very clearly.
She is setting up a Kilishi factory; her ultimate target is export. She had started building some parts of the factory, but before she moved further, she needed to pause and get the proper knowledge to help her build right in line with quality requirements, from end to end. She needed to ensure that her factory and standard operating procedures were compliant to enable her to obtain quality certifications for her products and systems.
I must say that this woman is not joking, and her dreams are big. I am happy that she chose to start on the right footing, and more importantly, she is ready to invest in building a sustainable and exportable brand. The journey to helping her achieve her dreams has begun, and as her consultant, my role is to ensure she succeeds.
Quality comes at a price; the question is, “Are you ready to pay it?”
