Uyi: Saving Is My Investment

Meet Uyi, a 25-year-old businessman living and working in Benin City. He ventures into anything that gives good returns as long as there aren’t a lot of risks involved. Why is Uyi averse to high-risk ventures, read his story:

Hello Uyi, so what do you do?

Okay. I know if I say I’m a businessman, it might seem rather vague. So I’ll try to be very explicit as to what I do. To begin with, I am sort of an opportunist who ventures into different things as long as I see that going into it can bring a good return. Primarily, I’m into the supply of diesel and haulage of petroleum products. But I also do estate management, you know, like an estate agent. I’m also into general supervision of projects as a project manager.

That seems like a lot of things to do, how do you juggle all these jobs?

It’s not really a very difficult task for me to juggle between these actually. These three roles sometimes happen alongside each other. Besides, I have help. I have people I can call for help. I can be going for supply, you know in my haulage job, and someone may call me to say they need an apartment. All I do is call someone connected to handle it while I continue with my supply.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I also work in an oil and gas company. I actually work as their project manager. So when there’s a particular project that needs to be handled, I manage it for them. I could be on such tasks, and I received a request to do a supply. Sometimes, it is a matter of scheduling. I could give the person who is calling for supply a later date so that I’ll be able to finish whatever I have on ground. So it’s not really a difficult task for me.

Given all you do, can you give me an idea of what you earn in a month?

It depends on the work I’m able to achieve in any given month. There are some months that are really soft, and there are months that are not, but on average, I see 500k to a million to even 2 million. And this might happen in just one project

So you could earn a million on the first day of the month?

Yeah, so the rest of the month, I’m just cruising, you know, making plans for the next month.

Given the current state of things, would you say it is insufficient, sufficient, or more than sufficient for your lifestyle?

Okay, if I say what I earn as a single guy is insufficient, that would mean I am careless. So, of course, it’s sufficient for my lifestyle, but in terms of a business, it often isn’t. A lot of what I make has to go back into the business, but what I make is not enough to finance such haulage and supplies.

Do you not have a method to determine what goes back into the business as capital and what stays with you as personnel earnings?

That’s actually a challenge I’m having. I do not have a particular amount or percentage that I say must go back as capital yet so it does affect me. What I usually do is, once a supply request is made, I gather what I have and make up the rest from other sources.

What’s one financial principle you live by?

I believe in savings. Also, I like investments but I haven’t had the best experience with investing. I try not to invest in other people’s businesses while mine suffers. In a way, my savings are my investments. In the kind of business, I do, saving matters, no matter how small.

What’s your ideal figure to earn a month?

I’m open to any figure, I’m not really particular

It could be a range, Uyi

Oh, alright. 1m to 1.5m is good.

What’s one financial decision you made that you think worked out for you?

There was this contract I had. Given the circumstances, I was not sure it would come out well. I decided to risk all I had to get it done and it came out well. I literally emptied all my accounts to do that and it paid off big time. I’d say taking that risk was a good financial decision.

On the flip side, what’s one financial mistake you’ve made, and did you learn from it?

Ponzi scheme was one mistake I’ve made. I was a victim of several Ponzi schemes. In 2020, I remember someone coming to me to say they are into forex, I bought what they were saying and gave them my money but nothing ever came out of it. Also, I made a lot of mistakes by lending huge sums of money to people who I was not sure could pay back. If these monies ever came back to me, they came in bits and pieces, you know, in such a way that I couldn’t use them for anything worthwhile. In most cases though, those people never paid back. Also, buying things on impulse, you know, because most times, I realize after spending money on them that I didn’t even need them.

What are your financial goals for 2023

My financial goal for the year, to be specific, is raising capital that is up to 20 million, so that when contracts come in, even though I’m not able to finance all of it, I can finance a huge part of it, God helping.

Thank you Uyi

You can read Steven’s hustle story here.