Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC (FMN), the owner of iconic Golden Penny has maintained its position overtime. The company has remained at the forefront of Nigerian food industries and value chain for over 5 decades. All their products are Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG’S).  These products are purchase and enjoy by millions of Nigerians in many families on a daily basis. The company is an integrated, diversified agro and food production company. They have been able to develop a strong supply chain network for high quality and affordable products.

Their products are so much enjoyed by over 90% of the over 216 million populaces as it is a household name. There is no household in the country that does not have a couple of their products in their kitchens. In fact, their products no longer need publicity because they’re enjoying large market base.

With this in mind, you’ll agree with me that becoming a distributor of golden penny is lucrative venture. So, how do you become a distributor of Golden Penny? Read on! Below, you’ll get detailed step on how to become a Golden Penny distributor in Nigeria.

Golden Penny products lines

Golden Penny products are in three product lines:

• Food Line
• Agro – Allied
• Infrastructure

• The Food Line

Under this product line are many popular food products. These food items include; Golden Penny Semovita, Golden Penny Macaroni, Golden Penny Pasta, Golden Penny Spaghetti etc.

• Agro – Allied Line

This includes: Golden Penny Sugar, Golden Penny Fertilizer, Golden Penny Rice, and Golden Penny Palm Products. These product lines are produced to satisfy demand. And it is also to help in the development of agriculture in Nigeria.

• Infrastructure Line

This product line support and help businesses operating within the country to grow and develop. Here, they have the cement, transport and logistics products. This line have also helped to create thousands of jobs for both nationals and expatriates overtime.

Golden Penny allow for 2 level of distributorship:

• Large Scale as a Major Distributor
• Medium Scale as a Sub-Distributor

Large Scale: Here, the startup cost is high. You deal directly with the company. You will need N5,000,000 -N10,000,000 depending on the product lines you want to distribute and your location. They don’t give distributorship rights to all their products at once. They also don’t give direct distributorship for the noodles. First, you’ll start with the pasta distribution. If the company is impress with your sale record, they’ll award you with the noodle’s distribution right. You will also receive Rebates from the company.

Medium Scale: The startup cost is smaller than that of the major distributors. With #500,000 – #1million, you can start. You don’t deal with the company directly but will be collecting your supplies from the major distributors. You are also not entitled to company Rebates.

It is a good financial move with a high prospect and immediate returns on investment. It is simply a Gold mine. Retailers and consumers wait for the products, and they sell out fast in the market with a huge market potential. One of the financial benefits is that, the company also pays out Rebates to their Major Distributors at certain times within the year.

Read also: How to Start Indomie Distribution Business in Nigeria

Steps to Become a Golden Penny Distributor

Draft a Business Plan

The number step to become a Golden Penny distributor is to draft a business plan. This encompasses to a great extent some major part of your business operations. What the business entails in its totality? Measures and strategies to use that will give you competitive advantage. And also strategies that position you for success and profit maximization. In fact, the business plan should cover the A-Z of the business, all the pros and the cons.

Decide on the Level of Distributorship

Next thing is to decide on the level of Golden Penny distributorship you want to join.  You can decide to become either a Major Distributor or a Sub- Distributor of the company’s products. But this will depend on your financial capacity. If you have the capital, being a major distributor is more profitable than sub-distributor.

Source for Capital

There is no business that you can start without some capital. Have your Startup Capital ready, that’s very important. This will cover the overhead and operations costs.

You can get capital for the distributorship from:

• Personal savings accumulated overtime
• Financial help from family and relatives
• Monetary support from colleagues, friends and well wishers
• Loans obtained from Banks and other Lending Houses

Register Your Business

Register and get the necessary permit from the nearest Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) office. The license will cost the sum of #20,000.  This gives your Business the legal stand to operate as well as a corporate image. But first, you have to conduct a name search to be sure no other business register the name. And, you need to pay an extra #5,000 for the name search. This protects you from copyright infringement.

Rent a Spacious Warehouse in a Good Location

One of the major requirements for becoming Golden Penny distributor is a warehouse. So, you’ll need to rent a warehouse in a good location. The location should be:

• a busy area with good population
• accessible with good road for convenience for both the delivery truck and for customers
• a safe place and well secured to prevent robbers from carting away your products
• spacious enough to contain your goods
• a flood- prone area or at least be raised above the ground level to protect the goods
• not be leaky so that the products will not be saddened
• protected from Rodents like Rats and pests like cockroaches etc

Seek Advice and Guidance from seasoned distributors

Distributorship business is a large and viable market. Most of the experienced distributors are always ready and willing to help bring new distributors on par. Don’t be arrogant and feel that you know it all. Also don’t be scared to ask. The worst answer you can get is a “No”. It will take your business a long way in a positive direction.

Apply for Distributorship right

 If decide to be a major distributor, the minimum the company expects you to purchase per month is a full truck of goods.  A full truck of goods made up of 600 bags (30 tonnes) of Golden Penny. This will qualify you for the different categories of rebates paid by the company for every product purchase. The Rebate usually paid into distributor’s account at the end of every month. This, you get quarterly or annually depending on the type and quantity of products you bought and your location.  And you can used the rebate top-up and buy more products if you want. They don’t pay cash or cheque.

To acquire Golden Penny’s Distributor right, the due processes you must follow is:

• Write an application letter to become a Golden Penny distributor on a legible letter headed paper. It must be carefully worded and addressed to “The National Sales Manager” stating your intention to be one of the company’s major distributors.
• You will attach a scanned copy of your Bank’s letter of recommendation/Reference Letter
• A copy of your company’s letter of registration from the Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC)
• Your passport photograph as the company’s Managing Director
• A passport photograph of your company’s authorized representative.

Your application will then be reviewed by the company. If they eventually approve and accept you as a major distributor;

• You will be assigned a sales representative
• If you are a baker, you will be assigned a bakery clerk
• You will also fill a form for them stating your chosen Haulage mode for your products from these two options:

® Freight Collection: If you choose this option, you will come to an arrangement with the company where they will use their truck to supply the goods to your sale point/warehouse at a cost to you.

® Self Collection: Under this option, you will need to be collecting your goods by yourself from the factory through an authorized company representative using either your company delivery truck driver or a commercial transporter. You will write to “The National Sales Manager” officially introducing any of them as authorized agents to collect goods on your behalf.

As a Sub – Distributor

You will not be buying directly from the company.  Based on this, you will not have to go through the screening stages that Major Distributors go through. The company will simply refer you to the major distributors covering your zone. You will collect their contact details as you will be buying your products from them and the major distributor might also help you out in sales by directing some retailers to you for patronage.

Hire your Workers

This is not a business that you will do alone. You will need some staff that will help in Administration, Sales, Haulage and Office Truck delivery Bus driver etc. All these personnel will help streamline the company’s business.

Conclusion

Being a Major Distributor or a Sub- Distributor of the Golden Penny Products is quite profitable.  There is a maximum return on investments due to its high turnover.

Enquiries can be sent to the Company Corporate Head Quarters and addressed to:

The National Sales Manager,

No 1 Golden Penny Place

Wharf Road, Apapa, Lagos,Nigeria

Or   To the Company Website: www.fmnplc.com

How profitable is Golden Penny Distributorship?

Highly profitable! The profit as a Major distributor in this company is amazing. If some Sub Distributors buy N8,000 cartons from you in a given month with a profit margin of N100 per carton. Hmm, I can almost see your head whirling at the huge profit.