Our Services

Business Analysis, Book Keeping & Financing

Members access technical support to ensure the growth of their businesses.

Business Analysis Techniques

Brick-Fish Cooperative has developed capacities over time, and partners with a core team of experts and practitioners, who guide members-business operators to understand the requirements and internal processes for the growth of their business, and where lacking, planned reforms are made. This approach helps to address the lack of clear business methods and poor return on investment using different business analysis techniques.

These techniques help generate ideas, knowledge, and information required for business operators to recognize the needs of their business and solutions. We ensure solutions directly relate to requirements, example; what do users/clients require, what complements the products, what additional uses are products applicable, what are resources gaps to stock what consumers need. Some of these tools also help business owners to determine when their business needs a loan and when they should not take a loan for an investment.

Bookkeeping and Financial Management

We support member-businesses to maintain simple financial management systems including maintaining and organizing records that track the business financial transactions such as purchases/stocks, sales and expenditures. This helps businesses determine profit, maintain capital and avoid default in financial obligations or tax defaults. In recent times, we have found an increasing number of businesses who take scaling up or scaling down decisions based on their simple but comprehensive organized data collection practices. The simple income and expenditure record system is a key approach for small businesses while the more established businesses use advanced online tools.

Produce Stores & Purchasing Outlet

Brick-Fish Cooperative operates a produce store and purchasing outlet, which serves both members and non-members. The produce store also serves as a forwarding address location for the Cooperative Online Market Place (for members who sell specific items that are not placed on the store).

Through our Cooperative Online Market place, members identify those who sell products of their need, negotiate and buy. Once a Peer-to-Peer transaction is completed, the delivery service picks up the item to location, or the vendor drops off at the store. Members who have items to pick also visit the store to identify and pick up their items. The Cooperative through this strategy facilitates trade between members.

Products & Market Development

We help members develop and improve products while expanding into new markets:

• Product development consulting
• Quality improvement guidance
• Market research and insights
• Market expansion strategies
• Branding and packaging assistance

Products Development and Uptake

Product Development

We have proven success in supporting members to create valuable products and or add value to products that are used locally with available resources and capacities. We support development or modernization of products like soaps, bodywash, shampoos, snacks, juice packaging, flakes, etc. Our approach is as see in the chart below:

Up-taking and Supplies

Our members encourage new product up-taking by using the emerging products, their feedback helps in promoting acceptance. We facilitate product certification with appropriate authorities in line with local regulations, this contributes to product validation, acceptance and market penetration.

Vehicle Rentals, Haulage and Delivery Services

Vehicle Rentals

The Cooperative maintains a vehicle rental service. Most of the vehicles on the rental service are owned by members, thereby giving members opportunity to earn extra money from their vehicles, which otherwise may be redundant.

Haulage

The Cooperative maintains haulage vehicles that are available for service on call by members and non-members, helping to move goods and facilitate commerce for a fee.

Delivery Services

The delivery bike service facilitates items pick up and drop off from the sales and purchasing points.

Thrift Savings

We offer to our members flexible thrift savings. Each member maintains a monthly thrift savings account of equal instalments. Members can decide the amount to pay for their monthly thrift.

Our thrift savings consistently returns impressive interest rate to our members annually. We disburse thrift savings and interest earned at the end of every year; on the 20th of December each year, members receive their thrifts and interest earned for the year.

Members may withdraw part or all of their thrift before the end of the year with just 7.5% fee charged upon the amount withdrawn. Our thrift savings start in January every year and end in December 20th when savings are disbursed.

People who did not have opportunity to start the thrift in January may also join at any month of the year; in such instance, the member enjoys interest returns only for the period he or she has saved in the thrift. Also note that there are other conditions for joining the thrift mid-way into the year that apply.

Shares

Each member is entitled to equal number of shares at the initial value of NGN500 per share; 600 units of shares is automatically allotted to each member on registration.

Members claim their shares by paying at once or by instalments over 6 months. Shares are non withdrawable but can be transferred to a new member on a secondary offer whenever such a member wishes to exit the cooperative.

Members who are unable to pay fully for their shares at the end of 6 months from date of their registration will have their deposit declassified and committed to their savings account.

Share holders enjoy annual dividends. We pride ourselves for returning above 33% dividends on shares to our members since inception. Funds raised through thrift are committed to long term investment while funds raised through shares are committed to short term lending to thrift members. Thrift members who do not hold shares do not benefit from certain earnings of the cooperative.

Loans

We offer loans to our members only. Our lending interest rate ranges from 5% to 30% depending on the member borrowing risk rating and financial standing in the cooperative.

Types of Loans

Our loans support:

• Retail shop expansion
• Distributorships
• Hailing Vehicle purchase
• Produce Storage & Processing
• Personal borrowing against Salary, etc.

To Qualify for Our Loans

To access our loans, you must:

1. 1. Have been a member for not less than six (6) months
2. 2. Provide a member guarantee who has at least 80% of the amount you are requesting
3. 3. Completed your KYC with us
4. 4. Sustain a monthly savings equal to the repayment instalments for the amount you have requested
5. 5. Attain a risk rating not more than 45%

Thrift Block

A thrift block is a specific thrift account where a member pays at once any amount he or she wishes to thrift by the end of the year and gains 25% withdrawable interest instantly.

The member will only withdraw the capital on the 1st day of completion of 12 calendar months from the day he or she started the thrift.

Members may also on specific conditions operate a thrift block account for 6 months but for a lesser interest rate.

Savings

Members may maintain a Savings account to hold money other than thrift savings or shares.

Savings accounts attract interest for members only if there is no withdrawal from the account after three months. However, savings account holders may withdraw their money on demand without any prior notice to the Cooperative.

Savings accounts enjoy interest credit quarterly, provided no withdrawal has been executed on the account within the period.