FROM IDEA TO EXPANSION

When Chuka from Ariaria, Aba started making organic soaps in his mother’s backyard, nobody — not even him — took it too seriously; He just liked the smell of shea butter and the feeling of creating something with his hands.

His soaps, made from shea butter and local herbs, were popular among neighbours and friends — but soon, word spread beyond his street.

He didn’t imagine that one day his small hobby would become a buzzing mini-factory with ten workers, an Instagram store, and customers from Lagos to Accra.
Soon, neighbours started buying. Then friends of neighbours. Then people on WhatsApp. Before long, his backyard started looking like a mini soap factory — minus the air conditioning. Back then, his biggest challenge wasn’t marketing—it was production. Orders were rolling in faster than he could mix shea butter and essential oil.

His fiancée, Ifunanya, would help him at night, sealing soaps while side-eyeing him.
“Babe, this your soap business don dey turn real work oh,” she joked.
He sighed, mixing his oils. “If only I had better equipment, things go move faster.

One hot Thursday afternoon, Ngozi, his old classmate from Abia State Polytechnic, dropped by. She’d studied Business Administration while Chuka had studied Mass Communication — back then, he never imagined she’d become his unofficial business advisor.

She looked around the chaotic workshop and burst out laughing.
“Chuka! This place looks like one chemistry lab wey don rebel. What’s going on here?”
He groaned. “Orders everywhere, but my small mixer no fit cope. I even dey turn customers down.”

Ngozi shook her head. “You don’t need magic, my guy — you need capital.”

“Capital? You mean loan? Abeg, I no want wahala with banks,” Chuka said, waving his gloved hands like a man shooing away debt.

Ngozi laughed. “That’s old thinking. Loans aren’t traps; they’re tools. The trick is knowing how to use them.”

So, she broke it down for him.
She explained that business loans—especially those designed for manufacturers in Nigeria—can help bridge the gap between idea and expansion. Instead of waiting years to save enough to buy machinery or raw materials, a smart loan could help him scale faster, meet market demand (move from hustle to brand), and even lower his unit costs.

Chuka hesitated but eventually applied for a Bank of Industry (BOI) small-scale manufacturing loan. The process wasn’t as scary as he thought: he got help preparing a business plan, outlined how the funds would increase production capacity, and demonstrated repayment ability based on projected profits.

With a little push (and Ifunanya’s famous side-eye), Chuka finally applied for a BOI SME loan. The paperwork wasn’t as scary as he thought. He submitted a short business plan, some receipts, and a repayment plan based on projected profits.

Three months later, new equipments arrived. Smooth. Shiny. Beautiful.

Production doubled. Delivery time halved. And suddenly, his brand — GreenGlow Soaps — was sitting pretty on supermarket shelves from Aba to Lagos down to Accra, Ghana.

Six months later, Ngozi visited again, wearing her trademark smirk.

“So,” she teased, “how’s that wahala loan treating you?”

Chuka grinned. “Turns out the real wahala was staying small.”

A year down the line, Chuka has sufficient equipment’s and workers, an ever growing network of customers (because he maintains the impeccable standard his product is known for). He has time enough to branch out into public speaking on the ways Nigerian manufacturers can employ to scale their small businesses; he spoke at the 2025 Nigeria SME business summit held at Eko Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria and the key highlights of his talk were:

• Loans, when used wisely, aren’t chains — they’re launchpads.
• For Nigerian manufacturers, they can mean the difference between surviving and scaling. The secret is in the mindset: Borrow for growth, not for flex.
• Plan your repayment before you borrow; treat your loan as a partner not a burden.
• Keep business and personal money separate (no using loan money to buy aso ebi).
• And borrow from institutions that understand manufacturing — like BOI, NIRSAL, or credible loan institutions.

Because sometimes, the real key to expansion is not “blessing from above” — it’s the courage to bet on your own idea, discipline, and a little help from the right kind of loan. In the end, scaling production isn’t just about having bigger machines—it’s about having a bigger mindset.

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