For barely two decades, Alhaji Sammani Adam, popularly known as El-Samad, the Chairman of El-Samad Investment and Resources, has carved a niche in textile business.
Indeed, El-Samad is a household name in the textile industry, not only in Kano, but in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Asia.
From an errand boy at his father’s shop at Kantin Kwari Textiles Market in Kano to an international businessman, El-Samad has become a pioneer of ICT revolutionized business in the market that lives for about a century, thanks to attending conferences within and outside Nigeria.
In this interview with BizPoint, El-Samad told us about the journey from the cradle to stardom.
BizPoint –We would like to know a brief of your biography and how your business started?
El-Samad – All glory be to Allah. My name is Sammani Adam El-Samad. I was born in Kano in the 1980s. I attended Gwale Primary School and did my secondary school studies at Government Secondary Commercial School, Wudil. I then attended FCE, Kano.
Right now, i am a final-year student at National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, where I am studying business administration. Let me say, mine is an experienced life filled with many encounters and travels around the world, as well as many more experiences.
About my business, I started by going to my father’s shop. Just like how a kid would be sent to deliver food or to run some errand at his parent’s place of work after school hours. That is how I started; by running errands to or for him. So, while I was there, I used to also help him with what I could offer in running the shop, like sweeping, cleaning items or fetching water for ablution or washing dishes.
BizPoint-When was all this?
El-Samad- I think it was around 1998. It was later on I realized that there was something I could contribute to the business of my father. At that time, the business was ran when customers would come to my father’s shop to purchase goods.
They used to take the goods on credit and pay back the next week when they come to restock. I was keenly watching and realized that there were flaws in the way the business was being conducted because there was no record keeping in the transactions. I learnt that there were arguments between my father and the customers, all because they didn’t keep record of the amount of items they collected and the money they supposed to pay.
So, I told my father that I was taught book keeping in school. I know how to keep records of every transaction and keeping a statement. My father ignored my advice because at that time, he wanted me to study only, not to be going to market.
El-Samad speaking at an event in Kano recently.
But I noticed that most of the times my father and his business partners got into ensuing argument because they didn’t keep records of their transactions. To be honest, I didn’t want seeing my father arguing with customers, so I didn’t give up and decided to start writing records of all the transactions that were made in my presence, no matter how little time I spent in the shop.
One day, I brought launch to my father and found him arguing with customers over a transaction, so I presented them a book that I recorded the items they had collected and the amount they were supposed to pay. I told them about the color and quality of the items they had collected and the amount they would pay. After I presented the record, the customers were satisfied and settled my father.
So, my father said from now on, he wanted me to stay with him at the shop, especially during school breakes because at that time, I was attending a boarding school.
Seeing my loyalty, obedience and how I was trying to develop the business at that time, after graduating from secondary school, my father decided to allow me to run the shop, but not completely as he wanted me to continue my studies up to university and that I should only come to the shop after my classes.
Unfortunately, at that time, I didn’t get admission and I was eager to start going to the shop for fulltime. I thought, by going to Bayero University Kano, BUK, I was going to spend 4-5 years, while on the other hand, I would spend only 2-3 years going to Federal College of Education, FCE.
I kept on being obedient and loyal and my father finally understood that my plan was a good one and for the benefit of us all, since I would be there to accurately tell him about everything we had in stock, or how much profit we gained at any specific interval. So, he completely left the shop to me and I continued to run the business.
BizPoint – So, how has your business attained this height?
El-Samad– At around 2004-2005 when Chinese companies started coming into Nigeria, they were impressed by the development and concept of our business. We became partners while they served as our agents. They would supply the goods, give us for distribution and sales; and they give us a commission.
Later on, I realized that our partnership with the Chinese is not a win-win because most of the money made is taken out of the country while all we get is the commission. So, I decided to break away from this partnership and become independent. What they used to do at the time was they were putting up the name of their companies on the doors of every shop they are in partnership with. But I refused to accept that because it had always been a dream of mine to have my own brand.
El-Samad.
Since then, I have had my company El-Samad, that’s what you will see on the entrance of my shops. If anyone wants to do a business with me, let it be done with El-Samad. I will not accept to sell anyone’s goods and become their slave. I have been running El-Samad since then and we have adapted to the times.
Later on, I underwent some courses at BUK which included; project management, entrepreneurship and change management, which is a new program we attended at Dangote Business School. These are professional courses. There is something we have always been told; that is to always “think out of the box”. But my teachers taught me that is the wrong way to look at it and instead, “create your own box”.
That’s why i am always trying to create my own box when it comes to my business. I never look at what people are doing; I always think about creating something new. That is how i have been, and it has opened my mind to new ideas because we are talking about critical thinking here. Sometimes you fail and sometimes you lose. Every failure in business is a blessing, not a loss and sometimes you succeed. This has helped me in growing my business.
I have also travelled around the world. I went to a Youth Assembly at United Nations in 2016, and 2017. I have been to many countries like the ones we mostly deal with; like China, India, Vietnam, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh and London in the UK. I have also attended many textile conferences like the Textile Machineries Exhibition in Adis Ababa, fashion show in Nevada, LA, United States, among other fashion shows.
And since I am in the fashion business, I needed to know more about It, so, I attended another fashion show in Milan. I attended another one about color combination and separation, just like how our textile have multiple colors.
That is where you go to learn if you combine blue and green, would that combination attract people or would it distract them? This was in Italy.
El-Samad attending one of the international business conferences.
And I have regularly been to other countries like Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Here in Africa also, I have been to see business partners in Cotonou, Ivory Cost, Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Ghana; I have been to all of these countries. Some of them I went just to educate myself or to learn about something that will help my business grow. That’s why I have always been driven. I am always thinking about how to create demand, how to market my products. I know everything about my products, right from retail all the way to its production.
And now that we are in this digital era, I made sure I took advantage of it by creating online businesses. I started El-Samad Textiles, which is my Facebook business handle in 2005, I think a year after Facebook came to Nigeria. I also opened an Instagram page which has also become very popular with large followership.
In one of my trips, I once met a woman, she is a brand creation and innovation consultant. I was the only attendant from Africa when we met at a conference abroad, so she asked me if I had a social media handle for my company and I told her I didn’t, I only have a personal social media handle. This woman told me to quickly create one for my business because it is the next big thing that is going to revolutionize the world. I just laughed it off at the time, regardless, I created the social media and thank God I did, because here we are now.
We take advantage of online resources, like websites, social media handles, advertisements and promotions because my dream is to see El-Samad as a brand.
I don’t care about making huge money or profit, because in business, you rarely get profit early on. You try and you fail, but that’s what we keep on doing until one day you succeed.
BizPoint– What are you doing differently to keep these innovations?
El-Samad– I train young people. May be if we had gone to my office upstairs, you would have been surprised to see how many young people I have up there. The main group of people I work with are the youth. They are the ones I pull closer to me and teach them what i do. Just like in a meeting I held yesterday; I called about 30 young people and asked them how they could grow this business to the next level. I am all about their ideas and giving them opportunities.
Apart from that, education is everything nowadays, so we sponsor some of our employees to further their education. Right now, I have sent some of our youths to study in China, Dubai; 4 are in India. I have about 8 here in Skyline University, and I have enrolled about 6 students in Maryam Abacha American University.
All this is for them to learn and come back to add value to the business. And as you know, keeping record is the most important thing when it come to business. Not to be proud, but I am the first person to integrate computers into the business in tis market. I was scared initially, but then I thought that everywhere i go to buy something, they keep records of the transactions. And I have some knowledge in accounting too. Some of my friends thought I could not use the computers that I would even dump them sooner or later because the business is going to overwhelm the computers, but I know better. I used to hide the computer when some of the friends I respected come passing by because I didn’t want them to feel like I don’t appreciate their advice.
But eventually, the use of computer transactions became popular to the extent that my colleague were coming to me to link them with engineer who installed my computers. So, we have a good strategy to keep the business going. The first thing to do is to make sure you create a brand, and have a goodwill, which your people will carry on even after you. And make sure to impart knowledge and educate your successors. You make sure that they endure and know what they are doing. And also, I don’t hoard all the business knowledge to myself alone. Just as you found me outside this building, I am just here to see how the business is going because I don’t even know the prices of some the items you see here. We have division of labour here. I don’t shoulder all the load. I just come here to observe and make sure everything runs smoothly.
BizPoint– Nigerian textiles industry has collapsed, as efforts are being made to resuscitate it, in what ways are you contributing to the revival of the industry and do you intend to establish textile coy?
El-Samad– If you remember earlier, I told you that I have extensive knowledge of everything In the textile industry; right from manufacture all the way to trading, that means I have the passion for it. So, my biggest dream is to see my own El-Samad textile mill in Nigeria.
However, about this issue, as you have said, leaders have been talking about it. I have had series of meetings with stakeholders, but the truth is that textile business is a capital intensive. It needs technical know-how and requires technicians whom we don’t have here. The machineries are very expensive too. If it were easy, everyone would have established his own. Everyone loves money. So, it shouldn’t be surprising why others are collapsing. They have to shut down because of capital. As I told you earlier, we are in the fashion business, we have to constantly come up with innovations. So, most of the industries we have are very old, they were established in the 1960s and 70s. The machines are obsolete, so also their engineers. Everything about them is old.
In this time, you have to be fast and dynamic to succeed. This is why they can’t keep up. You need billions of Dollars to create a textile industry. The value chain is long. For example, if you want to focus on cotton, you will have to secure the cotton, then move on to ginning, spinning, weaving, dying, printing and finishing, each sector will cost millions of dollars to be established. So, it is hard to see one individual doing all of this. To a layman, a single person could do all this, but with dedication and hard work, one day you will succeed.
