By Chukwuemeka Obinwugo
On 26th October 2024, Roban Stores celebrated their 25 years journey of Enterprise, sheer Hard Work, Resilience and Dedication. This event happened at Amadeo Event Center Enugwu.
I am writing this as my own personal reflection on the Man; Sir Robert Anwatu and the Brand; Roban Stores, that I look up to and emulate as I build my own Enterprise; Obinwugo Farms (Ijele Tea).
The biggest lesson I learnt from Sir Rob in building a business is PATIENCE and CONSISTENCY in Hard Work. He consistently tells me whenever I meet him that “he is OK moving at his own pace, that he does Not rush” according to him, “I don’t build new branches with vendors money, I make sure I pay my vendors as long as your goods are sold, I am ok moving at the pace I am moving, it guarantees my sustainability”
Roban Stores has proven over the years to be one of the most disciplined, consistent and structured Enterprise in Nigeria and Africa, amidst the trembling Economic instability in Nigeria, Roban Stores consistently pays vendors and staffs as at when due, in fact, Roban will tell you that you will receive payment in 30 days but you will rather surprisly receive payment in 14 days (earlier than the payment date). Hence Roban Over delivers in business relationships.
Today, though slow but steady, they have established 10 Stores across South East and Asaba:
- Roban Store Bisala Enugwu – 2009
- Roban Store Agbani Road Enugwu – 2014
- Roban Stores Ọka – 2016
- Roban Stores Abakelenke – 2017
- Roban Stores Trans-Ekulu Enugwu – 2018
- Roban Stores Nnewi – 2020
- Roban Stores Asaba – 2021
- Roban Stores Nike Enugwu – 2023
- Roban Stores Thinker’s Conner Enugwu – 2023
- Roban Stores Nssuka – 2024
This makes Roban Stores the biggest Store in South East Nigeria currently.
However before the establishment of the first Superstore in Bisala, Roban Stores has been established as a Small Grocery Store on Ọkpara Avenue Enugwu since 1999
And before then still, ROBNATH which is the name of Sir Rob’s actual first store was established in Benin, Edo state as a Gift Store since 1985, later the name was changed to Ultimate Gifts in 1987, the store was later opened in Warri, Delta state in 1989 but later closed because of lack of proximity, in 1990, Sir Rob moved to Enugwu and the Enterprise journey continued with dedication and Tenacity of purpose.
Looking at these records, one would see that it took solid 14 years (1985-1999) to lay the foundation of what today become of Roban Stores and it also took another 10 good years (1999-2009) to build from a Small Grocery Store in Ọkpara Avenue to a SuperStore in Bisala… From 2009, it took another 15 years of Hard Work, Dedication and Consistency to build 10 Superstores across Ana Ìgbò
Of course Sir Robert Anwatu is from Nnewi in Anambra State, the home of the Wise!
In 2019 when Roban Stores were still 5 Stores, I made it as a Vendor into the Store with my product brand Ijele Tea after struggling to become a vendor for 3 months of application, then I have only 2 variants: Ijele Mixed Lemon and Ijele Mixed Hibiscus. Later, I made it to meet one on one with the Executive Director who is Sir Rob’s Son; Onyebuchi, he saw Ijele Tea and was like “wow, I love the name, it’s interesting Ìgbò name” he accepted me immidately as a vendor but on a Sale or Return arrangement to monitor my sales first. However, Sir Rob later saw the product and noticed that it is produced in Nnewi, he picked special interest and made sure it was sampled very well in the shelf thereby giving Ijele Tea more visiblity.
Today, Ijele Tea is selling very well in Roban Stores.
Roban Stores is a Brand that don’t joke with Local Content, they value community a lot and knows that the best way to build the National Economy is to support your Community. Hence, a local producer gets more attention in Roban Stores unlike many other stores in Nigeria that gives Foriegners more attention because they want to look “modern”.
The first LPO (Local Purchasing Order) Roban Stores gave me in 2019 was 384 packets of Ijele Tea, but since then they have given me a total LPO of more than 36,000 packets of Ijele Tea from then till date.
When I entered Roban Stores, I had only 3 direct employees and I could Not see a complete N500k in my bank account then but Roban Stores has given me opportunity for many customers to see my product which elevated me to the stage I am now in my Ijele Tea journey, we now have more than 20 direct employees on our payroll and many other indirect employees and suppliers who benefit from the Enterprise activities of Ijele Tea.
Sir Rob has spent 39 years in the Journey of building a Sustainable Brand, with Roban Stores taking 25 years out of it.
I have spent 15 years in my journey of building a sustainable brand, with Ijele Tea taking 5+ years from it… I look up to people like Sir Rob as a source of Strength and Hope as we journey through the hard and thorny path of Enterprise building and I encourage my fellow young Entrepreneurs to follow this route too and avoid fast lane because ọchụ n’ íké na-ana n’ íké
Other lessons to be learnt from Sir Rob are:
- Build in Silence for the Seed grow effectively in tranquility. Sir Rob built in silence for 24 years before we saw the first Super Store
- Build your succession plan too as you build your business. Sir Rob was building his Son; Onyebuchi as he is building Roban Stores, today Onyebuchi is the Executive Director of Roban Stores and he is doing well and preparing to take over the mantle to take Roban Stores to the next level.
- Reinvest in your Community through supporting local brands and Community CSRs, it is the most effective way to solve the problem of insecurity. Sir Rob has consistently used his Store to promote local brands, Ijele Tea is a living testimony, today those farmers that supply herbs for the production of Ijele Tea, the production staffs, the merchandisers that oversees Ijele Tea in Roban Stores all own gratitude to Roban Stores for the opportunity to sample Ijele Tea in the Roban Shelves for Thousands of customers to see it and purchase.
To crown it all, Roban Stores in the spirit of their 25 years celebration, empowered 4 young Small scale Entrepreneurs with a total of N16.7million:
- Ezeji Daniel Onyekachi of Edovasal Farms Enugwu = N3million
- Toochukwu Nwokocha of Baselyn86 Creative Suite Ltd = N3.7million
- Ifeanyi Simeon of Junior Simeon Shoes = N5million
- Deychop Foods = N5million
Roban also gave a lot of gifts to their customers including a latest Toyota corolla as the Star Prize to a raffle draw.
It was a great event with a lot of lessons to learn and I was privileged to be there live as a Direct Vendor of Roban Stores.
In all, everyone has the responsibility to build his Nation and it starts by our Community involvement. Whenever we come together to pull our resources, to build, empower and promote each other, community by community, the Nation is built.
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