From employee to Co-owner of Ebeano Supermarket – the story of David Ojei by Isaac Favour Ojonugwa

Dreams are common to children, and most may have a dream of working in a bank. Recalling how his uncle used to buy garri from the east and supply in Lagos, David decided that he could also do something similar.

He opted for Ogbono seeds. In June 1998, he started making regular trips to Fuga, a town in Edo state to buy the seeds in bulk, and then return to Lagos, where he would sell them to retailers. The business kicked off well and was going fine until he made the mistake of trusting his supplier with advance payments.

“Each time I travelled there, I spent three or four days and would wait for them to crack the shells and bring out the seeds and dry them. “My supplier then suggested, “Instead of wasting time and money on hotel bills, why not give me the money so that I would process ahead and when next you come around you would spend only one night and take your goods back to Lagos? “It was a good idea. I deposited half of my money. When I returned, there was no supplier or ogbono seed for me. The woman had vanished. I lost over N40,000” he recounted. It was a major loss for David Ojei, but thankfully, he still had a barber shop on the side providing him some income. He decided then that he would not be in a rush to enter another business. He went instead to spend a three-month apprenticeship with his uncle Sunday Egede, who owned De Prince Supermarkets. It was a very brief apprenticeship, and after learning as much as he could within the three months, he started Ebeano Supermarket in 1999, with the first outlet at Shomolu, Lagos State.

This was not his first time in business, but perhaps, the brief apprenticeship and mentorship made all the difference. The retail business grew really fast for him, and he soon opened another outlet at Gbagada, and another at Ikota. He decided then to close the barber’s shop and focus on retail. The partnership that birthed Prince Ebeano supermarkets After almost a decade in the retail business, Ojei went into a 50-50 partnership with his uncle and mentor, Sunday Egede. This partnership brought Egede’s De Prince Supermarkets and Ojei’s Ebeano Supermarkets under one umbrella. And so, in 2009, Prince Ebeano Supermarket came into the scenes.

As one might expect from a partnership of two strong businessmen, Prince Ebeano Supermarkets became a success overnight. With the slogan “The Preferred One Stop Retail Store”, the retail stores have a wide inventory that provides practically anything”, the retail stores have a wide inventory that provides practically anything you want to buy.

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