Entrepreneurship & Innovation
A WhatsApp storefront for students with no capital
Paul Jackson is building Resaile, a marketplace where students buy goods at wholesale prices and resell them on WhatsApp without startup capital, a physical shop or inventory.
A student posts a product picture on WhatsApp. An order comes in, with payment. The student pays the wholesaler, collects the product, delivers it to the customer and keeps the profit. No startup capital, no physical shop, no inventory.
That is the loop Paul Jackson is building with Resaile, a platform where students can buy goods at wholesale prices and resell them to their contacts on WhatsApp. He is at Nexford University and is building the company alongside his co-founder, Glory Udoma.
“You can come from the trenches and be wise and classy.”
Paul Jackson
It began as a business for himself. "The idea started when I wanted to build a dropshipping business, but I thought, what if other students also wanted to sell?" he says. "I know firsthand how difficult it is to raise capital in Nigeria, especially as a student, so I decided to build an online marketplace instead."
His plan is to go into major markets in Lagos to source wholesalers. Once he verifies a business address and confirms that the wholesaler sells genuine products, he will onboard them onto the platform and give them a verification badge so resellers can trust them. He will also train wholesalers on how to upload their products, write product descriptions and list their wholesale prices. Where possible, Resaile will suggest recommended retail prices so students can see the profit they can make on each sale.
On the other side, he will introduce the platform to students across different campuses and show them that the work of verifying wholesalers has already been done, so they do not have to worry about scams or unreliable suppliers.
Students then browse products on Resaile, pick the ones they want to sell, and post the pictures on WhatsApp or any online community where they can find customers.
The process repeats itself. As he lays it out, students earn without holding inventory, wholesalers reach more customers and increase sales, and Resaile earns a transaction fee for providing the trusted marketplace.
"At its core, Resaile is a trusted marketplace that makes dropshipping simple and accessible for students and aspiring entrepreneurs in Nigeria," he says.