The verdict in three sentences
In Touba, where wholesale trade moves large volumes of rice, sugar, oil, fabric and hardware, the notebook stops working once stock passes about a hundred items and customer credit piles up. A well-designed Excel or Google Sheets workbook tracks stock in, stock out and receivables, and helps avoid 5 to 10% of stock losses by common estimates. The Kolonell Academy practical Excel course, taught in French, at 75,000 FCFA (about 115 EUR) for 14 hours, is built precisely for that move from notebook to workbook.
What the notebook really costs a wholesaler
The notebook has advantages: it never crashes and everyone can use it. But it calculates nothing, gives no warning when an item runs low, and makes it hard to follow customers who pay in instalments. During the Magal, when sales can double in a few days, errors multiply.
| Common problem | With a notebook | With an Excel workbook | Estimated 2026 impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gap between real and recorded stock | Found at stocktake, too late | Stock recalculated after every movement | 2 to 4% of stock preserved |
| Stockout on a fast-moving item | Discovered when a customer asks | Colour-coded minimum threshold alert | 1 to 3% of sales recovered |
| Forgotten customer credit | Scattered pages, balances to redo | Balance per customer and debt age | Unpaid debts down 20 to 40% |
| Real margin per product | Unknown or guessed | Calculated automatically | Better-set selling prices |
| Magal preparation | Ordering by gut feeling | Last year's sales on hand | Less tied-up overstock |
| Counter staff oversight | Difficult | Daily sales per salesperson | Fewer cash leaks |
For a wholesaler holding 15,000,000 FCFA of average stock, avoiding 5% of losses means 750,000 FCFA a year (about 1,145 EUR), ten times the course price. This remains a 2026 estimate that depends on the type of goods and how carefully data is entered.
Comparing options: course, training centre, software
| Option | 2026 price | Length | What you get | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kolonell Academy practical Excel | 75,000 FCFA (about 115 EUR) | 14 h online | Stock, sales and budget tables, formulas, analysis | Needs a computer or tablet for practice |
| Training centre (Touba, Diourbel, Mbacké) | 60,000 to 120,000 FCFA | 20 to 30 h | General Excel basics | School-style examples, fixed hours |
| Point-of-sale and stock software | 150,000 to 500,000 FCFA + subscription | Setup 1 to 3 days | Ready-made tool | Rigid, vendor dependency |
| YouTube tutorials | 0 FCFA + data | Varies | Isolated formulas | No template for wholesale trade |
| Hiring a stock manager | 120,000 to 200,000 FCFA a month | Immediate | Data entry delegated | Recurring cost, you still need control |
The course is Intermediate level, level 3 of the Office and Productivity track. It teaches you to build reliable tables, use the formulas that matter (SUMIF, XLOOKUP, IF), and create pivot tables and charts, in Excel or free Google Sheets. If you are completely new to computers, start with level 1: the full 5-level track costs 350,000 FCFA instead of 450,000 FCFA.
The three tables to build first
The first is the product sheet: reference, name, purchase price, selling price, alert threshold. The second is the movement log: every delivery and every sale, with date and customer. The third is the credit tracker: amount owed, payments received, date of last payment. All three link through formulas, and available stock calculates itself.
Mini case study
Cheikh, 41, a food wholesaler at Touba's Ocass market, manages 180 items and about 60 reseller customers, 25 of whom buy on credit. He estimates he loses 4% of his 12,000,000 FCFA average stock each year, or 480,000 FCFA, plus 300,000 FCFA of forgotten unpaid debts.
- Cost: 75,000 FCFA for the course, a second-hand laptop already at the shop.
- If the workbook halves losses and cuts unpaid debts by 30%: 240,000 + 90,000 = 330,000 FCFA recovered a year.
- Payback: about 12 weeks.
Learn this skill with Kolonell Academy
Short, practical online courses (taught in French), graded exercises, certificate. Pay with Wave or Orange Money.
These amounts are a working estimate: each business should measure its own gaps at the first stocktake.
FAQ
Do I need to know Excel already?
You need to be able to turn on a computer, open a file and type. The 14-hour course starts with building a clean table before moving to formulas and analysis.
Does Google Sheets work just as well?
Yes for a wholesaler: Google Sheets is free, runs on a phone and can be shared with a partner. Every formula covered in the course exists there.
How long to set up my workbook?
Allow 2 to 3 weeks to complete the 14 hours and 1 to 2 days to enter 150 to 200 items. After that, daily entry takes 15 to 30 minutes.
Why not buy point-of-sale software straight away?
Software costs 150,000 FCFA and up, often with a subscription. Reading your figures in Excel stays useful even with software, since exports come out in spreadsheet format.
How do I pay for the course?
By Wave or Orange Money at +221 77 596 93 33, for 75,000 FCFA. Access is activated once payment is confirmed.
Take the next step. Enroll in Practical Excel: tables, formulas and analysis for work: 14 hours online, taught in French, 75,000 FCFA (about 115 EUR), Kolonell Academy certificate. Pay with Wave or Orange Money. Questions? WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
