SELF STARTERS NIGERIA

There’s no such thing as a bad idea. SmartStart was established on the basis of some serendipitous beliefs. In 2015, we realised that: Ideas There’s no such thing as a bad idea. Some ideas are behind their time and some are before their time but all ideas are inherently good ideas. Skills and Support Many Nigerians, old and young, have great ideas but they often don’t have the skills, resources, support, customers, and funding to make these ideas commercial Opportunities Problems are not really problems. They are opportunities. The Nigerian economy has many issues / prospects Why Smart Start? So, in January 2016, we incorporated and set up SmartStart Foundation for the Advancement of New Ideas in Emerging Economies. SmartStart for short. Our job is to help you get the skills, resources, support, and funding you’ll need to put your idea in the hands of your customers. Submit your ideas here: https ://www.sm artstartng.org/ideas-submission/

Love and lemonade This week I just happened to read a very inspiring article that I want to share with you: How did a 9-year old, Mikaila Ulmer of Sugar Land, TX, beat out the conglomerate giants such as Kraft, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble to land coveted shelf space and a million dollar contract with Whole Foods? Her precocious response? “I don’t know? Do they make theirs with love?” Her company, BeeSweet Lemonade, is the beginning of a Lemonade empire in which the idea came from when she was stung by bees when she was just 4 years old — twice in one week. “After that I would freak out about the bees — like overreact — and then my parents wanted me to do some research so I would be less afraid. And doing that research I found out how incredibly important pollinators they are, and that they were dying,” Mikaila said. “And I decided to create a product that helped save the bees.” She dug up an old lemonade recipe from her great-grandmother’s cookbook...

Regardless of what you sell in real life, the truth is anyone can sell anything online. It’s even more interesting when you discovered that you can sell your product on Konga or Jumia. For the business tycoon, business women/men and to those who are wondering where to sell your products, Konga and Jumia has made available a platform to display your product to millions of customers on their site. You don't have to be an internet guru to do this: Today, let's get the details on Jumia Sellers Program..... Jumia Sellers Program: Jumia Nigeria offers an online platform for individuals and companies to sell their goods, although many people are unaware of this, Jumia itself just like most ecommerce websites sells only very few goods, majority of the goods are sold by traders registered by Jumia who then pay a percentage of their sales to Jumia known as commision which is currently from 3 – 15% of the selling price of any product. Jumia have more than 3 million visitors e...

Social media is an inexpensive way to promote your website and to keep new and existing customers chatting about your business. Here are some quick and easy tips for using some of the most popular social networking sites — Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest — to help drive interest and customers to your business: In this article, the focus is on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Facebook Set up a business page on Facebook and post special offers (at least once a month) to all those who Like your page. Ask customers to share pictures on your Facebook page that show them using their favorite product that they bought from your website. Reduce your workload while expanding your marketing efforts on Facebook: Instead of managing both a business page and a personal page, simply allow subscribers on your personal Facebook page. Subscriptions allow you to send public updates that your subscribers can view. Subscribers can be customers...

Bank of Industry has launched its YOUTH EMPOWERMENT SUPPORT (YES) PROGRAMME designed for youths between ages 18 and 35 years. A total of 1200 participants will benefit via  loan of maximum of N5m each under relatively favourable terms. Some of the details are: Programme Objectives The YES Programme has the following broad objectives: To create an interactive learning platform to train young aspiring entrepreneurs in entrepreneurship  and business management that will ultimately translate into improved efficiency and productivity.To kindle the entrepreneurial spirit of the youths.To act as an incubation center where business ideas are nurtured to their full potential as well as entrenching global best practices by inculcating a culture of innovation-driven entrepreneurship and ethics in the programme participants.Promotion of self-employment among graduates of institutions of higher learning, thereby changing their job-seeking mindset.To deepen fina...

Use mobile phones and the Internet to change your business Most of the fastest growing businesses in the world are businesses that have "re-imagined" well established business areas by introducing innovations based on the Internet and mobile phone technologies. You don’t have to change the business you’re in to make it a "technology company." You just have to "re-imagine" it using the Internet and the mobile phone. Let's look at some examples: # From 'flea markets' to eCommerce: Africa is full of what we commonly call "flea markets" (informal markets). These are small little businesses selling almost anything that we find in every African city. Some are huge -- Mbare Market in Harare, Ikeja Market in Lagos, Kibera in Kenya, to name some of the best known. There you can buy almost anything! In China some smart young entrepreneurs looked at these informal markets, and re-imagined them on the Internet. Out of this came some of the ...