SELF STARTERS NIGERIA

You have brilliant ideas for a new business plan on something you have always been passionate about. After considering all the possibilities and challenges you might have to face in the future, finally you decide to leave your day job and swerve your way into a full-time entrepreneur. From managing financial plan, designing the product and testing the prototype, to testing the potential market, you have prepared everything carefully. But then you start questioning yourself, are you really ready to launch your business? Starting a startup can be an exhilarating experience that will not only drain your energy, time, and money, but also your emotions. As a newbie in the entrepreneurial world, you will more likely feel worried about the future of business you are about to introduce. The equal chances of gaining phenomenal success or total failure often leads to a feeling of doubt and uncertainty about the path you choose. While you might have prepared a detailed and thorough product design...

To wash and Iron a shirt, a dry cleaner will charge nothing less than N500. If you wash 20 shirts in a day, that will make you N500x20 = N10,000. The amount of money you make depends on you and how many regular customers you have. If you are serious about starting a business right now, laundry services may just be one of the business you should give serious consideration. Besides, dry cleaning business is a very clean business that is respectable and dignifying and still brings good money. This is what make the business a must for smart people. BASIC EQUIPMENT YOU NEED TO START THIS DRY CLEANING BUSINESS 1. WIDE IRON TABLE – This is used to press the cloths after they have been dried. It gives cloths a magic touch, making it look as if it was recently bought. GOOD PRESSING IRON – This is a major tool you can’t do without. With N5000, you can get a good pressing iron here in Nigeria. GARMENT CONVEYOR – This is used to hang the cloths you’ve washed. 4. BIG WASHING BASIN – It’s recommende...

A recipe for success in any aspect of life, regardless of industry, culture, continent, religion, race or color, is finding the most authentic version of yourself and expressing it. Look closely at the most successful people in different areas of life and you’ll find a common thread that runs among them. They all have a keen awareness of who they are and what they are about. As a result, they are able to approach life authentically and with purpose, and that’s one of the key reasons for their success.This same fact is also true in business. Name any successful business that has withstood the test of time – CocaCola, Dangote, Guinness, and others – and you'll rea a business that knows who they are and what they are about. That’s what is defined as the “soul” of a business. The journey of an entrepreneur is often fraught with different challenges. It’s often filled with a lot of bumps and more often than not the entrepreneur spends a lot of time trying to keep it together. If you’re ...

A winning business proposal needs to have three basic elements known as  the 3 Ps: The problem, the proposed solution and the pricing information. You need to show to the client that you understand clearly what the problem is that you are trying to solve. You should state enough to show that you also have the solution to the problem. When you know the problem and you have the solution, the pricing information states your fee or, if you are looking for funding, ensure you state the profit-sharing formula. Draft a sample business proposal now using the information below: Do your research:  Find out everything you can about your potential client. What is their mission and goal? What problems do they face and how does your proposition help them solve the problem? People only listen to you if your idea helps them fill a need or problem – keep this in mind. If your proposition does not help a client fill a particular need, you need to reconsider your pitch. Keep your propos...

Who is an Intrapreneur? There are many possible situations where a potential entrepreneur doesn’t get a chance to establish or fund his or her own business and is forced to work in an organization. In this case they are referred to as ‘Intrepreneurs’ i.e. entrepreneurs within an organization.  These individuals are also entrepreneurs because they don’t share the typical “employer employee” relationship with their bosses; instead, they operate just as collaborators and are treated as visionaries in the organization. The above is one of the reasons a Nigerian startup known as Rudimentary Alternative offers support and teams up with intrapreneurs to build diverse range of ideas or projects. RUDIMENTARY ALTERNATIVE IN FOCUS Rudimentary Alternative is a Nigerian startup that believes in working with intraprenuers to tackle social development issues one creative idea at a time. Rudimentary alternative is a creativity hub focused on merging creative ideas and sustainable solutions with so...

SMART Goals Goals and objectives motivate people and help them to work in the right direction. This helps them to focus on short term goals by giving them enough time to achieve them. In other words, the strategy for your goals should be  SMART , which when elaborated in this context means − ●        Specific  −  The  first thing is to be sure about your goals. Like imagining your goal for 10 minutes every day. ●        Measurable  −  Set a time by which you should probably reach your goal. Like becoming more productive and increasing some percent of productivity is not specific. ●        Attainable  −  Make goals that you can achieve within the given timeframe. For example, if you are thinking of doubling your salary within a month, it is not possible. ●        Relevant  −  The  goals you aim should be like your s...

The Student Innovation Challenge is about collaboration, innovation and creativity.  Students from across Universities and Polytechnics in Nigeria will pitch their innovative ideas, learn the skills required to start and grow a successful business, perfect pitch delivery, receive business developmental support and join a network of successful entrepreneurs and innovators. 30 FINALISTS WILL RECEIVE 1 MILLION NAIRA EACH IN SEED FUND. Eligibility SIC is open to undergraduate students in any accredited University or Polytechnic in Nigeria. Your pitch must be solving a local challenge. Applications MUST be submitted on or before 15th of April 2018. For more information.  Visit  http://studentinnovationchallenge.ng

Presentation Skills for Entrepreneurs Presentation is a way to represent your idea through pictures, but it needs excellent communication skills too. Effective presentation can help your business in growth. Once you explain everything digitally in a conference hall, everyone likes your product. A few steps which you should follow for convincing your target audiences are as follows − ●       Step 1  − Before proceeding to the presentation, you should clear your objective in advance. During a presentation, you can try to focus to a specific topic, so the users are impressed with it and understand your key motive and take a decision. ●       Step 2  − Practice your point of view in advance, so that you can be prepared for the target audience at the time of the presentation. It is a big challenge to impress everyone, but when you know the people, then you can give presentat...

Starting product based business is not easy. Manufacturing and selling a product involves setting up production, business systems, and a sales team. It is exciting, challenging and includes a lot of hard working. knowing what motivates you is key to starting product based business.  Here, we explore 10 crucial things to consider in starting product based business of your own. #1. Check Your Idea Before starting, check your idea twice. After developing the idea of the product, check your potential competitors in the market, both direct and indirect. Define your ideal consumer demographic. #2. Get Market Feasibility Report Starting product based business includes manufacturing, sales, marketing, accounting and HR operation. You may have a great product, but are you in the right market? Having a market feasibility report prior is highly recommended. It will define your distribution mechanism, pricing structure, and other business variables. #3. Craft A Busines...

Meet Timilehin Bello, 25, is the Chief Executive Officer of Media Panache, a public relations and digital marketing firm. In this interview, he says though there may be challenges, he finds fulfilment as an entrepreneur.  Tell us about Media Panache.   Media Panache Nigeria is a public relations and digital marketing firm founded in 2016. We serve both individuals and organisations in community, government, and media relations.  How did it start?   The company’s journey has been quite a riveting one. I founded Media Panache in March 2016 shortly after exiting my previous place of work. With the ample knowledge I had procured in the field, I visualised and put together a PR agency with a young and vibrant team that would exert unique approaches in the execution of creative PR ideas.  We initially started on a WhatsApp group, attending to clients and setting projects in motion thereon – before moving into an office space situated in Ikeja, Lagos. What motivated y...

TIPS TO ATTRACT ANGEL INVESTORS FOR STARTUPS  More and more  startup entrepreneurs nowadays are looking for advice on how to attract angel investors to grow their business. An angel investor is always an attractive funding option for the startup entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur needs to understand having an idea is not enough to attract angel investors. Entrepreneurs need to understand what angel investors exactly look in startups. Angel investors are accredited investors, who invest their own money for a percentage of the business. Here we put some tips about attracting angel investors for startups. 1. Build a Convincing Business Model Angel investors always look to see a well organized  and thought out business model. They will be interested if your startup model is profitable, expandable and revenue sharing. It is important to clearly define your competitive landscape of the business and how the product has a cl...

How to be a True Entrepreneur A careful decision must be made to move on to a position involving leadership. This means that, entrepreneurs should begin to inherit attributes of great leaders from now onwards. This can boost entrepreneurs to be capable of thriving in their varied roles in the organization. To become a true entrepreneur.  Take these steps: Set a Role Model Choose leaders whom entrepreneurs idolize most. They may be leaders of modern world or may be legendary leaders from history or maybe both. Start working by combining styles that entrepreneurs think are most suitable for them. They might include personally known mentors as well. Maintain Discipline and Decorum To become an entrepreneur, you need to change some habits that you inherited when you were a follower. A good control over the working process and a consistent rate of implementing ideas are necessary qualities of an entrepreneur. As entrepreneurs, who we have seen before, basic building blocks of a great le...

Most start-up entrepreneurs view a business plan as only a fund raising instrument to submit in bank or any other financial institution. But truly a business plan is a tool for understanding how to put together everything in your business. It is useful to monitoring progress and keeping the business accountable. It also helpful in making sales strategy, recruitment and overall financial planning. Business plan is a written document that describes the nature of business, sales and marketing strategy and a financial calculations with a projected profit and loss account. According to Investopaedia, A business plan is a written document that describes in detail how a business, usually a new one, is going to achieve its goals. Sometimes, a business plan is prepared for an established business that is moving in a new direction. Here are 10 critical reasons to have a business plan. To Define a New Business Venture By creating a business plan you will be able to define the new business ven...

Networking is one of the lifeblood of maintaining long-term and valuable relationships. No matter whom you are or what stage you are in life, networking is the one skill that every entrepreneur needs to master. Whether it’s learning or making potential business alliances, networking is the social catalyst for success.  The art of networking is not just at the start of creation, but in establishing and sustaining a mutually beneficial relationship in the long-run. The best networking process comes from establishing genuine and sincere connections rather than exchanging business cards and business pleasantries. Below are some of the tips on becoming a “Powerful networker” 1. Attend Community Events Get to identify and attend events within your ecosystem that are relevant to your field. Startup events are spread out around the nation. Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt are some of the main cities that host the most entrepreneur focussed events in Nigeria. It is also very important to rese...

Digital marketing can and should be employed in organizations of all sizes   - from solopreneurs and freelancers through small and medium-sized businesses to large enterprises. The art of building corporate identity or even a personal brand depends on successful and creative marketing strategies online. Millennials are the largest group of consumers online. They spend approximately 18 hours a day consuming me dia , part of the research  conducted shows they spend 223 minutes a day on mobile.   Generation Z is also joining the digital force now - with teenagers up to age eighteen now using different channels such as Snapchat and Instagram for communication and forming opinions of the surrounding world. Digital marketers can identify their target market and build a sensible strategy based on their product or service. This could be instrumental to any business striving for growth and establishing dominance among their competitors. Moreover, an excellent digital marketer coul...

The Tony Elumelu Foundation says it is now accepting applications for business ideas that can transform Africa. The programme, which is in its fourth cycle, is TEF’s 10-year, $100m commitment to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs by 2024, according to a statement by the foundation. The foundation said prospective applicants could visit its website to apply before the expiration of the deadline on March 1, 2018. The statement read in part, “The programme provides critical tools for business success, including: 12 weeks of intensive online training which guides entrepreneurs on creating and managing a business; mentoring: a world-class mentor to guide during the early transformation stages of the business; funding: $5,000 in seed capital to prove the concept, plus access to further funding; and network access to the largest network of African start-ups and TEF’s own global contacts.” According to the statement, 1,000 entrepreneurs wil...