The Nation Newspaper

Tag: businesses

  • Ivorian businesses open online stores

    JUMIA Ivory Coast is raising the stake for ivorian businesses as the online market place is offering brands, distributors and craftsmen the necessary means to develop and extend their selling network.

    JUMIA will now allow all distributors, from international brands to SMEs, operating in the country to benefit from a number of advantages when they open an online shop on JUMIA ‘shop-in-shop”.

    In a statement released by the online marketplace, subscribers to the JUMIA shop-in-shop platform can take advantage of JUMIA’s professional client-oriented approach, with agents who are trained to know the entire product range and answer all customer questions. “JUMIA has also developed the Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is a tool allowing the weekly measuring of customer satisfaction in order to continually improve service. On average, all customers purchasing products on JUMIA are contacted 15 minutes after their order.

    Moreover, the sellers do not encounter any logistics problems: JUMIA takes care of everything! From the order to shipping to customer aftercare, JUMIA brings Ivorian entrepreneurs the marketing and logistics expertise they need to conquer new markets.,” it said.

    The marketplace also allows sellers to benefit from exposure to hundreds of thousands of unique visitors every month, as well as a multichannel online and offline presence, in order to increase brand awareness and boost their sales.

    Speaking further, Fatoumata Ba, General Director of JUMIA Ivory Coast, said,  “JUMIA’s marketplace represents a unique opportunity and an extraordinary business accelerator, making your offer available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in Ivory Coast. In addition to our marketing and logistics expertise, our partners benefit from exposure to almost 300,000 unique visitors every month and the guarantee of an unequalled, international-standard quality of service.”

  • Seniors’ boom creates opportunity for specialised service businesses

    Seniors’ boom creates opportunity for specialised service businesses

    Senior homecare businesses are going to be one of the hottest markets. This is because people are getting old. As people age, they often need help with everyday chores. That’s where a new business opportunity comes in. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Okon Bassey’s (Not real name) mother was diagnosed with diabetes. The diagnosis changed her life. From then on, Bassey had to be shuttling between the city and the village to spend time taking care of her. Though he is in a well-paid job, it was taking a toll on him. He realised how much of his life and time he was committing to the exercise.

    He wished he had young ones at home to look after her, but his sisters are all married. It soon donned  on him how tasking the  job of caring  for the elderly mother was  and wished there was a formal arrangement to take care of the mum.

    For people like Bassey, caring for ageing parents can be rewarding if he could find an alternative means of doing it, but frustrating and exhausting if he has to be continuously and personally responsible for it.

    It also can be expensive in more ways than one, as some adult children may have come to realise. The expenditure include out of pocket expenses, travel costs and purchasing needed household items. In addition, physical and emotional health can take a beating. Increasing numbers of adult children are finding it difficult to provide care for ageing parents. Not only does it take a significant toll on their finances, as is expected, but more importantly, it affects their time. This has created a business opportunity for private homecare providers.

    A lot  of  Nigerians  are  asking  for private  operators to come on board  and set up  elderly care homes. Globally, it  is being described  as  one of the hottest business opportunities  of the 21st century.

    One of  those calling for  investors is Prof. Tola Atinmo, a Consultant Nutritionist at the University of Ibadan. He has seen the industry thriving abroad and many entrepreneurs making big money, big time.

    Speaking on the issue, Atinmo said that managing the  age will be one of the major social and business issues, stating that Nigeria has to prepare for it.

    With the growing population of elderly, he said it has  become very critical  for Nigerians to begin  to  invest in elderly services businesses.

    The opportunities, he noted, are growing for private players that offer in-home supportive care and assistance services for the elderly.

    He explained that some senior citizens are homebound because of health issues, or temporarily, while recovering from surgery or a fall, saying they need help with their errands.

    For him, a  medical day-care facility that can provide a level of care and has a registered nurse, or staff who can perform tube feedings, administer medications and oxygen, and provide other related care, will ever be required for this category of people.

    While new entrants require business experience to successfully operate in the elderly home health care field, those with a healthcare background, are even more suited for the business.

    Notwithstanding, he said the universities are ever ready to train entrepreneurs who want to go into elder home care related businesses.

    By most accounts, he said careers in the field of ageing are going to be among the next big things in the workplace. A key factor in the expected business and job growth in the field of aging, besides the obvious demographic bulge, is the shift away from viewing employment solely from the illness, disease and research model. This is due in large part to a redefinition of gerontology itself.

    Until lately, options for working with older adults were concentrated mostly in  the health care services continuum. While demand will remain high in these areas, the good news is that there exists almost a limitless opportunity for the development and delivery of new products and services to our burgeoning ageing population.

    For Executive Director, Dave Omokaro Foundation, Dr. Emem Omokaro, the need for senior care services and products (medical and nonmedical) will become even more pressing in years to come.

    In addition to healthcare, she  said general growth will be robust and  business  opportunities for working with older adults will flourish in  industries related to business and financial services, fitness and wellness, consumer products, housing and transportation and hospitality.

    She said seniors need reliable, comfortable transportation with sensitive, responsible drivers who will wait for them at the doctor’s office, accompany them when shopping and running errands. These services, she explained, can be developed to provide employment for the large youth population. She said investors can provide services designed to help young adults pick up a loved one from their home, check them in, assisting them with luggage, logistics, security issues and ground transportation.

    For  her, the  senior  peopmarket is booming, and opportunities are plentiful, saying it is good  to get a better understanding on how businesses can successfully market to seniors. She listed initial investment required to operate a home to include a decent accommodation.

    Business owners in senior care, generally work more hours, including more nights and weekends. The home health business is extremely people-dependent. Caregiver issues, service emergencies, and client deaths can be frequent occurrences. While running a senior care business requires empathy and people management skills, it does not necessarily require healthcare experience. Staff remains one of the biggest costs.

    According  to experts,  the   rules of starting any business still apply to serving the senior market.

    The advice for new entrants, is that when targeting older persons, it’s especially important to consider the functionality and safety of the product and how well that matches up with their needs. It will also   be helpful for one  to do a little networking with  local ageing network or people one  suspects are working with, or on behalf of the older adults in a community.

    Successful business models may include operations that can provide community-based, or home-based services, including healthcare, meals, personnel care or can assist  home-based businesses in areas such as technology support.

  • ‘Malls, allied businesses must engage security outfits’

    ‘Malls, allied businesses must engage security outfits’

    Dr. Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr., a lawyer, speaks on the porous security in the country and the need for operators of malls to engage professional security outfits and other issues.

    How often do you visit our malls?

    I visit shopping malls in Nigeria only when I take my family out to see movies and or shop for groceries and family needs. The Shoprite Chain in Ikeja, Surulere and Lekki are places  I visit occasionally with my Kids.

    How do you do your shopping?

    Most of my needssuch as clothing and allied needs are provided by my clothiers and close salesmen,  so I really don’t visit malls for them.

    With the Boko Haram terrorist attack in major places where one can find crowd, what advice would you give to operators of malls to prevent such incident?

    Considering the preponderance and tense threat of possible terror attacks by the Haramists I advise mall owners and owners of allied businesses to engage professional security outfits, install Close Circuit Television (CCTVs), get bomb and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detectors and diffusers as well as proper surveillance of their facilities.

    What advice do you have for shoppers this period?

    Shoppers must always heed warnings from security agencies and or shop owners because diligence and care are priceless organisms of safety

  • Lagos technical colleges’ graduates to get loans for own businesses

    Lagos technical colleges’ graduates to get loans for own businesses

    The Lagos State Government has expressed its readiness to provide loans for technical colleges’ graduates who indicate interest in starting up their own businesses.

    The Deputy Governor, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, told students and stakeholders at the second edition of Enterprise Day, held at NECA House, Alausa, Ikeja, that the loans would be interest-free.

    The event, which was organised by the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB) and chaired by Mr. Olawumi Gasper, was designed to develop a new generation of entrepreneurs.

    Mrs Orelope-Adefulire explained that the beneficiaries would not provide any collateral.

    She explained that the loans would be processed through the Lagos State Micro Finance Institution (LASMI), adding that forms will be provided for the students at their various institutions to enable them apply.

    Orelope-Adefulire said the Enterprise Day celebration was a programme of the government properly articulated to foster enterprise education among technical college students.

    She said the programme was geared towards encouraging the students to embrace entrepreneurial activities and develop the right attitude to entrepreneurship and self-employment.

    She said: “We have chosen to champion vocational and technical education as it focuses specifically on providing job-related skills for students, while also preparing them to be better positioned to develop new enterprises.

    “We have not departed from the position that technical and vocational education presents a complementary approach to general education. Our students are given the right opportunity to explore and identify potential career goals and are provided with the resources needed to achieve goals through technical partnership with industry stakeholders.”

    Also Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye, said the first Enterprise Day was aimed at instilling a positive attitude in Lagos youth towards entrepreneurial spirit.

    Oladunjoye said the government placed emphasis on curriculum re-alignment in the technical colleges, highlighting the importance of entrepreneurship, skills, training, involvement of industries and public private partnership in technical and vocational education for meeting emerging needs of globalised economy.

  • Businesses that require little start-up capital

    Businesses that require little start-up capital

    Nigerians are looking for businesses they can start with little capital. Daniel Essiet presents businesses they can start with N100,000 or more.

    There are businesses that with as little  as N100,000 one can  lift off the ground. A range of these enterprises are suitable for the unemployed who can  source up to N300,000 to begin. Here is a list of them

    Making and selling crafts

    Making and selling crafts is a  business one  can start with little capital. It includes fabric, yarn, and thread crafts. There is a big market for beautiful hand-made sewing, knitting and creative products for people who enjoy the simple pleasure of old fashioned craft.

    The kits are cheap and easy to put together. It involves cutting and hand-sewing tools. These include pins and needles, scissors, glue, stuffing, sequins, ribbon and patterns with step-by-step instructions. All that is required is imagination and creativivity. Products  can be  made and sold on a customised, made-to-order basis.

    To start small, one  needs a sewing machine and materials to make fabulous and exciting projects. There are fabrics and yarns in the market as well as hundreds of digital products and craft books packed with idea to help new entrants.

    An   important ancillary to promoting any arts and crafts business, is setting a reasonable price that the market can absorb. This process starts in the trenches – that is – with controlling one’s raw material costs.

    As in any other service business, one needs skills   to churn out quality products at a price that customers can afford, while still making enough money to cover business and personal expenses.

     

    Food business

    The food business is super-hot.   Growing need for event managers have created a booming interest in the food industry. One  needn’t  own a restaurant, or hot bar to get into the food business. The business can be  started right at home, or at the  kitchen table. The food industry is vast and includes every type of enterprise. It’s also an industry heavy with regulatory burdens. One  must learn inside out before one even takes the first step.

    However, it is an industry in which many entrepreneurs flourish. Unlike most other business opportunities, street food selling offers individuals a chance to start their own business with reasonably little investment. There are very few restrictions, low overheads and little, if any specialist knowledge, skills or experience.

    One advantage of street-food hawker, is that in most cases, one will be in the enviable position of being able to ‘move-on’ should a particular pitch prove to be unsuccessful.

    People will always  need to eat and drink, andtoday’s busy lifestyle often means that many are either unwilling, or unable to cater for themselves, turning rather to fast food or ready-prepared meals.

    On the whole, starting any business is no easy task, and becoming a food entrepreneur is a special challenge.

    One will have to prepare oneself for the hard work and dedication it takes to succeed in  food business.

     

    Rabbit rearing

    Rabbit farming is a lucrative agri-business.The domestic rabbit is a prolific breeder, and  produces large quantities of tasty meat. Rabbits provide meat and other products, and can be quickly sold for cash or turned into nutritious meals when needed.

    One needs a doe (female) and a buck (male) to start. Once the kindling begins, the colony increases rapidly. One doe is capable of yielding about  40 rabbits a year. If one starts the business, having borrowed the initial rabbits, within half a year, one can return live rabbits of the same age. Rabbits produce litters of six to 10 offspring after a gestation of only 30 days.

    The rate of production is faster than that of pigs, goat or sheep.

     

    Fish farming

    Fish farming has  become a good source of additional income for farmers when done in the right way.

    It requires a lot of technical knowledge, which farmers can only acquire through proper training and correct information from the right sources before they can start.

    All one needs is a space in the  backyard, or ready-made tanks. Required fingerlings sell for  between N10 to N20.

    Then  feed them for about  six  months, then sell from between N200 to N1,500 per kilogramme depending on weight and size. The type of fish to be produced depends on the market, climate and whether it is actually possible to grow it in fish farm settings.

     

    Snail farming

    Snail meat is a safe and nutritious delicacy. Anyone can start snail farming and make profit within six months. It is very cheap to rear. The profit in snail farming is encouraging because each snail can produce at least 100 eggs in a year.

    The best period to commence snail farming is the rainy season. One can start with about 50 – 60 snails to have a good knowledge of how snail breeding works.

    Snails are sold in bunches of 20 pieces each and price depends on the size- the bigger ones are sold for between N1, 800 and N3, 000 per bunch. It is better to buy the big ones because they can hatch after about 35 days on location. About N10, 000 should get a new entrant into the business.

     

    Ice block production

    The good thing about this business is that one  can start on a small scale  from the comfort of the  room.  To start, one needs a freezer, or preferably an ice-block making machine; a generator that can effectively power the  freezer or machine; a water source and nylon bags.

    This business thrives well in areas where there is incessant power outages, and also in over-populated places such as motor parks, market places, schools, commercial and business areas. The ice block business is a volume business; the more blocks one sells, the more money one make.

     

    Plantain chips

    Plantain chips production is a money spinner because it  is a well-loved snacks .

    It requires very little capital to set up.

    With a start-up capital of less than N20,000, one  can generate income of at least N10, 000 daily if one is able to produce 1000 packets of plantain chips.

    The equipment one needs include frying pan, plantain cutter or table knife, nylon sealing machine, gas burner or kerosene stove and a weighing scale.

    The raw materials include unripe plantain, vegetable oil, table salt, sugar, packaging nylons and printed labels

    After removing the skin, unripe fruit can be sliced (1 or 2 mm thick) and fried in oil to produce chips. If the chips are made from sweeter fruits, they are called ‘Banana chips.’ They can also be sliced vertically to create a variation known as plantain strips.The market prefers labeled chips.

    The more one produces,the more money one makes.

  • SMEDAN: multiple taxes can kill small businesses

    THE Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has warned that many small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) may die.

    Its Director-General, Mr Muhammad Umar, said at the launch of the Nigerian Stock Exchange Alternative Securities Market (ASeM) in Lagos that lack of rural infrastructure, poor access to business information and low synergy among the three tiers of government had also not helped the SMEs.

    Umar, represented by SMEDAN’s Director of Planning, Mr Wale Fashe, called for improved infrastructure and access to long-term finance to strengthen the growth of indigenous companies.

    He advocated the collaboration among SMEDAN, the capital market and the money market for the creation of viable ASeM.

    According to him, the NSE should make the listing conditions for ASeM to be less stringent to lure new SMEs into the nation’s bourse.

    In a related event, SMEDAN in collaboration with the National Productivity Centre (NPC) is set to enhance productivity and competitiveness of SMEs in Nigeria.

    Key players in SMEs’ sectors of the Nigerian and British economies have initiated a new bilateral trade-promoting platform to benefit entrepreneurs in the two countries.

    A statement by the Institute of Credit Administration said the objectives of the forum would involve promoting, supporting or opposing legislation/ policies and measures capable of affecting trade, investment and business between Nigeria and London.

    The conception and eventual incorporation of forum, according to the statement, is based on the need for the business community to join the league of credible elite advocacy and lobbyist-organisations, whose mode of operation is fashioned, structured and managed in the manner consistent with best practices.

    It stated that the group’s quarterly, half-yearly and yearly programmes such as business networking luncheon, trade and investment conference and bilateral review roundtable were held in London and Nigeria.

  • Fed Govt to assist small businesses

    Fed Govt to assist small businesses

    The Federal Government is to assist small and growing businesses (SGBs) to promote regional private business ownership and global investments.

    To achieve this, the government has simplified the registration of SGBs at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and is set to increase their access to credit facilities.

    Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, who stated this at the quarterly business networking for SGBs at the Pan African University, Lekki, Lagos, said the Federal Government has recognised SGBs as agents of growth and development of the economy.

    He said about 17.2 million SGBs have been identified in the country with about 32.4 million employees. He promised that the government would do everything possible to create the right environment to promote the sector.

    “So far, there are 17.2 million SGBs and 32.4 million people employed through these businesses. We are putting in place deliberate efforts to grow these numbers, if we must achieve the nation’s Vision 20:2020. Nigeria will do anything to create the right environment for valuing and promoting SGBs,” he said.

    He said the governement has concluded the review of the challenges affecting the sub-sector.

    “The Federal Government has done a review to know the economic constraints facing SGBs and is putting in place measures to upgrade them. Such measures include, online upgrade, easier registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and quicker access to credit facilities.

    ‘’The ministry will do all it can to help provide skill enhancement so that SGBs can add value by creating industries, help the nation to increase its foreign reserves and operate profitably and sustainably,’’ the minster assured.

    Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans, said ingenuity and innovation from small businesses are the driving force of a nation, adding that the telco was irrevocably committed to impelementing ideas that will spur growth and creativity.

    “Etisalat is committed to the implementation of ideas that will spur growth and creativity of small businesses, as innovation is key among its business pillars. As we all know, the lifeblood of any nation is innovation drawn from entrepreneurs.

    “Our effort to foster innovation led to the launch of the Etisalat Prize for Innovation, where the Best Product or Service and Best Idea in Broadband were picked from over 100 applicants. The vision has also stimulated a partnership with the EDC on several projects including Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) and the development of the SME Toolkit,” Evans explained.

    To the young entrepreneurs, he said, “As budding entrepreneurs, you must be proactive and confident because entrepreneurship is all about seizing opportunities to make a successful business.’’

     

     

     

     

  • Yero urges retired military officers to start small businesses

    Kaduna State Governor Mukthar Ramalan Yero yesterday urged members of the Nigerian Legion in the state to establish small businesses that would enhance their financial viability.

    The governor spoke in Kaduna at the launch of the emblem appeal week marking this year’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration.

    He said the establishment of such businesses would also improve the state’s business environment.

    Yero expressed gratitude to various military formations for contributing to the security of the state.

    The governor said his administration was working hard to consolidate the gains of the Ibrahim Yakowa administration.

    He said: “This very important occasion is, traditionally, an annual event organised not only to remember and honour our fallen heroes, who fought in various wars and paid the supreme price for the defence of our nation and humanity, but also to soberly focus on the plight of those heroes, who are lucky to still be alive though have suffered various deprivations as a result of the wars.

    “The activities of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day should, therefore, remind us of these sacrifices and the need to alleviate the sufferings of all those who laid their lives so that we may live today. While we pay tributes to the fallen heroes, our profound gratitude also goes to the living heroes…”