Hello,

I want to get you views about the possibility of starting up a company in Nigeria. The company would be an IT vendor that provides services to foreign firms in Europe and the Americas. The company would undertake tasks such as software development and management, etc,

I need your contributions about potential threats to this business venture and ways to tackle such threats. I already know of threats such as Lack of electricity in Nigeria, But i have a way of solving that one, which is to provide solar panels for the office,
I'm also looking for possible business partners worldwide, with qualifications in Information Technology. Indicate your interest and lets create the biggest and most successful company. Nigeria is a land of opportunities. Recent IT graduates from Nigeria, UK, USA, Germany, France and the rest of the world are welcome to join this company, Lets join and do this business, rather than complaining about lack of jobs,

See www.google.com/search?q=site:nairaland.com+outsourcing
And https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-1036.0.html

hey Obabs,
That's a very good idea,but you know how nigeria is with all its ups and downs yet people are still making it big time.I believe you can make it work if you are serious about it.I would really like to be a part of your company because i have so much interest in the area of IT and have started improving my skills each day.My e-mail address is deryn20@yahoo.com i would really like to work with you and also help to see that the company becomes one of the best in Nigeria.hope to hear from you.

Me think you have to indicate the particular software market to be serviced so we can make function-specific responses.

By the way i have this PR software we developed which has been lying in my laptop 4 a long while though its development is not been completed by our team. The research team includes a senior lecturer in a university. So we can talk on commercialising it.

Im more of a Linux Sys Admin but Im delving into a Sh*tload of programming right now.
Long Story Short - Im in.
Ill follow this thread and holla u.But u can send me a message here if anything comes up.

Great idea that is.

You are right about the threats, but I believe its still a workable idea.

I have no doubt we have the human resources in Nigeria to do this kind of thing. I hope we can work around all other logistics.

I am interested too. My e-mail is sulegboyega@yahoo.com.

I will keep an eye on this thread.

India is a leader in IT outsourcing simply because IT companies in India don't pay tax.
Once that privilege is withdrawn in 1-2 years, their industry will become average and easy to beat.
As for our tainted image, it is easy to overcome if one's work is very good. Problem solvers are always hot cakes.

There're 2 critical factors here:
1. Coordinating the offshore clients. This needs a biz devt/marketing team to source for the client especially the strong pound UK and the US.

2. Assembling a BAD development team and keep shoping for emerging developers and project managers. Poaching from systemspec and socketworks - the 2 major software coys in nigeria - wont be a bad idea.

@naijacutee

You got a point, but we must not dwell on the negatives too much otherwise we won't do anything.

Seun is right, problem solvers are always needed. Also remember, we are not trying to compete with India here, we are trying to solve business problem, and create a reputation for ourselves.

@initiator

Good point.  The marketing team that will target the offshore companies.  But I think assembling the development team, getting the company up and running is the biggest challenge. We need to have something to offer before marketing.

@All

Our limitation in pulling this off will be determined by the development team assembled.  Here is the big questions:  How do we go about this?  We can have developers volunteeering, or willing learners etc etc, but how do we all get together, give a kind of structure to what we want to do, establish an envronment for the company, and how do we sort out the bills side?  I'd particularly like to know what obabs think about this part of the issue.

If softwares on new concept can be develop, the sy is the limit, it is a pity i am not into software, vast in Telecommunication and Data

hello,
i read your blog. I just finished an IT COURSE ON ORACLE DATABASE. I would sure like to be part of your future IT ESTABLISHMENT. Here my e-mail link ufuomskione@yahoo.com. From UFY.

I think the problem with outsourcing dev work to Nigeria has more to do with Nigerian companies not having a history of handling outsourced work. Nobody will want to contract out a very important project to an unknown quantity.

Perhaps the way to deal with this is to first build up a successful portfolio of domestic development projects, then seek software development contracts from Nigerian companies abroad (because they are less likely to view other Nigerians as unable to deliver, especially if by this time there is the portfolio of domestic project). Or perhaps you will have to offer a steep discount on your charges to pay for this 'risk premium'. Then it will be easier to approach any company abroad once you have a track record of successfully working on these outsourced projects.

The other issue with working on outsourced projects is the potential for details to be lost in communication. This isn't usually a problem if the development is done in house and there is frequent communication between the business analysts (who gather the requirements) and the developers (who implement it), but when the project is outsourced, such communication is much less frequent. This means that if you're managing the team, you not only have to ensure that you've got as detailed specifications as you possibly can, it also means that you need to ensure that the development team totally understand this specification along with any changes that it may undergo midstream. And it also means that you need to constantly keep the customer's business analysts up-to-date as to where your team is at (so that they can sleep well at night ).

Good luck!

Hi guys,

Seems like an interesting thread you have here. I am a Prince2 qualified Junior Project Manager in a UK based Business Process Outsourcing firm. One of our directors is from India so understandably we outsource much of our work there though we even outsource to other parts of the UK too. I believe that with the right support from central government Nigeria has potential in this field. Our competitive advantage lies in the availability of skilled  labour and a our relatively low cost of labour.

To obabs one threat that i can readily identify for you is the 'time zone factor'. Clients like working with us knowing of our links to India based on the fact that whilst they are sleeping in the UK, work is being completed in India. Take for instance by 12pm in the UK the time in Mumbai is almost 6am. They do the work and do it diligently.

We live in an globally competitive economy, India will not be easy to beat but I believe we have potential to become world beaters but it must start at home, i.e Africa and then move out from there.

I will keep an eye on this thread  

Hi, i do not have any certification in IT yet, simply because i have not taken the time out of my very busy schedule, but when it comes to Networking i am very good, i am also a seasoned software marketer. so if you need me, just post here.

,

I'm not much of an expert on the marketing [color=#000099][/color]subject. Actually more like not an expert at all, but I want to venture into software development as a simple developer, I might be a freelancer or be bought by a company paying a reasonable fee. My point is that any IT company should only have electricity to be bothered about. And with the on-going revolutions in the power sector by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, the power problem in this country should improve. Therefore ur only problem is to be able to lay ur hands on reputable and smart IT techs to help u achieve ur aim, , and theirs too.

There are a number of IT outsourcing compys in Nigeria and i guess they r ok.Its a gr8 idea.Love to be a part of it too.

Yeah, i can always support you guys with this 24/7 call centre, trust me you will not go far without it. www.Dialcentre.net is revolutionising the way calls are collected, handled and processed in Nigeria client to client, customer to client and client to customer.

All the best let me know were we can fit in.

@ obabs
I think am down with you, am into IT at the moment I work with a firm who prints recharge cards for GSM operators as IT administrator , but thats not my cut my interest has always been in core IT as in networking, fiber optics and the rest, first lets know what we want and then set up a business plan. I have this idea on support for these GSM companies laying fiber optics accross the country we can help them out in terms of maintenance these are areas people have not really looked at.

Am not a software person but if we have god developers we can break even, the IT market is very very large, we can set up something b4 you know it , how did dell start?,

I think the solution to all these talk talk talk is action lets create a synergy of ideas and put them into paper, bring in egg heads and good marketers, then,

how long are we going to continue working for people? think!

@ obabs
I think am down with you, am into IT at the moment I work with a firm who prints recharge cards for GSM operators as IT administrator , but thats not my cut my interest has always been in core IT as in networking, fiber optics and the rest, first lets know what we want and then set up a business plan. I have this idea on support for these GSM companies laying fiber optics accross the country we can help them out in terms of maintenance these are areas people have not really looked at.

Am not a software person but if we have god developers we can break even, the IT market is very very large, we can set up something b4 you know it , how did dell start?,

I think the solution to all these talk talk talk is action lets create a synergy of ideas and put them into paper, bring in egg heads and good marketers, then,

how long are we going to continue working for people? think!

@SGN
I want to believe what you're talking about is funding, well the good news is that with a good business plan we can source for funds from the banks who are always willing and waiting to lend, logistics we can handle.

@KUNZ
Then lets walk and not talk

@initiator
we can get egg head programmers and assemble them in days once we're set I know where to go

@Shaunscot
I think you will be an asset once we get on stream, Linux is a bomb waiting to explode

I have the experience to handle this I have presented business proposals, and attended business meetings so I know what to say to clients anytime.

In the interim lets hold a meeting of all those interested know what we want and chat a course, from there we can take it up, the sooner the better.

Enough of the talk now is the time to walk the walk

davovo@yahoo.com halla me

Starting up an IT company for outsourcing is no child Lego game. Before you delve into such an adventure, that is if you are not just having a wet dream, you need to look at yourself and see if you are ready. Let's take it one step at a time.

Question 1)  How big do you expect the company to be?
Question 2)  Who are your target customers?
Question 3)  What is your team down here going to look like?
Question 4)  How rich are you?
Question 5)  How bright are you?
Question 6) And most importantly, what course did you study and what level did you get to?

If your answer does not look like what I have below, then you need to wake up and find another job. It may sound hard but you should know that your competitors are going to be Indians; who are masters themselves when it comes to outsourcing .

Question 1)  How big do you expect the company to be? ,  As big as iFlex.
Question 2)  Who are your target customers? ,  Big players in America and Europe.
Question 3)  What is your team down here going to look like? ,  Software engineers, geeks and very smart undergraduates. Not NIIT "half baked Six Month Programmers".
Question 4)  How rich are you? ,  I have up to Five million Naira that I can afford to loose.
Question 5)  How bright are you? ,  I Can figure out some real life applications of some mathematical theorems, in three minutes. Say Taylor's series.
Question 6) And most importantly, what course did you study and what level did you get to? I studied Computers Science/Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or Electrical/Electronics Engineering. And I have at least a B.sc. in that field.

I hope this clears the air for you.

Notes:
Bill gates to most of us is practicing "withcraft" (Not as in flying in the night. Any knowledge that is hoarded by one man is regarded as witchcraft. If he had taken some time to get his degree he could have had a better company).

Linus Torvalds to most of us is a scientist. That is why the child of his brain LINUX is unbreakable.

Larry Page and Sergy Brin made google the company of today and the future.

What I am saying is that these men save for Mr. Gates basically went through a thorough formal education in the area of computing.


Ifeanyi

Mr. Ifeanyi,

Nice comment from you but i must dark out some of your comment i consider not really practicable, , if you talk about Nigerian science and engineering degree, without a further tech-knowledge in terms of certifications, its rather no point because i don't think they have any tech skills to offer. I'll rather employ tech guys with certifications than just pure ones with degree without certifications and tech-skills. If the motive of this thread initiator is to compete with companies from India in terms of info tech outsourcing, then source your tech people from that angle. Nobody is interested in old school technology so-to-say but what is obtainable in this challenging world of information technology. If you are to develop in software development, then get somebody that code even when he or she is sleeping. Get it right and get it straight.

If you talk about Microsoft and Linux, and you say your Linux box is not breakable because Linus Thorvald is a scientist then create a room for people to come in and watch if its not breakable, don't report a bug to those whom administered your distro, don't do update and patches, okay! "Kidding here" Maybe you did not here about what the bad guys did to FBI server sometimes ago even master-card server, maybe you should find out what type of infrastructure was those servers running on.

What am trying to say is that non- of the technology company is doing poorly but just depend on who is doing the implementation and administration. On gates witchcraft, the man has gotten a source code, that he is not willing to share with anybody, what is the problem with that. He is not the only one hiding his source code, after all they are many company that are not putting their code openly for you and i to rewrite. Maybe you should find out what the company that sell flex cube software to Nigerian banks do in terms of proprietary. Its a business world man.

Anyway to the man that want to start an outsourcing business in Nigeria, best of luck and listen to what Ifeanyi said in his advice.

Regards
Bolaji

@ everyone,

Thank you for your replies, I found them informative. I am currently carrying out a research into the feasibility of performing the outsourcing business venture. And hopefully after my research, I should be able to comment further.

So far, I have read the links which Seun provided, about a discussion on outsourcing and I found that informative too.
One issue which I am concerned about is,, Nigeria's image abroad and also the political status of Nigeria.

Keep posting your replies if you have other issues related to outsourcing

One of the ways to ensure quaslity software is to embed a continous risk assessment into the software development cycle. A Nigerian run company i know offers a range of software risk assessment services cutting accross vulnerability assessment and penetration testing. Mail me through cesedo@gmail.com for more information

Hello dear,
You gat a great plan with you i mine i love it.that means nigeria are not lacking behing because that is a bold step.I think am intrested to partner with you yes to make this a success one you will needed a lot of helping hands seens the goverment did not want to response to the masses need and as an IT person you don't needed that kind of policy to control your rules.I am a computer engineer and network security.
And i must said these you gat a great challage alhead of you.
i gat one question to ask
who will maintain the solar power is it you?

Posted by: tbay
Insert Quote
Hello dear,
You gat a great plan with you i mine i love it.that means nigeria are not lacking behing because that is a bold step.I think am intrested to partner with you yes to make this a success one you will needed a lot of helping hands seens the goverment did not want to response to the masses need and as an IT person you don't needed that kind of policy to control your rules.I am a computer engineer and network security.
And i must said these you gat a great challage alhead of you.
i gat one question to ask
who will maintain the solar power is it you?

Hello tbay,

The solar power would be maintained by myself. I have a friend who works with a company that installs solar panels. I have spoken to my friend to help me with electricity, for this outsourcing business, and I have promised to pay him when the outsourcing business yields profit. So that is why I said no worries for electricity. If you have other people willing to help with electricity, please do not hesitate to alert them. I believe that everyone has a contribution, no matter how small, which can enable this business venture to be successful.

Starting an IT outsourcing company anywhere is no joke!

Let me tell you from my experience, I set up www.veritycontactcentre.com this year January which is essentially a business process outsourcing firm with our first focus on contact i.e customer/consumer contact. I thank God that we are doing well and have a few contracts and the probabilities of more are increasing by the day. Lack of infrastructure doesn't help, infact it just makes everything more expensive but its still do-able.

I wish there were more firms out here doing what we do and that way we are all able to shout louder and gain the attention of the western world where, lets face it is where the bucks is. We have found it so difficult to get projects from the west for a few reasons, two main ones are ignorance of Nigeria as a possible outsourcing destination and our high cost of doing business which makes it difficult for us to compete effectively with India and the other outsourcing havens.

Having said that, I am still here and I believe wholeheartedly that outsoucing will work here. My key success factors to make it work for any budding outsourcing service provider is;

1. Get contracts in Nigeria first to get the experience and iron out any teething problems you may encounter

2. Make sure you have the right skills and are capable,  forget all that what you studied crap, cause 95% of it is not useful in the real world

3. Have a partner based abroad who can win projects for you, average sales cycle can be as much as 6 months

4. Have lots money 'cause this isn't an overnight success story

5. Have more than one back up generator,

My motto these days is if India can do why the hell can't we do it better?

Very good business

Nice idea!

Have you heard of TBSL (Technodigital Business Solutions Limited). They are a leading IT outsourcing company based in Nigeria. www.tbslng.com, they designed www.SMSDimensions.com, www.alvanlive.com, etc. They are currently putting up an online system of outsourcing for nigerian compananies and nigerian software developers. It's going to be like a bidding system, where companies will place their projects and coders can come and bid for it.
The buyer decides to select the coder of his choice and he makes payment to a third party for security of funds, bla, bla, bla, and the coder swings into action. once the project is completed within the stipulated time frame, the buyer tests the product and rates the coder.

Well, i dont know how this system will work in nigeria, but i hear it is already used in places like india.

what do u think.