₦airaland Forum

[quote author=blink182 post=/post/26830586]Your analysis is always real and in tandem with life. Now that it is all over and I've been able to start the business with which I applied for the grant, I now see more and more reasons why I was not chosen. The value chain virtually does not exist in my business, the sector is even non existent as I am pioneering the service. If another programme is done, I will definitely love to apply and use the experience I have gained from people like you and favourl. I do not think I will be applying for an online business again though.

For those who did not make it, if you can source for funds to start your business then do so. If your business is already making sales, it becomes very hard to be rejected since you already have a market footprint and only want to expand.[/quote]Thanks for the compliment.

It is good to see you are not giving up.

I pray that God will create ways for you even beyond your expectations.

oluwooye: Congratulations to all the Winners. To the 750 people not selected (myself inclusive), one of the major criteria used to drop them is the source of their raw materials. As seen from the list of the industries where the winners were selected from: "farming, manufacturing of food and drinks, education, manufacturing of clothing and shoes, food and restaurant." and the first question I was asked by the interviewer - "where is the source of your raw materials? They went further by saying "before you answer that question, please note that the fact that you buy your. Raw materials in Nigeria does not mean it is produced in Nigeria". At that point I knew I might not be selected. When I told them that my raw materials are imported, they wrote down something before they continued with the interview. The other part of the interview was excellent as I was 99% sure I would get the grant as an existing business who already has a Nafdac approved product in the market with several millions of personal funds already invested. From the above, it is unfortunate that such criterion was used because Nigeria does not produce any raw material for the chemical industry. Even our petrol is importe
d, and the country is planning to import electricity again. They should have stated it from the beginning that industries whose raw materials are imported should not apply. That would have saved some of us some headache and lost time. Not to talk of the money spent. Most of the raw materials used in the chemical industry are petrochemical products which could have been produced locally if the government had fixed the ailing refinery for the past 15 years they've been in power. Everyone can not be into agriculture. Whatever happens, i'm happy for those that got selected while the rest of us are encouraged to keep up our dream regardless of the outcome.

i do not think that was the criteria.

My business plan involves 100% importation of both raw materials and equipment.

I am into crop farming with equipment being sourced from China and Netherlands. Seeds are coming in from Kenya and South Africa while my fertilizers (in liquid form) are also imported. The only thing Nigerian is me and my workers....and the land.

I can remember vividly that i was asked the same question and i provided the answers above.

One thing i noticed is that YouWin is actually interested in Innovative Physical products that have a ready market. Solutions that are beneficial to already exisging value chains.

For example, in agric, we already have a lot of poultry businesses financed by Youwin. Youwin would definitely want to see what you plan to do differently as a poultry farmer. If it is the same default of getting land, buying cages and DOC, your chances of winning are quite slim...except you have an existing business. There are many value chain businesses in poultry than egg production viz feeds, drugs, meat processing etc.

Secondly, some businesses might bring in income but might not be practically justifiable to the committee. Internet marketing comes to mind. selling e-books, get-rich-fast schemes, etc. No matter how brilliant your idea might be, it doesnt cut it.

Finally, A lot of brilliant ideas were not picked simply because there was a quota system. 1,500 winners had to emerge. if we had 1501 extremely brilliant ideas, one has to be dropped. Unfortunately, 750 were dropped.

This implies that the 1500 winnners were just lucky. Nothing more. It doesnt even imply that the 1500 winners had the best ideas....simple luck and grace.

obakovich: Buy kaikai(local gin) and put it in a big white bowl abt 10-15litres put fresh bananas beside d bowl a lot of banana as they eat d banana they will drink from d bowl thinking its water my brother na u go carry as much as u want cause dem go sleep there until eye clear

are you sure?

I won't drink kaikai if I were a monkey.... Where you put red label?

Lol

Donxavier: I came across a site that claims you win 3 was the final edition of this govt grant. How true is this?

Yes. Technically, but from my permutation skills (which evidently, have been correct most of the time on this thread), I believe the government will weigh the economic and political impact of the project.

It can be used as a political tool for the next election (that is if we the youwin 3 set is not being used at the moment)

Either way, I envisage that if another youwin is not started this year, one should be introduced next year.

My fingers are crossed till the award ceremony date for youwin 3 when Jonathan might announce youwin 4 or just give a recap....

Award ceremony will occur in late October or November ceteris paribus.

My opinions

There is a saying in Yoruba.... Eni ti o be fe mu obo gbodo se bi obo.... He who wants to catch a monkey must act like one...

Need to lease equipment to clear 10,000 square metres of land.

Job is to remove vegetation, grub and other unwanted stuff. Earth is then compacted properly.

Land is along abeokuta to shagamu Road.

Kindly advise of the cost.

Thanks

How do you catch a monkey?

Who has heard of Co creation hub?

They provide assistance of from 10,000 usd to 25,000 usd

This is their site.

http://cchubnigeria.com/pre-incubation/

Lets have your inputs on this

Scammer

CoolKizzy: I heard about this, a friend went for the seminar under amfin and for our cooperative, I have an existing business in the agric sector but no records where kept specifically because the business isn't registered, how do CBN deal with my kind?

records are important to verify your past track records and estimate the trend.

bank statements, business registration docs, etc

Denn: I will give details in the morning...

Thanks

tried uploading. you can download from this link:

http://www.cenbank.org/Out/2014/DFD/MSMEDF%20GUIDELINES%20%20.pdf

FG announces 1,500 YouWiN awardees today
September 24, 2014 | Filed under: Breaking News | Author: ONYINYE NWACHUKWU, Abuja

2
One thousand five hundred successful applicants will today emerge from the third edition (2013/2014) of the Federal Government’s Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWiN) business plan competition.
This brings to 3,900 the total number of awardees that have been selected under the programme since its launch by the president in October 2011.
Each awardee, like in the previous editions, qualifies to receive between N1 million to N10 million grant to start up or expand his/her business based on the presented business proposal.
YouWiN is a business plan competition designed for both male and female entrepreneurs between ages 18 and 45 in Nigeria by the Federal Government aimed at creating sustainable jobs by encouraging and supporting young aspiring entrepreneurs in Nigeria to develop and execute business ideas and in turn employ other young Nigerians.
The finance ministry said today Tuesday that based on the huge impact of the programme so far, President Goodluck Jonathan had directed that the number of awardees be increased from 1,200 chosen, respectively, from the first and second editions to 1,500 in the third edition.
Of the 1,500 winners, 925 (62%) are male and 575 (38%) are female, also the top 5 winning sectors are farming, manufacturing of food and drinks, education, manufacturing of clothing and shoes, food and restaurant.
Explaining the selection process, the finance ministry said for the third edition, 114,463 Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 45 years applied out of which the initial 6,000 were selected and sent for entrepreneurship skills and business plan training.
A total of 2,250 top scoring applications were selected from the 6,000 based on anonymous evaluation by the Enterprise Development Center (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University (PAU). Quality Assurance for this process was provided by the UK Plymouth Business School.

http://businessdayonline.com/2014/09/fg-announces-1500-youwin-awardees-today/#.VCbrlctwbqB

excelway: @denn, on agriculture, hw long existence counts?(time duration, like how many years of existence)?

I will give details in the morning...

Thanks

Deep talks....

Let me share a little assistance.

If you have an existing business in either of the four listed segments, please be informed that you have access to lending under the MSMEDF intervention funding from CBN. Interest rate is 9% per annum and can be for up to 5 years.

The businesses are:
Education
Manufacturing
Renewable Energy
Agriculture

Please no funny manipulation or trying to 'fit-in' non existent businesses or businesses without track record.

Collateral will be required.

In case you are interested, please let me know.... My time line for this is short.... I currently work in a bank with strong focus on SME business development.

Don't dull. Loan amount is up to N50m

Thanks

favoryourl: yes thank GOD youwin 3 is gone now we awaits 4th.
my break even critics i hope u belong to our clique now. if not wish u luck in youwin 4 and dont forget to seek advice from experts
18 names of the 23 pple i help are now millionaires with no charge.

So you think you are now Lucas Pacioli because you were selected in youwin based on your business plan?

You also think you are better than the thousands not selected?

The 18 names you are claiming are millionaires... Did they get millions in the mail attachment sent by youwin? For all purposes, youwin has not paid a single kobo to any awardee for the 3rd edition...

Your arguments are not necessary.

This thread has grown to be an online family and it's unfortunate some guys didn't make it.... It doesn't imply the winners are better.

MrKnowitall: I wouldnt put my enemy in that piece of junk you Negros call APC. They ripped the body off a ford F-250 and

welded some sheet metal to it and you call that APC? No wonder Nigerian soldiers are afraid to fight the Boko boys.

Jonathan is an imbeccle for even allowing such inferior and dangerous vehicle to make it into active service.

Just pathetic, utterly pathetic.

No matter how knowledgeable you are, a small child will know it's safer than an hilux.

Now the real waiting begins....

Please check the list very well...

I almost didn't see my name from anxiety... Not all names are in alphabetical order.

No mail sent yet.

God be praised.

its thursday.....not today.

go back to your work...lol

medoty: I checked YouWiN website 3 times within an hour. I swear I no go do am again. I don tire. On a break please sai gobe

you will still check your email again like .....7 times today.

fact

we just got a new corolla for my office unit and ol boy...the new smell is inspiring.... my kia rio had that smell too but its long gone....instead, ambi por fragrance has taken over

Ibrahym: Good point!
Insurance is particularly important for business.
Unfortunately, many people do not make use of the vast facilities available.

I am even considering options for insurance for crops I will buy before processing. Especially as I intend to buy in bulk and store.
I don't know the rates yet but I am aware the premiums are much higher than for other things.

yes....more details on the point ....after the break

how far?

i have refreshed my mail so many times in the last 24 hours that i am sure the email company might call me soon...lol

Once the list of winners are advised, i wont mind providing two basic finance solutions for winners...

insurance and banking...

i have identified some products that will benefit us....details after the list is announced.

fieldbounty: @ Denn: get all ur inputs before u start land preparation at all.
#adviceFromExperience

hnmmm. thanks

This thread has gone so dry.... Let's make it more useful.

Any tips for a start-up crop farmer? Business tips on success and the x factors to consider

It's evident there was a tamper during the earlier fix.

During fuel pump removal, I would suggest checking all modules that were removed are properly plugged in, etc

bizhub: Recommendations like......

I think youwin would want to know the percentage of potential awardees with completed business registration and the common reasons for non registration for the others. They might want to wade in with CAC to fast track those highlighted ones.

I am hopeful that we don't have a lot of non registered /incorporated awardees.

Survey was focused only on CAC.

Businesses should be registered so we could open accounts and receive fund tranches... On time.

Elections are by the corner.

Permutations still

From further analysis, the company conducting the survey, (TNS) would definitely review the statistics and make recommendations. This would be done minimum in a whole day (on Friday). Reports would be submitted to youwin at earliest on Monday and reviewed by youwin on Wednesday, due to government bureaucracy.

Recommendations would be made to the ministry of finance and decisions taken.

I am expecting next week Thursday at earliest.

Permutations of life....

E&OE

[quote author=bizhub][/quote]I was right afterall....

Unfortunately

bizhub: Who are those people??What is the survey for?

i was surprised as well.

i didnt know when a survey to win came up and pronto...some pople have won .

maybe i missed it sha (which i doubt because i had consistently followed their posts)