₦airaland Forum

With the edge of her wrapper, Bola wiped off beads of sweat running through her forehead. Outside the shade under which she sat with her colleagues, the afternoon sun shone with fury.

Bola had peeled cassava tubers for more than two hours before PREMIUM TIMES’ reporter arrived her mother’s shop in Ilaro, a community in Ogun state, she said.

Together with her younger ones, she explained that she would peel two baskets of cassava tubers before dusk. On two occasions in the past, one of her coworkers had her fingers cut during the activity, she lamented.

“It’s very tedious but once you finish peeling the cassava, the process becomes easier,” she explained, forcing a bland smile, her knife carefully placed by the side of the cassava basket.

She would soon be joined another worker.

Like many communities across Nigeria, the business of cassava processing is widespread among residents and indigenes of Ilaro. While many people process the crop into garri, Nigeria’s popular household food staple, others produce fufu––another delicacy- from it.

Cassava is produced in at least 30 out of the 36 states that make up the Nigerian federation, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

With over 47 million metric tonnes per hectare, Nigeria is regarded as the largest producer of cassava across the globe.

Untapped Money Spinner: In 2017, Click here to continue reading

Question: What Is The Difference Between Gross Margin And Return On Investment?

Celestine Onwu, Nnewi

Answer: Gross margin, usually expressed in percentage terms, is the financial ratio that compares revenue and direct costs. Gross margin is what you get when you deduct direct costs from income. It is closely with the mark-up on cost price, meaning that a business with a high gross margin is likely to make more money than a business that is barely covering its costs.

Gross margin includes inventory and cost of labour but excludes such indirect costs of sales like rents, salaries and advertising. Adequate gross margins generate revenue to fund the operations of the business. A new business, due to start-up costs, is likely to report poor return on investment in the beginning. But gross margin is expected to improve as the business survives its early years.

Return on investment is the amount derived from a given investment. It is expressed as a percentage of the amount originally invested.

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Question: What Is The Difference Between Gross Margin And Return On Investment?

Celestine Onwu, Nnewi

Answer: Gross margin, usually expressed in percentage terms, is the financial ratio that compares revenue and direct costs. Gross margin is what you get when you deduct direct costs from income. It is closely with the mark-up on cost price, meaning that a business with a high gross margin is likely to make more money than a business that is barely covering its costs.

Gross margin includes inventory and cost of labour but excludes such indirect costs of sales like rents, salaries and advertising. Adequate gross margins generate revenue to fund the operations of the business. A new business, due to start-up costs, is likely to report poor return on investment in the beginning. But gross margin is expected to improve as the business survives its early years.

Return on investment is the amount derived from a given investment. It is expressed as a percentage of the amount originally invested.

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Investors in African start-ups have often taken a short-term look to investments on the continent, due to the uncertainty surrounding their longevity. There are also myths that, due to the fact that the African market is big, investors hope to cash out before the customary three-year life for African startups expire.

In this interview with Barbara Iyayi on the sidelines of the African 2018 Forum held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in December 2018, Ventures Africa gains an insight into many issues surrounding the African startup ecosystem- venture capitals, Silicon Valley investors, government policies on tech entrepreneurship in Africa, Africa’s readiness for Artificial Intelligence.

Barbara Iyayi is the Chief Growth Officer and Managing Director, Africa for Element, Inc. She also serves in an advisory capacity within the venture capital and tech ecosystem in Nigeria.

What does Africa For Element, Inc. do?

Barbara: The Element, Inc. is an artificial intelligence company. We deploy mobile biometrics, essentially capturing biometrics on the mobile device using artificial intelligence.

What does your role at the company entail?

Barbara: I’m the Chief Growth Officer so my job is to expand the business globally. I am also a Managing Director for Africa so I’m focused on also building Element, Inc. in Africa. But everything from investing in our growth through our partners, fundraising and just product development; building our products for our partners, we work with every type of company that has a digital platform so anything from healthcare, banking, national databases. We basically want to help our customers grow their digital revenue.

From an investment perspective, I’ve always felt that startups have not been able to show scalability as much in Africa and for us to build unicorns in Africa, we need scalable companies. The biggest distribution network is the mobile device and if you are able to capture customers and identify customers on your mobile device, you can scale very well and that’s what I’m trying to do.

In Lagos, Nigeria, have you been successful with acquiring customers?

Barbara: We are working with partners in Lagos right now.

Can you give names? Click here to continue reading

Investors in African start-ups have often taken a short-term look to investments on the continent, due to the uncertainty surrounding their longevity. There are also myths that, due to the fact that the African market is big, investors hope to cash out before the customary three-year life for African startups expire.

In this interview with Barbara Iyayi on the sidelines of the African 2018 Forum held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in December 2018, Ventures Africa gains an insight into many issues surrounding the African startup ecosystem- venture capitals, Silicon Valley investors, government policies on tech entrepreneurship in Africa, Africa’s readiness for Artificial Intelligence.

Barbara Iyayi is the Chief Growth Officer and Managing Director, Africa for Element, Inc. She also serves in an advisory capacity within the venture capital and tech ecosystem in Nigeria.

What does Africa For Element, Inc. do?

Barbara: The Element, Inc. is an artificial intelligence company. We deploy mobile biometrics, essentially capturing biometrics on the mobile device using artificial intelligence.

What does your role at the company entail?

Barbara: I’m the Chief Growth Officer so my job is to expand the business globally. I am also a Managing Director for Africa so I’m focused on also building Element, Inc. in Africa. But everything from investing in our growth through our partners, fundraising and just product development; building our products for our partners, we work with every type of company that has a digital platform so anything from healthcare, banking, national databases. We basically want to help our customers grow their digital revenue.

From an investment perspective, I’ve always felt that startups have not been able to show scalability as much in Africa and for us to build unicorns in Africa, we need scalable companies. The biggest distribution network is the mobile device and if you are able to capture customers and identify customers on your mobile device, you can scale very well and that’s what I’m trying to do.

In Lagos, Nigeria, have you been successful with acquiring customers?

Barbara: We are working with partners in Lagos right now.

Can you give names? Click here to continue reading

Audrey Joe-Ezigbo is the co-founder, with her husband, of Falcon Corporation Limited, a wholly indigenous oil and gas outfit that offers a diverse portfolio of services that cut across engineering, procurement, construction and natural gas distribution, as well as in the real estate sector. She spoke with Guardian Woman about her challenges and steadfastness. Excerpts:

Who is Audrey Joe-Ezigbo? Tell us about yourself.

I am first and foremost God’s daughter, committed to doing my excellent best by His grace to deliver to the world every assignment and purpose for which He put me on this earth. My greatest aspiration is to die empty; empty of every gift, talent and ability God blessed and resourced me with, so I can fulfil His mandate to be a blessing in the lives of others. I have over 22 years’ entrepreneurial experience, with core competencies in business strategy; finance and investment management; commercial strategy; business development and resource management among others.

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Audrey Joe-Ezigbo is the co-founder, with her husband, of Falcon Corporation Limited, a wholly indigenous oil and gas outfit that offers a diverse portfolio of services that cut across engineering, procurement, construction and natural gas distribution, as well as in the real estate sector. She spoke with Guardian Woman about her challenges and steadfastness. Excerpts:

Who is Audrey Joe-Ezigbo? Tell us about yourself.

I am first and foremost God’s daughter, committed to doing my excellent best by His grace to deliver to the world every assignment and purpose for which He put me on this earth. My greatest aspiration is to die empty; empty of every gift, talent and ability God blessed and resourced me with, so I can fulfil His mandate to be a blessing in the lives of others. I have over 22 years’ entrepreneurial experience, with core competencies in business strategy; finance and investment management; commercial strategy; business development and resource management among others.

I am a woman who is an encourager by nature and so everything I do feeds into my personal mission statement which is ‘To add value to the lives of everyone I meet in a tangible and sustainable manner’. I have a personal commitment to ensuring that people’s lives must necessarily be impacted positively because they had an encounter with me in person, through my work, or through my writing and speaking. For these reasons, I am a woman for whom purpose, intentionality and focus undergird my every moment. I am wife to an amazing man with whom I have had the joy of sharing over two decades of my life – at home and at work, and I am a mother to four absolutely fabulous children whose destinies I have been given the privilege to mould for the season of my life. I am a woman who understands that all things work together for my God because my life is in God’s hands, and His plans for me are good.

You started out in the oil and gas industry with no background experience in the sector, were you not scared charting a course on unfamiliar waters?

Allow me to lay some background before I get to your question.... Click here to read more

One of the qualities of high growth businesses is their strong focus on marketing. They regularly and continuously execute their marketing plans. It also follows that many businesses struggle because they don’t have marketing plans or execute them randomly.

Marketing is a master skill in business. If you are serious about the success of your business, you must take decisive action to transform yourself from simply being a business owner to becoming a marketer who owns a business.

How do you achieve this shift? Here are eight simple ideas you need to understand, and act on:

Select Your Target Market: When you ask many business owners about their target market, they often say “everyone”, which, in reality, means no one. That is a huge mistake.
To succeed as a small business marketer, you need a laser-like focus on a narrow target market. You need a niche, a tightly defined segment of a sub-category, because you have a limited amount of money. You also need to focus your marketing message, because you cannot be all things to all people.

Targeting a niche lets you... Click here to read more

One of the qualities of high growth businesses is their strong focus on marketing. They regularly and continuously execute their marketing plans. It also follows that many businesses struggle because they don’t have marketing plans or execute them randomly.

Marketing is a master skill in business. If you are serious about the success of your business, you must take decisive action to transform yourself from simply being a business owner to becoming a marketer who owns a business.

How do you achieve this shift? Here are eight simple ideas you need to understand, and act on:

Select Your Target Market: When you ask many business owners about their target market, they often say “everyone”, which, in reality, means no one. That is a huge mistake.
To succeed as a small business marketer, you need a laser-like focus on a narrow target market. You need a niche, a tightly defined segment of a sub-category, because you have a limited amount of money. You also need to focus your marketing message, because you cannot be all things to all people.

Targeting a niche lets you... Click here to read more

Question: How do I obtain a start-up grant under the $100 million Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme?

Yinusa Tijani - Lokoja, Kogi State

Answer: Inspired by its Founder, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, driven by his economic philosophy of Africapitalism, with a vision to democratise opportunity for young African entrepreneurs, the $100 million programme seeks to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs in 10 years.

The programme is open to citizens and legal residents of all African countries, and targets outstanding start-ups with growth potential and aspiring business owners with ideas that seek to transform Africa.

Applications will be judged by..... Click here to read more

Question: How do I obtain a start-up grant under the $100 million Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme?

Yinusa Tijani - Lokoja, Kogi State

Answer: Inspired by its Founder, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, driven by his economic philosophy of Africapitalism, with a vision to democratise opportunity for young African entrepreneurs, the $100 million programme seeks to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs in 10 years.

The programme is open to citizens and legal residents of all African countries, and targets outstanding start-ups with growth potential and aspiring business owners with ideas that seek to transform Africa.

Applications will be judged by..... Click here to read more

Question: How do I obtain a start-up grant under the $100 million Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme?

Yinusa Tijani - Lokoja, Kogi State

Answer: Inspired by its Founder, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, driven by his economic philosophy of Africapitalism, with a vision to democratise opportunity for young African entrepreneurs, the $100 million programme seeks to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs in 10 years.

The programme is open to citizens and legal residents of all African countries, and targets outstanding start-ups with growth potential and aspiring business owners with ideas that seek to transform Africa.

Applications will be judged by... Click here to read more

The Chairman, Baobab Microfinance Bank, Mr. Bernardus Zwinkels, has thrown his weight behind moves by the Central Bank of Nigeria to recapitalisation other finance institutions, particularly the microfinance banks in the country.
This, he believes will enthrone stronger microfinance banks. James Emejo presents the excerpts:

How long have you been in the microfinance business?
Since 1975, I have been very active in Africa and in the finance sector. I am now board member of AfrikInvest Group, a Pan – African Finance Sector group which is also investing in private equity and I am very active in operations in 25 countries. I also worked 30 years for FMO. I was much involved in creating banking institutions in Africa. I did at least 30 investments in Africa from Senegal to Madagascar. So in the period of all my career, I have learned how the financial sector operates and what can be done to improve the financial sector and for four years, I am also happy to be the chairman of Baobab Microfinance Bank in Nigeria.

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Lagos state based tech accelerator and Venture Capital firm Itanna held its first demo-day two weeks ago. The event was a culmination of a four-month program for African startups, where four start-ups (KoloPay, Accounteer, PowerCube, and Tradebuza), chosen from 200 applications from around Africa, became Itanna’s first cohort and received training and mentorship from leading industry experts in the form of UI/UX Sessions, legal and HR workshops, classes on technology, business and marketing, reviews of revenue/pricing model and operational metrics, mentorship sessions and guest lectures from some of Nigeria’s most renowned entrepreneurs and business icons.

Itanna is a Venture Capital platform of the Honeywell Group, a Lagos-based conglomerate, that launched last year November, and is currently bridging the gap between corporate Nigeria and tech entrepreneurs, especially in a tech ecosystem where most of the angel investments and venture capital have come from outside the continent.

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It is possible that you are one of those business owners who believe that your experience as an entrepreneur is different from those of other people who are striving to start, grow or scale their businesses. This kind of thinking is not exactly according to the facts. The truth is that ‘entrepreneuring’ is far more predictable than many business owners will admit. Even more true is that there are some common problems and frustrations that you encounter along the way, just as there are certain proven ways of overcoming them.

Now, let’s get started. Where are you in your climb on the entrepreneurial ladder? Where are you heading? What stands between where you are and where you want to be? What do you need to do to step onto the next rung of the ladder and inch your way toward arriving at your destination?

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Question: How Do I Reach The Right Customers?

Answer: The first step in reaching your customers is to know who and where they are.

Who are your customers? Simply defined, your customer is any person who can benefit from the use of your product or service. Your challenge, as the provider of a product or service, is to identify such person(s), by geographic location, demographic description, psychological inclination or any such characteristics that separates them from the general population.

It is after you understand who your customers are and why they are likely to buy your product or service that you begin to find channels to get your product or service before them.

In doing this, you must remember that different groups of people may want different things. Let’s say you are running a book store. Some of your customers may be interested in business books, some in religious books, others in novels, and so on. By categorising your customers according to their reading interests, you know that each group will want different kinds of books. This segmentation will influence how your business will communicate with each interest group.

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Question: How Do I Reach The Right Customers?

Answer: The first step in reaching your customers is to know who and where they are.

Who are your customers? Simply defined, your customer is any person who can benefit from the use of your product or service. Your challenge, as the provider of a product or service, is to identify such person(s), by geographic location, demographic description, psychological inclination or any such characteristics that separates them from the general population.

It is after you understand who your customers are and why they are likely to buy your product or service that you begin to find channels to get your product or service before them.

In doing this, you must remember that different groups of people may want different things. Let’s say you are running a.... Click here to continue reading

Though it’s the third time in nearly two decades when the two leading contenders in the race would be from the same ethnic group (the first being in 1999 when Obasanjo and Olu Falae clashed, and in 2007 when Buhari and late Umaru Yar’Adua faced each other), this is the first time when ethnic politics would recede as the leading candidates go toe-to-toe on the strength of their grit.

The general election in 51 days will be different from previous ones in nearly two decades in many ways. Money is one way. At this time in a “normal” election cycle, politicians would be in a rat race to outspend one another.

After four years of largely empty promises, they suddenly discover that they need to return to voters who wait in ambush on empty tanks, knowing that it would be another four years before this cycle repeats itself.

It’s a bizarre ritual of mutual extortion.

At a point, it didn’t look like it would be different this time. For example, the hefty cost of nomination forms by the two leading parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); the dollar bazaar at the PDP convention in Port Harcourt; and the estimated N26 billion shelled out by PDP and APC for the governorship election in Osun State, suggested that the stage was set, once again, for a tidal wave of campaign spending... Click here to continue reading

Though it’s the third time in nearly two decades when the two leading contenders in the race would be from the same ethnic group (the first being in 1999 when Obasanjo and Olu Falae clashed, and in 2007 when Buhari and late Umaru Yar’Adua faced each other), this is the first time when ethnic politics would recede as the leading candidates go toe-to-toe on the strength of their grit.

The general election in 51 days will be different from previous ones in nearly two decades in many ways. Money is one way. At this time in a “normal” election cycle, politicians would be in a rat race to outspend one another.

After four years of largely empty promises, they suddenly discover that they need to return to voters who wait in ambush on empty tanks, knowing that it would be another four years before this cycle repeats itself.

It’s a bizarre ritual of mutual extortion.

At a point, it didn’t look like it would be different this time. For example, the hefty cost of nomination forms by the two leading parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); the dollar bazaar at the PDP convention in Port Harcourt; and the estimated N26 billion shelled out by PDP and APC for the governorship election in Osun State, suggested that the stage was set, once again, for a tidal wave of campaign spending.

Click here to continue reading

The Managing Director, BCX Nigeria, Mr. Ayo Adegboye, spoke with Emma Okonji on the need for government to support small and medium enterprises by developing policies to ensure stability of businesses

As the year winds down, how will you describe the activities in the technology sector in 2018. What were the challenges and prospects?

Let me begin with business activities in 2017 that was characterised predominantly by economic recession, which ushered us into 2018, where businesses driven by technology, enjoyed relative stability as a result of exchange rate that normalised in 2018. The federal government in her wisdom, tried to stabilise the naira to dollar exchange rate and that helped in business stability to some extent in 2018. The stability in exchange rate allowed for predetermined business decision among organisations. Although it was still rough for businesses at the beginning of 2018, but towards the end of 2018, the measures earlier put in place by government, started manifesting, which helped businesses to become relatively stable towards the end of 2018.

Do you see stability in businesses in 2019, given the fact that it’s going to be election year?

I see such business stability still playing out in 2019, provided the federal government will be ready to develop and maintain policies that will ensure relative stability in business in 2019, especially businesses driven by technology. If the government does not maintain policies that will ensure business and economic stability.... Click here to continue reading

The Managing Director, BCX Nigeria, Mr. Ayo Adegboye, spoke with Emma Okonji on the need for government to support small and medium enterprises by developing policies to ensure stability of businesses

As the year winds down, how will you describe the activities in the technology sector in 2018. What were the challenges and prospects?

Let me begin with business activities in 2017 that was characterised predominantly by economic recession, which ushered us into 2018, where businesses driven by technology, enjoyed relative stability as a result of exchange rate that normalised in 2018. The federal government in her wisdom, tried to stabilise the naira to dollar exchange rate and that helped in business stability to some extent in 2018. The stability in exchange rate allowed for predetermined business decision among organisations. Although it was still rough for businesses at the beginning of 2018, but towards the end of 2018, the measures earlier put in place by government, started manifesting, which helped businesses to become relatively stable towards the end of 2018.

Do you see stability in businesses in 2019, given the fact that it’s going to be election year?

Click here to read more

Jason Njoku is the pioneering British-Nigerian founder and Chief Executive Officer of iROKO, a multimedia company that provides paid-for, on-demand, Nollywood content to audiences worldwide. He talked about his business with ‘How We Made It In Africa’. Excerpts:

What’s is the toughest situation you’ve found yourself in as a business owner? In 2015, it was abundantly clear that we were “losing Africa”. By this I mean that most of Africa could not stream and therefore watch iROKOtv content because our customer base couldn’t afford or didn’t have access to reliable broadband required to watch our content.

So, as a company, we had aggregated an incredible and peerless catalogue of Nollywood content – as well as producing our own original TV series and movies – but the majority of our potential audience simply couldn’t access it. No access means no subscriptions.

While we started as a diaspora-focused platform, the goal was to grow our audience aggressively in Africa, starting with Nigeria. So I had to take the tough decision of... Click here to read more

ason Njoku is the pioneering British-Nigerian founder and Chief Executive Officer of iROKO, a multimedia company that provides paid-for, on-demand, Nollywood content to audiences worldwide. He talked about his business with ‘How We Made It In Africa’. Excerpts:

What’s is the toughest situation you’ve found yourself in as a business owner? In 2015, it was abundantly clear that we were “losing Africa”. By this I mean that most of Africa could not stream and therefore watch iROKOtv content because our customer base couldn’t afford or didn’t have access to reliable broadband required to watch our content.

So, as a company, we had aggregated an incredible and peerless catalogue of Nollywood content – as well as producing our own original TV series and movies – but the majority of our potential audience simply couldn’t access it. No access means no subscriptions.

Click here to continue reading

January, which means Janus month, became the first month of the year in circa 700 BC under Numa Pompilius, a Roman King. Janus, in Roman mythology, is the god of gateways and doorways, hence the word, ‘janitor’, derives from Janus.

The two-faced Janus, god of beginnings and transitions, looks back to the past, and looks forward to the future. It literally opens the door to the New Year.

Tomorrow, Monday, December 31, the last day of 2018, heralds January 1, the first day of 2019. As a Small Business Owner, the former provides the rear mirror of 2018, while the latter offers a periscope for 2019. What are the lessons you have learnt, personally and professionally, from the past 12 months, and how can you use them to accelerate the progress of your business in the year ahead?

You were out there in 2018, an unbelievably challenging year. There were difficulties in your business, in your life. But, somehow, you and the business survived. It’s now time for sober reflection, time to recap lessons learned.

In playing your best game of being a Small Business Owner... Click here to continue reading

My sincere apologies

Here's the link to continue reading the write-up. Click here

Question: What Is The Difference Between Lease And Rent Of An Asset, And Which Is Better?

Adekunle Ojo, Ibadan

Answer: When it is not desirable or possible to purchase an asset, leasing or renting provides a ready option.

A lease or rental are similar, in the sense that they give access to an asset for a set time. But they are not exactly the same. What are the differences between lease and rent, and how can they shape your decision to lease or rent an asset?

Leasing: A lease is a contract to rent an asset for an agreed time and terms of payment. A lease outlines the allowed use and maintenance of the asset, which could be land, building, machinery or similar items of value. The lessor (owner of the asset) and the lessee (user of the asset) agree to act as prescribed by the terms of the lease, failing which they will incur penalties. Click [url=]here [/url] to continue reading

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) plans to create 444,000 direct jobs and an additional 1,776,000 indirect jobs from the training of 300 youths per state over the next three years.

A statement by the head of the Corporate Affairs unit of the agency Ibrahim Mohammed, said this is under the National Business Skills Development Initiative (NBSDI) programme designed to support the entrepreneurship component of the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), a tripartite intervention by SMEDAN, ITF and BOI.

As part of the NBSDI programme, the agency has trained 11,000 artisans and youths in the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory this year.

During the five days training programme, the youths were trained on personal and Business Visioning, Business Plan Development, Identification of Business Opportunities, Selling and Marketing strategies, Accessing Business Finance, Customer care and Legal and Regulatory Issues.

Click here to read more

Avoiding business financing mistakes is a key component in business survival. If you commit these business financing mistakes too often, you will greatly reduce any chance you have for long term business success. The key is to understand the causes and significance of each so that you are in a position to make better decisions.

No Monthly Bookkeeping: While everything has a cost, bookkeeping services are dirt cheap compared to most other costs a business will incur. And once a bookkeeping process gets established, the cost usually goes down or becomes more cost effective as there is no wasted effort in recording all the business activity.

Regardless of the size of your business, inaccurate record keeping creates all sorts of issues relating to cash flow, planning, and business decision making. By itself, this one mistake tends to lead to all the others in one way or another and should be avoided at all costs.

No Projected Cash Flow: No meaningful bookkeeping creates a lack of knowing where you have been. No projected cash flow creates a lack of knowing where you are going. Click here to continue reading

The Vice President was recently in Germany during which he spoke to investors about the potential for investing in the Nigerian market. When he got talking about agriculture, he made a comment that set alarm bells off in my head.

The part of the speech I want to highlight is this:

”Carlos Farms, a Mexican fruit and vegetable investor, had initially planned to grow bananas and pineapples for export; until he discovered that he was making more money selling his bananas locally at $3 dollars a kilogramme, for what he would have been paid only a dollar per kg in Europe.”

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Answer: As used here, to scale a business means growing it to a bigger size, in terms of the key indicators of performance.

While some businesses may lack the opportunity for scale, but remain lucrative with a small and regular stream of revenue, others may possess the capacity to grow revenue exponentially. In the latter case, with sufficient demand for your product or service, you may make a strategic decision to scale the business.

If you want your small business to become a big player in your industry, you will have to scale it. To do this, you must determine how big you want to become. You must also assess whether your business can realistically grow to the size you desire.

How do you decide whether to proceed with your decision to scale your business?

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In presenting the 2019 Budget to the Joint Session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 19, 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari said:

‘’To further support Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, which are the focus of our industrialisation drive, we have set aside the sum of N15 billion for the recapitalisation of the Bank for Agriculture and the Bank of Industry.

‘’In addition, the sum of N10 billion is provided as a grant to the Bank of Industry for the purpose of subsidising the interest rates charged on loans to Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises. This is intended to make it possible for them to access single digit interest rate loans from the Bank of Industry.’’

Continuing, the President said.... Click here to continue reading

In presenting the 2019 Budget to the Joint Session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 19, 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari said:

‘’To further support Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, which are the focus of our industrialisation drive, we have set aside the sum of N15 billion for the recapitalisation of the Bank for Agriculture and the Bank of Industry.

‘’In addition, the sum of N10 billion is provided as a grant to the Bank of Industry for the purpose of subsidising the interest rates charged on loans to Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises. This is intended to make it possible for them to access single digit interest rate loans from the Bank of Industry.’’

Continuing, the President said... Click here to continue reading