₦airaland Forum

I saw a plumber fighting the very guy that hired him over some misunderstanding on payments...

You hire generator repairer to fix a minor issue for you, and he tries to take advantage of your naivety in that field by "padding" the quote....

You deposit some money to an auto mechanic to fix your car, he disappears!....Yes.....disappeared...like vanished into thin air!

From our studies, the average call back for most Nigerian artisans is about 80%...that means, a Nigeria artisan is likely to be called back for any work he does for a client. And in most cases, if payment has already being made, it is hard to get the artisan to come back.

This is why we are setting up Pukena Academy....

Our mission is to always produce world-class artisans and service providers who listens to you the client and attends to your project to satisfy you.

You can only get that kind from Pukena...

Sponsor any artisan you know around you. HELP THEM UPGRADE!!

http://pukena.ng/pukena-academy

Let us handle ur digital an email marketing campaign for u at www.pukena.ng

I tell you, Pukena Academy is the rave of the moment. Registrations have been pouring in for days now and yesterday, the faculty met again to review and finally adopt the courses to teach at the Academy. They are now published on our official website.

Our first cohort is kicking off on 5th February 2018 at Tummy Yummy Event Centre, Ijeshatedo, Surulere, Lagos. Time: 5pm-8pm (Evening Sessions)

We are committed to raising and deploying only the best service providers to your homes!

Soon, you won't have to worry about the level of profieciency of our local artisans. We are producing world-class service professionals for Nigeria.

The 6-week intensive program is free for prospective Pukena Pros. Organizations that want us to train their informal staff would have to pay a token of N2000 per head.

To get more details about the courses, schedules, and registration procedures, click here http://pukena.ng/pukena-academy

pls send it to me too emma4ng@gmail.com

When I announced the launch of Pukena Acadamy late last year as a school of refinement for the Nigerian informal sector (Read it here http://pukena.ng/blog/how-pukena-changing-service-industry), little did I know we are in for something big.

Now we have several banks and hotels who want us to train their cleaning staff on etiquette. Even households and individuals are sending in the names of their handymen for further "brushing up"

My vision with Pukena Academy is to glorify the informal sector. Have you seen a cleaner who speaks good english? You will soon see them emerging from our academy.

Your nannies, house cooks, drivers, security man, need this training, even for your own safety and the safety of your children.

Register your house maintenance staff in Pukena Academy today.

How to register:

Fill our online form here http://pukena.ng/pro-page
We would confirm and send you the full schedule of their training tailored to suit your needs.

If you have any artisan and service provider who you think needs this training, please nominate them here http://pukena.ng/nominate-service-pro

Let's empower these amazing craftsmen!

This year is already looking great! So much has happened in the last few days of the new year to validate our business model here at Pukena.ng

We have reiterated our strong commitment to helping as many small businesses as possible to grow and scale by providing different kinds of support ranging from training, to IT Solutions and ultimately helping your business reach more of your target through our platform, www.pukena.ng.

I spend a bulk of my day, answering questions relating to different issues of business. This is in line with my personal philosophy, "You succeed when you help others to succeed"

Starting and running businesses for many years, more recently Pukena has helped me to see ways to help upcoming entrepreneurs and even business owners seeking for ways to optimize their business.

I have settled down to design a program for entrepreneurs who wants to start and grow highly profitable businesses this year.

Now you can get the chance to ask your questions and receive the much needed mentoring you need to start your business.

Come Sunday 28th January, 2018, I will be joined by my good friend, Chibuzor Opara, CEO Track-a-mechanic, a fast growing tech comapany that connects you with reliable auto mechanics using GPS technology

Together, we shall be talking to small business owners, artisans and other service providers.

It would be an evening of insights, networking, interactive sessions and prayers. What a way to start your week every week!

You don't wanna miss that! Book your seat now by texting "Your Name", "Your Business Name", "Phone No", "Email" to 08168411237

This meeting is actually necessary to all Pukena Pros who wishes to do business with Pukena.

Highlight of the meeting would include award presentation of the winner of the ongoing content writig project by our media partner, KWESE TV and lots of refreshments!���

Reserve your seat today.

pweetiedee:
Each of the Hotels or one of the Hotels?

All the hotels.

We are looking for freelance writers to provide original content for our client website, www.voyage.ng

Your content has to be high quality and original.It should not be found anywhere on the internet. If you copy and paste, your entry would be immediately disqualified.

Content has to be in depth but concise. Aim for 800-1500 word length and please check for grammatical errors prior to submission.

Once your content has been accepted and published on voyage.ng, you are not allowed to republish it elswhere. We also retain the right to edit the content as we deem fit or according to our audience requirements.

The Project:

Write a concise description of the following hotels:

Hotel Bon Voyage, Marinho Drive
CitiHeight Hotel, Opebi Link-Road
Eastgate Hotel, Lekki
Fahrenheit Loft, Victoria Island
The Blowfish Hotel, Victoria Island
Maison Fahrenheit,Victoria Island
Citlodge Hotel, Lekki Peninsula
Peninsula Hotel, Lekki Phae I
BWC Hotel,Victoria Island

Entries should be sent to info@pukena.ng not later than Friday 19th January, 2018. The best content would be selected and announced on Monday 22nd January where a presentation of a KWESE TV Decorder with 3 months subscription would be made by our media partners KWES TV with an undisclosed cash prize.

Good luck

pete1234:
nice concept ... no response as regargds interview conducted last yeat

Hello Peter, we've got a lot of plans for the year, and we would surely need your contribution at some point. We would contact you as soon as the need arises. Thanks

Unveiling Pukena Academy

The Mission Statement
People in need of services hardly get excellent service provided by service experts. Most service providers are not trustworthy, excellent in their service delivery, professional and structured in their operational procedures.

Excellence service is lacking to these users who are willing to pay more if they can just have what they ask for.

There is an urgent need for a change and transformation of attitude that accepts low standard of service, high level of call backs and waste of money.

What if we have a business model that...?
• Reduces services provider complaint rate by 40%, 50% or more?
• Improves the level of trust users have on our local artisans and service providers.
• Creates a change in attitude with our community of service providers and cultivates excellence in their jobs.
• Produce a better workforce and professionals, thereby improving the already battered image of Nigeria as a country that accepts mediocrity as a standard.
• Shifts the focus of our service providers from immediate gain to providing quality first before getting rewarded
• Improve and elevate the status of our service providers into an organized sector of service professionals.
• Ultimately revolutionizes the relationship between the Nigerian middle class and the service providers.
• Develops an intense verification and development strategies in a cost effective way and also making money in the process.

The users are used to saying...
• Most Nigerians service providers are not properly trained.
• They never keep to time
• They get paid and abandon the project
• The few good ones are too costly
• Can’t get a quality service provider for what we can pay.

What if we develop a system to handle all these concerns?

Pukena Academy is the Solution
At the heart of Pukena is the recruitment and deployment system to discover, develop and deploy specially trained artisans and professional service providers to high end users in need of quality home maintenance and other professional services.

Pukena Academy will integrate a comprehensive training and development component designed to redefine how the so called service providers value the nature of their business as a source of joy and satisfaction to the end users.

The Model
Pukena Academy is a life academy; a continuous intense experience that demands high participation, commitment and accountability from its students, but offers even greater benefits to the student, industry and community in the long term. It is transformative, sustainable lifelong experience that instills vision and professionalism in its participants.
As a life academy, Pukena Academy’s primary purpose is to create world-class service professionals for end users in the service industry .

How It Works
• Intending Pukena Pros will be engaged for 6 weeks in a high energy, high-intensity, transformative experience, complete with in-depth course modules, mastermind sessions and work-out sessions with the contributions of top business executives, athletes, personal development coaches, industry experts and so on.
• After the 6 weeks, Pukena Academy graduates will continue their development by attending a three-hour seminar once per week at the Pukena Academy Centre.
• Each Pukena Academy graduate joins the exclusive whatsapp group for long term coaching, and mentoring.
• Mastermind groups of seven each led by a Pukena facilitator to share experiences, learning difficulties , work-related frustrations and successes, as each member grows to be more successful by assimilating he tools, training, and development coaching they are provided on a week-to-week basis.

Pukena Academy Centres would be established in all our 12 zonal centres in Lagos.

The Result
What end users will get from a Pukena Academy graduate is an individual who transcends what the end user has been conditioned to expect- they will get a world-class service provider.
What Pukena Pros (Pukena Academy graduates) will get is the support of a company that is involved in their development, that helps them more up the ladder of excellence, one rung at a time.
Pukena gets paid by its customers who would rely on the company to supply highly trained and verified service providers.
It’s a WIN-WIN for everyone!

2018 Academic Calendar
Feb5th-March 16th Stream I
April 2nd- July 13th Stream II
Aug 6th- Sept 14th Stream III
Oct 8th- Nov 9th Stream IV

How to Participate
Fill the Pukena Pro Application form online: www.pukena.ng/pro-page
You will get a special invite on your email with your seat no and session details. We have a long list of interested participants and only a limited space of 40 per batch. So we will do it batch by batch on first come first serve basis

Only Pukena Pros who have completed or are in the process of completing the process would be given projects to execute. Graduates of Pukena Academy would be given a dedicated profile on our official website with the revered verified badge.

Only world-class people yield world-class results!

Pukena was launched in August 2107. As we begin a full year in 2018, we want to share a bit of the foundation laying stage of our business journey to encourage few startup founders who feel discouraged for lack of funds.

OUR MISSION
To help individuals, households and corporate organizations hire verified and top rated service providers across some select service categories such as events services, digital services, home maintenance services, private tutorials, beauty services, vehicle services, computers & technology, pet services and fashion & style.

PUKENA SHOULDN'T EXIST
With practically no institutional backing and no formal track record in the tech ecosystem, I saw a problem and delved in to solve it- The difficulty to hire reliable artisans by employers. I lost 2 big generators within 6 months due to bad servicemen, after spending so much money just to get a minor issue fixed. A quick opinion poll showed that 9 out of 10 persons have the same issue. I saw a need to develop a reliable database of artisans in different negbourhoods but unlike some platform like olx where you can get a painter's contact details without much input from the management of olx, I decided to develop an accountability structure where employers don't only get to hire these artisans, but we ensure the hired artisan delivers optimal services under strict quality measures set by us.

Now you can easily hire a painter, even far cheaper than when you contact them directly and still get a better job satisfaction. Money well spent. That was what I set out to achieve.

THE FIRST CHALLENGE
What service categories to cover. How to build the online platform in terms of framework and complexity considering I don't have money to hire a developer-I have find a way to do it for free!

How do I attract and convince service providers to join us, knowing they would now be watched at every turn and possibly offer their services at a cheaper rate than the market value (30% less) and still have to forfeit up to 30% in commissions to Pukena. That's a tall order.

THE NEXT 4 MONTHS...
Faced with these challenges, I immediately set to work. The first thing I did was to share my dear with my good friend, Ferdinand Aneke, a web developer and expert in Drupal. We have collaborated on projects in the past as colleagues in the same line of business (we both ran a cyber cafe and computer school. Infact he inspired me to open one in 2012).

Chike, as he is fondly called, finally agreed to help me get started with the web platform. He was to build the major structure while I give flesh to it. In a month I had my website launched in August, 2017. Check it here www.pukena.ng

While the website was being developed, I spoke to another friend of mine, Chilasa Anosike, about the project. He got excited. He soon became my shadow in the early days as we both set out to talk to different service providers from street to street in Lagos. One day we walked from Ijeshatedo to Bode Thomas without realizing it!

Artisans were excited at the new opportunity to showcase their services without first paying for it.But since we are dealing with people who hardly have use for technology and internet(except the services pros in digital services category), we had to find ways to on board them manually using printed forms instead of waiting until they use our online form. It was very tasking, as I have to start re-filling our database manually from the collected filled forms everyday! We used this method to aggregate over 200 service providers.

Some actually used our online forms to register. The vetting procedure was initially light. But I later insisted that in order to offer the best handymen, they needed further development. Hence I created Pukena Academy,a 6-week intensive professional upgrade for artisans, billed to start in February.

FUNDING
I funded Pukena from my pocket and with the help of some family and friends. I relied on my facebook profile to get the word out there. I worked out from my house and sometimes at Chike's Cafe to communicate with our growing community. With the site launched and some services providers onboarded, I desperately needed funds. I had run out of my savings and I have almost exhausted my relationship bank account. This project either works or we die off!

OUR FIRST JOB CAME!
One morning, I checked our official email as usual, expecting an order.We got one! A website design project for a hotel booking startup. I was in cloud 9. That job brought in more than N200,000 alone. Not much for most people but for a young project like this, it was a confidence booster. It re-invigorated us and gave us a reason to believe! We soon realized it was to open more doors for us. Before long, orders started trickling in- a generator repair there, a graphics design there, auto mechanic here, floor tiling job there, and business registration contract here. At the end, we ended the year with a gross with over N300,000 gross transaction value after 4 months with over 10 jobs on our waiting list for January alone!

INVESTORS REJECTED US
Yea, to them we are not doing well enough to attact funding. Well to them. But to us, we are proud of our small wins considering what we had to face achieving that. I told my team, which has grown to 4, not to bother about external funding but we should increase taction. We have set milestones for 2018. We have raised the bar so as to push ourselves more. We want to achieve a gross monthly transaction of N5,000,000 by March and increase our vetted service providers to 10,000 in 2018. Tall order but achievable!

PRODUCT UPDATES

We are set to lauch some programs in Pukena to enhance our business all round. These programs include:

Pukena Academy- designed to produce worldclass service providers fit for the kings (customers)
Pukena Referral Program (PRP)- this is one of our key marketing strategies for 2018. Read more about it here http://pukena.ng/blog/all-you-need-know-about-prp.
Sponsor a Project- This is our short-term financing strategy to encourage our friends to invest in a localized project in Pukena for a Return on Investment after 2 months. We are still finetuning the details. To be launched in February.
Pay with Paystack- We are integrating paystack on our platform to enable easy payment processing using cards, effective from February

TEAM & COMMUNITY
I have done almost everything myself since the begining, with help from some friends as I have mentioned above. I have been careful not to hire too fast or try to scale prematurely. I rather hire for the pain. I believe now I need to, the pain is getting so much. I need more hands to do job assessement visits. I lost some jobs because I couldn't visit every job alert. This visit are very essential in our business model.Initially I personally did the rounds myself to have a feel of the process but now, we intend hiring project officers first thing in 2018 for that purpose. We are lookng to hire up to 50 project interns to accomodate for our monthly target of 100 projects by March.

Am also looking to formalize the founding team and share the management responsibilties with them this January. The office of a Chief Operating Officer is crucial now to captain the groweing operational team. Soon, we would need to formalize our hiring process and have an effective human resources department to handle that.

I love to market. So for now, that will be my main role because it determines if we make money or not.

WHAT WE ARE WRESTLING WITH
Just like every early stage startup, we desperately need some injection of funds.At our level, we can only attract Family and Friend" round as against the institutional funding. Hence we are launching "Sponsor a Project" by February. We aplied for TEEP 2018 and are looking forward to applying to a list of accelerator programs and early stage funders like microtraction and Ventures Platform. But to increase our chances of getting a nod, we need traction. So you see-To get money, you need to sell more, to sell more, you need money for marketing and promotion- The funny picture of early stage startups. But we will get there!

Join us on this exciting journey. Help us grow by using or platform to hire a sevice provider or invest in us. Africa need more startup teams to be encouraged to d more.

Happy New Year!

Hey Folks,

Hope we’re all doing well.The New Year is here and I would love to show you a simple way to make a passive income through the Pukena Referral Program. I’ll try to keep this brief and concise. So without further ado, let’s get to it.

What Is PRP?
PRP (Pukena Referral Program) is the official referral program of Pukena Concierge Services designed to encourage our clients to earn with us and benefit from their business relationship with us.

How Does It Work?
PRP rewards clients with ‘Pukena Credit’ every time a client refers someone new to the service. In simple english, when a new client signs up with your referral code, you gain 5% of whatever that client paid as total service charge.

Example: If you tell a friend about Pukena, and that friend orders for a website worth N80,000 with your referral code, you gain N4000 in Pukena Credit.

If 10 people sign up with your referral code and orders for different services on the Pukena Platform, you gain 5% on each successful transaction in Pukena Credit.This simply means, you can easily make over N100,000 in a month by strategically introducing your friends to our premuim services.

What Is Pukena Credit?
Think of Pukena Credit as the money you have in your bank account (Pukena Account). Whereas you can’t withdraw the hard cash if it is below N20,000 in value, you can use the money on whatever you want, as long as it’s requested via the Pukena Platform. So you can request for any service and use your Pukena Credit to pay for it. You can withdraw your credit in cash if its up to N20,000

You can use your Pukena Credit for food, groceries, transportation, laundry, dry-cleaning, house cleaning, suya, and the list of other services Pukena provides.

Who is Eligible for the PRP?
Only users subscribed to the dedicated whatsapp group "Pukena Referral Program" are eligible for the PRP. Upon joining the group, you are automatically eligible for PRP.

How Do I Get My Referral Code?
-Add Pukena on whatsapp 08168411237
-Ask to be added to the official referral group.
-You unique referral code would be privately assigned to you.

It's as simple as that.

There you have it. Now let's make some money together.

See the full list of our services here: www.pukena.ng

The new year is here at last! We know you can't wait to hit the ground running. Yea, you go on and do just that; while we save you some stress at home or office by providing you with world-class services in these areas:

Cleaning services
It can be burdensome to dedicate adequate time required to keep your home or office clean after the christmas and new year festivities. You look around, the bins are full, the entire house is buried in food debris. Office has been locked for days. Dust must have accumulated. Sounds like your case? Not to worry. Call Pukena. We would quickly send in our verified cleaning pros to give your home and office a new look!

Painting
Start a new year by giving your house/office a new look! Painting is a cost-effective way to protect the structural integrity and value of your home. A new finish can breathe new life into any room, space, or furniture piece. It also can reduce the level of dust in your home, making it more enjoyable and pleasant to breathe. When you want professional and effective painting for your home to start a new year, schedule service with Pukena!

Electrical
If you are working on a project that requires professional wiring expertise, such as installing appliances like ceiling fans, repairing light switches, or maintaining smoke detectors, doing it yourself can be a dangerous hassle. It can take you more time and cost you more money than simply calling a professional!

When your electrical items are not working correctly, don’t waste your precious time worrying about doing it yourself—call Pukena to handle your electric needs for you! Our technicians have 10 years’ of experience on average, and all our workmanship is guaranteed.

Moving Services
It’s no secret that moving an entire household is stressful, and we’re here to help you with managing your relocation stress.
We do a wide variety of local moves, including apartments, single-family homes, retirement communities, dorms, condos, and many more! Our movers are trained to protect your belongings and your home – all pieces of furniture are padded and stretch wrapped free of charge, ensuring your items and home are damage-free at the end of your move. Having added stress about packing up your home prior to moving? We’ve got you covered with our full-service packing and unpacking services, too.

Carpentry
If you need Pukena to handle your home or office’s carpentry needs, Pukena provides fully-insured craftsmen with an average of 10 years’ experience. Whether you are looking to create custom shelves and bookcases or you need to repair the woodwork around your home, our handymen can handle any job, big or small.

Plumbing
A faucet that leaks one drip a second ends up wasting over 200 gallons of water a month. That’s about six months’ worth of showers a year! That’s not even accounting for the leaks your pipes may have within your walls, facilitating the growth of mold while damaging your home. To ensure that your home’s plumbing is in top shape, call Pukena!

Bricklaying
Pukena has over 100 local bricklayers with more than ten years experience in the building industry and provides the highest quality brick and blockwork for local Lagos builders and families. Pukena has been involved in the construction of over 10 houses, numerous extensions and also undertakes smaller jobs such as fences, even bricking up that hole left by your old air conditioner and will endeavour to match new bricks to old if at all possible.

Tiling
Pukena can help you with professional tiling services in Lagos. We can send expert tile fitters to your place who will remove the old ones and place the new with minimum hassle. Soon you will be able to enjoy your newly tiled bathroom, kitchen, or floor in any other room. We offer you one of the fastest and most reliable ways to deal with this particular type of home improvement. The specialists will make sure that you are content with the work they've done.

Locksmith
Misplacing your house, office or car key can be a very frustrating experience, especially when you are in a hurry! When that happens, call Pukena.

We provide homeowners and businesses with a worry-free experience that takes care of all their key replacement needs. Our experience allows us to response immediately and get the job done as soon as possible so your day can get back on track as soon as possible .

Generator Repair
Your business suffers when you have a generator breakdown especially in the middle of work. In that panic to fix it, you frantically call the local repair man by the street who comes in and complicates the problem. The good repair man you know might be engaged at the moment you need him. When that happens, call Pukena. 

Laundry
We offer in-house laundry and professional laundry pick up and delivery services. We can come to your home or office to pick up and deliver same day. Our rates are very affordable and is charged according to weights or per item.

Wall Paper
Your rooms and office can have a new look with amazing designs of Wall papers installed by our professional fitters. Call Pukena to give your house or office a new look!

Pest Control
In addition to bugging you, pests pose serious risks to your health and property – all year long. Cockroaches, mosquitos and rodents carry various diseases, so it’s important to keep them in their place. No matter what season it is, they will sneak into your home searching for food, water and a comfortable habitat. Keeping them out of your home is not a one-time event – it’s a year-round process. Our pest control experts work to deliver solutions – rooted in science ‐ that protect every home.

Nanny
we can help you find live in nannies, full time nannies, part time nannies, and babysitters. We understand how difficult it can be to recruit the right nanny for your children, so we’ve made every effort to make the process easy, fast and efficient. Registering is simple and intuitive, and our database is among the most comprehensive in the state.

Housekeeper
Access our large and comprehensive database of housekeepers, cleaners, and household managers looking for work in your area. Use our resources to find and review references of local housekeepers quickly, easily, and efficiently, or fill our online form with your specific requirements, and let the right candidates contact you.

Security
We work with top rated security outfits in Lagos to provide protection for CEOs and their workforces, famous entertainers, athletes, high-net worth individuals, royal families and diplomats. Our services range from providing one-time personal protection to developing long-term comprehensive personnel and asset protection programs.

Gardener
A well maintained garden provides a great look and feel to any home and increases the appeal of your property. We can tailor a garden maintenance program to suit your garden's needs or simply provide a once off visit.

House Cook
Pukena is your one stop source for affordable meal and dining experiences in your home. Pukena Pro Cooks are vetted before acceptance as members and all come to your home covered by a liability insurance policy provided us providing you with the peace of mind that you are inviting a trained professional into your home.

Errand Runner
Pukena provides bespoke messenger solutions to busy individuals and organisations. We help reclaim your time for more important things by powering through to-do lists and taking care of the mundane tasks. Our service is fast, efficient and completely reliable.

HVAC System
Pukena’s experienced technicians are trained and certified and their expertise includes all models and makes of commercial building HVAC equipment. Our technicians must meet our rigorous service standards as well as health and safety requirements. Our highly skilled team is ready to take on any heating, ventilation or air conditioning challenge from routine to emergency repairs to quality installation of home comfort systems. We ensure that you and your family can enjoy your home comfortably and worry-free.

Interior Design
Good design is about much more than appearance. It must first and foremost further your business objectives. Having designed residential,hospitality and commercial venues around the globe, Pukena Interior Pros anchors their projects in critical use before adding that extra layer- the design difference – which makes their projects so noteworthy. They are also able to take the project from concept design to final fitout, streamlining the process for fast and efficient results.

Partitioning
We have a team of designers, manufacturers and installers of demountable office partitions. With over 30 years’ experience in the interiors industry, our architects and developers have worked to provide leading companies and industries with bespoke solutions created to their exact requirements.

Ulphostery
We do the majority of repairs in the home and aim to complete the repair on the 1st visit. Our re-upholstery work and certain wood refinishing tasks are carried out in a Pukena affiliated workshop.

Renting New Houses
Tell us exactly the kind of house or office you need with our personalized request form and  we'll contact you with the rentals that match the specification you sent with your booking request.And if you like the place, you make payment and we'll help you move-in and settle down in the new place.

Driver
Be transported in the comfort of your vehicle by a smart, professionally trained driver.Reliable drivers are difficult to employ, why go through that hassles when we can provide you. Have you ever seen an educated and well disciplined driver before, we can provide you one.

Trust your home or office to Pukena. Call 08186611862, Whatsapp 08168411237 or simply login to http://pukena.ng/services-category/home-and-office-maintenance; select a service of your choice and fill the online form. We will quickly get back to you.

Enjoy 20% discount for time first time booking across all services booked before January 3rd, 2018

Follow us

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PukenaNg/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PukenaNg

The rich spend money to conserve time. The poor spend time to conserve money. Shifting your value for time can change your financial situation. Learn this and more in The Real Money: Secrets to Wealth Beyond Cash.

Am definitely spending my christmas with his book.

Buy it from Jumia here http:///2BfW2uu

Every investor wants an evidence of consistent and fast growth as a sign that your business is a viable investment.

It's a worldwide benchmark. Ycombinator, Ventures Platform, Seedstars, Microtraction, etc. The first criteria to get int these booster programs is an evidence of mind blowing growth with numbers.

It's logical. Only growing ventures should be funded for even greater growth and expansion. Nobody wants to waste time and money on a non growing or slow growing venture.

In our first 3 months, I had 5 applications for funding rejected on the premise of slow traction. Initially I was like, "No be money person go use grow? It's like a company insisting on employing a staff with over 5 years experience, what chance does a young graduate stand?"

But now I get their point.... and we have made some adjustments in Pukena.

Slow growth is interpreted as a bad business idea in today's world. No one is interested in how Cola only sold 6 bottles for a whole year and now sells millions in a second.

In today's world of investments, Coca Cola might stand no chance of getting investments without evidence of growth.

You either grow fast or die off....

I love the story line of FarmCrowdy founded by my good friend Onyeka. Massive growth within 12 months. Poultry farm sold out in 5 minutes! That's a record. Over 2000 farmers registered with them in only 12 months? I played their video for my staff during a Monday strategic meeting. They just got a seed fund of $1million dollars...in just 12 months!...

We are already studying them in Pukena!

Success attracts more success. It's a principle. Women naturally navigate towards a man they feel secured with in a ll ramification than a man who believe the future is bright without any signs to show for it. Same for investors and business oortunities.

2018 is a year of ACCELERATED GROWTH for us in Pukena. We have laid the foundation within the past 6 months. It's time to fly!

We grow or we groan!! Grow we will!

Emmanuel Udeagha is the CEO of Pukena Concierge Services (www.pukena.ng)

Location: Lekki Phase I
Gender: Male or Female
Salary: Monthly
To apply, send CV to careers@pukena.ng

It's holiday season again and lot's of parties...

While you have fun this festive season we love cleaning up the mess! Call us today for a free quote on 08186611862 or tell us exactly what you need here, http://pukena.ng/cleaning-services.

In Africa, up to 70 percent of people who regard themselves as ‘entrepreneurs’ do not own a registered business.

How can anyone say they own a business when it doesn’t really and legally exist?

For some of these people, it’s just plain ignorance; they don’t know or understand the importance of a getting a business registered. The others, who aren’t totally ignorant, just choose to avoid the upfront cost of registration when they start their business.

If you have been running an unregistered business for sometime, this article will give you five reasons to regret your action/ignorance.

However, if you plan to start a business soon, then this article will help you avoid from missing out on the benefits of a legally registered business.

I have taken the time to do quite some research for this article and will present the the legal concepts in a very simple manner with real life examples and scenarios you can relate with.

By the time you’re done reading this article, you should know exactly what you need to do to register your business.

Read here: http://pukena.ng/blog/why-you-need-register-your-business-now

In line with their quest for excellence, Pukena partners with two of Africa’s leading ecommerce giants, Jumia and Konga to bring top quality products and services closer to Nigerians.

Since launch in July 20th, 2017, Pukena is fast becoming the go-to online platform for verified and top rated service professionals across the following services categories:

• Events Services
• Home Maintenance Services
• Digital services
• Beauty Services
• Fashion and Style
• Private Tutorials
• Pets services
• Computers & Electronics
• Vehicles services

But in the course of delivering optimum services to her clients in the past four months, Pukena discovered a need for quick and easy access to related products to aid the delivery of her services.

For instance, a client orders for painting services. The order budget would usually include purchase of paints and painting accessories. It’s usually a tough option to go to the market and purchase over 20 drums of paints and transport them to the project site. It became a big problem we needed to solve quick.

One option was to launch an ecommerce site like Jumia and Konga so we can buy from ourselves and sell to others thereby opening up a new dimension to our business model. But then we reasoned, “why reinvent the wheel?” Someone has done the ground work already. It’s better to partner with them through their affiliate programs so we can focus on our core business.

Hence the strategic partnership with Jumia and Konga Affiliate Programs, which has turned out as a huge success! Now Pukena helps her customers shop for top brands and quality products on Jumia and Konga while we make money without leaving our core business. It’s a Win-Win for all parties.

Pukena is primarily a platform that connects users with top brands for a better business experience. So we see this partnership in line with our business model. Same way we partner with top artisans in your neigbourhood for your home repairs, partnering with Jumia and Konga for your best shopping experience is a great innovation for us which is already yielding dividends.

We bring you amazing products and hot deals from these two giants and make them easily available to you through our own platform. You get to enjoy all the benefits of shopping on Jumia and Konga which include Nationwide delivery, seamless payment and money back guarantee.

So for your latest fashion trends, wedding shopping, beauty products and men’s and women’s accessories, get exclusive discounts of these deals on Pukena powered by Jumia and Konga.

For your Christmas Fashion shopping, click here:: http://pukena.ng/services-category/fashion-style

Also get exclusive deals on laptops here: http://pukena.ng/buy-laptops

For your upcoming events, shop for your wedding accessories here: http://pukena.ng/services-category/events-services

Starting Pukena has since stretched my knowledge capacity. I have studied over 100 successful startups in Nigeria to find out what they are doing right.I noticed a trend, there seems to be a band of successful startups that keep coming up in the media, raising funds and hiring the best talents while others fizzle out with time. In 2018 alone I have counted 5 major startups that failed.I tried to find out what those that succeed are doing right and what the others that fail ain't.

I discovered the following mistakes amongs some failed startups..

1. Single Founder

Have you ever noticed how few successful startups were founded by just one person? Even companies you think of as having one founder, like Oracle, usually turn out to have more. It seems unlikely this is a coincidence.

What's wrong with having one founder? To start with, it's a vote of no confidence. It probably means the founder couldn't talk any of his friends into starting the company with him. That's pretty alarming, because his friends are the ones who know him best.

But even if the founder's friends were all wrong and the company is a good bet, he's still at a disadvantage. Starting a startup is too hard for one person. Even if you could do all the work yourself, you need colleagues to brainstorm with, to talk you out of stupid decisions, and to cheer you up when things go wrong.

The last one might be the most important. The low points in a startup are so low that few could bear them alone. When you have multiple founders, esprit de corps binds them together in a way that seems to violate conservation laws. Each thinks "I can't let my friends down." This is one of the most powerful forces in human nature, and it's missing when there's just one founder.

2. Bad Location

Startups prosper in some places and not others. Lagos dominates, then Abuja, then Portharcourt, Calabar, Enugu, and Uyo. After that there's not much. Even in Abuja the number of startups per capita is probably a 20th of what it is in Lagos. In towns like Kano and Owerri and Aba it's too small to measure.

Why is the falloff so sharp? Probably for the same reason it is in other industries. What's the sixth largest fashion center in Nigeria? The sixth largest center for oil, or finance, or publishing? Whatever they are they're probably so far from the top that it would be misleading even to call them centers.

It's an interesting question why cities become startup hubs, but the reason startups prosper in them is probably the same as it is for any industry: that's where the experts are. Standards are higher; people are more sympathetic to what you're doing; the kind of people you want to hire want to live there; supporting industries are there; the people you run into in chance meetings are in the same business. Who knows exactly how these factors combine to boost startups in Lagos and squish them in Uyo, but it's clear they do from the number of startups per capita in each.

Read complete report here: http://pukena.ng/blog/18-mistakes-kill-startups

A few days ago, I made a post titled "5 IT Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Have to Succeed".

I ensured it went viral across major social media and forums in Nigeria and the result has been nothing short of phenoemanal!In the last 48 hours we have received a good number of orders for logos, websites, busines cards and Company ID cards from people who have run their businesses for several years without these essential tools.

The fact is this, technology has simplified business and ministry. Today, a small startup like Pukena can look big and attractive to people beacuse of our smart use of technology.

I get emails from people who express their joy for associating with this brand and I am like, "What are they seeing?"

If your business or church is not yet online, believe me, you are missing the opportunity to reach over 70% of your target audience.

I was discussingg wth a Pastor friend of mine sometime ago. I asked him, "Does your church have a website?" He replied, " I want to touch the souls around me first, there are many sinners around me that I havn't touched..."


Technology is an enabler. It makes ministry easier. It helps you reach more people and your influence grows faster. Jesus operated a 'Multitude Ministry" and I am sure if He were on earth today, He would leverage on the internet to reach more people. "And when he saw the multitude, he climbed to a higher ground..."Matt 5:1

That is leverage...

God has committed unto us the Great commission to reach the whole world! You need technology to achieve that, not by operating from a little corner of your street!

Taking your church or business online is your first step to reaching your world exponentially!

Your business and church should be strong on social media-Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, etc

These should be tools to spread the good word of commerce and the gospel! Not for gossips and unproductive aguments!

You don't have to be big to use these tools! Pukena is barely 4 months old, but we have an average daily unique visits on our website of 500. Our social media handles are always on fire. We have every trappings of a corporate entity and hence we are attracive the attention of both the media and investors. That's the same story of Jumia, Konga, Supermart, Uber and many other disruptive businesses taking comandof their sphere within a short time of existence

With technology, you can grow a very successful business or ministry within 2 years and give the olders a good run fro their money!

I believe in the Dominion Mandate of the Church.

Worldclass businesses would emerge run by Kingdom amabassadors! So we need to flood he internet with good ideas and productive thinking no chaff!

So that's why, on behalf of Pukena Digital Services, we want to give every entrepreneur and pastor an opportunity to go online! We have partnered with over 15 top web and graphics designers in Lagos to help you get onlne fast.

The project is titled "From Dreamware to Software"-Only for startups and pastors who are not online

Package include;

1) A business logo
2) A simple website and hosting for 1 year
3) Letterhead Design
4) Business Card Design
5) ID card Design
6) Digital Marketing-Facebook Promotion and Google Adwords for 30 days

All for N50,000 Only (Offer Last till Dec 31st 2017) Now on a good day, these entire package would cost you over N200,000

How it works-

Log into to http://pukena.ng/services-category/digital-services

Fill the order form for each of the item in the package. Once it's complete you get the price slash.

Your designs would be delivered to you online within 10 working days. Website is a simple dynamic business website with no ecommerce facility. If you need ecommerce faciliy, we would discuss that o the side.

All our sociall media handles, my private facebook messenger and our website site feautre are open for any questions in the course of filling the form.

This is the best chance for you to get you business or minsitry online on the cheap!

Grab it!!

generalbush:
Online marketing and power point presentation skills are all that I need.

The rest, you can always hire a freelancer. Quite complex to learn.

Good to know. PowerPoint is easy to learn and online marketing is also quite easy to grab if you are patient enough. We can help you with any of them if you want.

Let's get right to it.No time

1. Graphics Design Skills

This is a basic skill to have from the onset. You need a business logo, letterhead, business card, custom fonts and colours,and other components of corporate branding.

If you lack these skills, you might need to set aside a small budget to hire professionals every step of the way. But it's great if you can do it yourself (DIY) and save yourself some money. I do most of my graphics myself and have a great team of expert graphic designers that dish out amazing corporate designs for startups every week.

2. Web Design

Next to graphics skills is website design. This is a great skill to learn. Not only to be able to design yourown websites and save money but to be able to manage yor websites on the fly. Most entrepreneurs completely rely on their web designers for all heir web project needs from designs to management. This can be a slow process for someone like me who like quick response to inspiration. I design my websites and also surround myself with some of the best web development experts in Pukena to ensure we have that crucial need covered for our company and for othe companies.

3.PowerPoint Presentation

You need this to prepare your investor pitches, which is a crucial task for a startup founder. You need to learn how to create professioal and high end presentations that can make an investor to sign the check. I started creating powerpoint slides for my seminars many years ago and now I make slides for different business pesentations. I have also trained more than 500 people how to create PowerPoint Presentations. In Pukena, we create an avearge of 5 slides per day for clients.

4. Research

This includes data collection, Market research and online internet research. Pukena is a research masterpiece. I personally consulted over 500 websites and online materials to come up with the first verson of our website. Most startups are unable to do enough research. Well, you might need to call us to do so for you. But knowing how to do it yourself can be a gold mine for you.

5. Online Marketing

You can call it digital marketing or social media marketing. You can even go further to call it search engine optimization. It's good you know the names. Hope you now they also drive business today? You need to know this skill if your business is to survive the first 1 year. It's either you DIY or engage a professional. The benefits far outweighs the cost if done well.

The good news is that whether you desire to learn these important skills or you want reliable professionals who can take your ideas from dreamware to software, Pukena is your sure bet.

Browse through our digital services here http://pukena.ng/services-category/digital-services to hire any of our verified Pukena Digital Pros fro your project.

You can also get a private tutor here http://pukena.ng/services-category/classes-tutorials to help you quickly grab the tech skills you desire.

To your success!

penisilin:
My first post in 2 years or so (because I hate tribalism, a serious problem on this platform)

I'm back again.

I had a very bad experience with a furniture maker or carpenter. I was given a used but very comfy sofa set and I decided to upgrade the sofa set so my parlour will look a bit more classy. The sofa set was very soft and comfy, it also came with a Turkish sofa cloth (a bit worn) and 4 nice throw pillows. I called this seemingly educated furniture guy to do a makeover with similar material which I will pick my prefered choice. We negotiated and agreed on a price (60k for sofa cloth change alone, citing the quality of the material).

The next day I was expecting whatsapp messages from him to show me the samples he got from the market, only for the idiot to show an already fixed sofa with materials looking like masqurade clothing. I almost collapsed inside a UBA Bank. The most annoying part was that i arrested him and the police asked him to refund me and fix back the former material but if you see the correction ehnnnnn

This is indeed a painful experience. Sorry about that. Hope it was fully resolved at the end.

Our CEO, Emmanuel Udeagha was a guest with a registered Pukena Pro, Evelyn Madukwe, CEO of Havigold Catering Services on the popular Live radio show, "Amazons on Radio" on Classic Fm 97.3. We discussed on the topic: "Artisans and their Tricks".

It was centered on the ugly experiences people go through in the hands of artisans like tailors, generator repairers, caterers, etc.

On a personal note, I lost two big generators within 6 months due to bad generator repairers. I called one to fix a minor issue with the caborator and before I said jack, the engine was affected...I spent over 25k to try to fix it and buy a new coil all to no avail. I finally sold it off as scraps to Mallam...This among other things led me to create www.pukena.ng as a platform to help people hire only highly reliable and verified artisans and professionals

Do you have any ugly experience with an artisan? Let's continue the discussion here on nairaland. Tell us your ugly experience with an artisan-tailors, generator repairer, etc

We are building Africa's largest online marketplace for your everyday services across popular categories such as events services, home maintenance services, beauty services, computers & technology, digital services, vehicle services, pet services, educational services and other specialty services.

We made it easy to use. No sign up required. You're only 3 steps away from hiring a reliable service provider for whatever you need:

1. Tell us what you need by answering a few questions so we can connect you with the right service pros.

2. You get up to 5 responses from accredited and insured Pukena Pros who sub,it their quotes through us.

3. You compare services, prices, chat with pros, hire and pay when you are satisfied.

Pukena fully protects your interest by ensuring you deal with only verified and insured service providers. We don't hesitate to sanction Service pros who violate our terms of service. We also protect the interest of our Service providers from clients who also violate our terms of service. We ensure both parties are satisfied doing business with each other.

So whether you are a service user or a service provider, join our fast growing Pukena Community here www.pukena.ng and explore possibilities!

Get up to 50% discount for first time booking using a special coupon in the interested service category.

With Pukena, we make life easy!

I wouldn't mind, as long as it can give me what I want. whcih one in particular?

semasir:
How about a WP theme for your site?

Hello House,

I have a web project at hand to design a simple hotel booking site for a client. I use drupal for most of my sites including my official business site www.pukena.ng. However, in trying to use drupal to build this particular project, I found that that there is no book now module. I am trying to make it easy for user to after selecting a room, they can click a button, "book now" that will connect them to the payment page. Pls check hotels.ng and jumiatravel site to see what i mean.

Here is a temporary link to the site. www.pukena.com.ng/voyage

I need a drupal expert in the house who can help me achieve this. Alternatively, if there is a better hotel book theme or CMS, that can achieve what I want, i need the suggestions.

By the way, on what platform is hotels.ng built?

Thanks for your support

I get to be asked this question every now and then, "are you building another classified ad like jiji or olx?"

My answer has always been a big NO.

Here is the difference..

You moved into a new house, for instance, and you need a painter. You've got two options:

You can go to any of the numerous classified ads like vconnect, jiji, olx, etc and see hundreds of painters listed on their platform with their complete contact details.

Now these classified ads platform would warn you that any transaction you have with any contractor or seller on their platform is at your own risk. And yes they are right! Anybody can create a profile on olx and call himself a painter!

You heard the Nanny story early this year right?

Their revenue model is mostly from adverts from google and premium placements. They are not interested in verifying anybody.

Now alternatively- and the best option is to hire a Pukena ProPainter.

This why:

We insure all our handymen to the tune of N1,000,000. So we are responsible for damages and bodily injuries in the course of project execution.

Pukena collects your project details and matches you with the best painter in our network who must have passed through our rigorous vetting process and inhouse professional training.

You only pay if you are satisfied with the job. We do all we can to make you happy before you pay. Your project comes first! In most cases, we hold your money escrow for 48 hours pending if there would be complaints. Then we either release it to the Pukena Pro that served you or refund you, if need be.

You don't get that from a classified ad.

In Pukena, we take total responsibility to the entire transaction process. From when you post an order, to our job assessment visit, before we match you with a reliable PukenaPro who works under strict supervision of a Pukena Relationship Manager on site to ensure quality control. Payment is seamless with you card, online transfer or cash.

We designed Pukena with you in mind! www.pukena.ng

I personally supervised a verified PukenaPro on site today.

For each task you order on Pukena, you have a Pukena Client Manager on site to ensure quality control and customer satisfaction. We get an average of 7 generator repair order daily.

Wale is a Generator Repairer per excellence. Feel free to hire him here http://pukena.ng/generator-repairs

I think it can sir

cefezyA:
But reality it can't work