₦airaland Forum

Thinking of starting another competition soon.

Is he the next Osama?

The end of killing him or his goals as Libya's ruler?

The rush to put it on the home page is to be the[b] first to come up with the news, if it's true.[/b]
And if not, then by posting on the home page, we can discover that it's not true more quickly.

youngwiz:
really? @oga seun, i saw your mail selecting me among the one's to be compensated with 5k. I replied your mail and havent got a reply nor a notification whether its paid or not. Just want to know if u got the mail and compensated me or not cos i got no bank alert yet,pls do reply this post, thanks. The email: shantyboy44@yahoo.com

I've not made your payment yet.  There are just 2 more people I need to pay. "Shanty Boy" and Paulyne.

[s]From Facebook:

Anti-bomb squad just removed a bomb planted at Shoprite. Don't dare ask me how I know, I am a live witness to this

Is this true?

The full report:

I left GRA and had to pass thru CKC and out thru shoprite, people were crowded on shoprite end, i thot they were discounting on goods so naturally, it piqued my interest, but on getting there, I met this guy from way back who said Police were inside and sealed the place up, I called a friend whose sister works there to ask her to call her sister and verify if everything was ok, I was still there when the antibomb guys came out and had to clear everybody, ran to their cars and zoomed off. Then my friend called me back to tell me that a bomb was planted in there and they were asked not to go in until it was removed

[/s]
False.

Good initiative

There's at least one commercial parking area in computer village Ikeja.

They'll charge you 10%. This is under the CBN cash limit policy which has not been enforced yet.

150,000 naira for individuals and 1 million naira for companies.

Which registrar are you using?

SIRTE, Libya - Ousted despot Moammar Gadhafi was killed Thursday in a final assault by new regime forces on his hometown Sirte, ending the last vestiges of his 42-year autocratic rule and sparking joy across Libya.

"We announce to the world that Gadhafi has died in the custody of the revolution," National Transitional Council (NTC) spokesman Abdel Hafez Ghoga said in the eastern city of Benghazi.

"It is an historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Gadhafi has met his fate," he added.

He said the toppled dictator's death had been "confirmed by our commanders on the ground in Sirte, those who captured him after he had been wounded in the battle for Sirte."

http://www.canada.com/news/Gadhafi+captured+Libya+commander/5579563/story.html

The Gruesome Videos:
- Gadhafi Captured Alive: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a7d_1319127661
- Gadhafi Just Killed: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=09f_1319126140
- Posing With Gadhafi's Corpse: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=26b_1319136067

Just finished informing the people who wrote decent essays about e-book and DVD rental businesses (which I couldn't process) that they have won a consolation prize of 5,000 naira each. Once this is over, things can move forward with the winners.

@anthoniaz: eyah, sorry about this. don't mind the haters. you'll find a better guy, just ignore him for a while.

Damn. I bet whatever killed her wouldn't have killed her if she had access to better healthcare.

Setting up a profitable media renting business from scratch in Nigeria

If I am given a million naira capital to set up a profitable media renting store in Nigeria, I will first plan the business, analyze the market and work towards strategizing my business to meet the imminent needs of my target market while also being flexible to embrace new trends as the market grows and expands. The idea will be: not getting ahead of the market while also not being a day behind the market. I would want to easily move with the market while also creating or adopting new innovations that can easily be embraced by my potential customers.

The market: Media Renting

Outside DVD and maybe CD renting, this business should be the first of its kind in Nigeria. Starting a new business like this, one has to be very smart and cautious in order to make reasonable progress. First I understand the media business is being projected to go digital in the near future but however, the market in Nigeria is yet to move towards that direction and with all indications and common sense, I can ascertain the market in Nigeria will not be overtaken by the digital trend in the near future. The inaccessibility of the internet by majority of the Nigerian populace, poor electricity and poverty comes into play in my conclusion. So for this reasons, it will not be safe to start this business digitally. Physical stores and physical renting is ideal for the Nigerian market at this time business in Nigeria this time.

On the other hand, the business of media renting is a nice business with great profit potential when undertaken well. The business has proved successful in foreign countries. The success of renting companies like Netflix, Bookswim.com, Campusbookrentals.com, Bookrenter.com, Blockbuster, etc further boosts my confidence that this is a gold mine that is being overlooked in Nigeria. However, I will choose not to adopt their style of online renting and processing because Nigeria does not yet have a robust and flexible online payment processing system for everybody, so going online for this business in Nigeria will amount to a wild goose chase and the number of potential customers that will be bypassed will not be good for business. The model of business is thus a physical oriented business for now and will remain so in the coming years, therefore I will concentrate my business physically now – where the market is – and grow from there.

Having considered all this, I will set off with the business with these strategies:

Branding
I will first have to find a name for the business for reference purposes. People usually attach some sort of sentiments to names so I would rather go for a catchy name that is easy to remember for example, names like Rentstuff, Media Gallery etc. A nice name will create some impression is always good for business.

Legalities
This is very important to this business considering the nature - intellectual properties. I will have to consult a lawyer to put me through on requirements and abiding by copyright laws and also obtaining appropriate license. I will not like to be regularly harassed or clamped down on by authorities.

Location
This is the heart of the business. A nice location will naturally mean good business. For this business, I will consider citing it around a populated university area for accessibility and visibility purposes. Guided by the consciousness that this is a new business model in my constituent and considering its nature, I will want to first create an awareness of the business easily before or instead of taking any unnecessary risk. So I will target a university area or a crowded area with some kind of student population to avoid opening an empty shop.

Items
I will start off with books, DVD and CD (games, computer software) renting. For books, I will be a bit bias for health and medical related books. I will buy more medical books because these books are costly (bigger profits) and whether they like it or not, medical students must read. So I will stock more of these books in my collection. Others will be popular and highly demanded books like Engineering Mathematics, passing JAMB/ WAEC/Post UME textbooks and past questions (Post Secondary Textbooks), varieties of professional books like ICAN past question collection and textbooks and a mix of motivational, lifestyle and literary books – I will grow this collection according to demands and impression. The collection of books will mostly be in heavy duty or hard bound so as to make it last.
DVDs and CDs will involve latest, new, interesting and popular movies and sitcoms – both foreign and local, video games (less of sports games since they are usually bought anyway), cartoons and varieties of computer software.

I would also consider renting projectors for seminars and events. Projectors are highly sought after so it will be nice to make some money from it - though I will start with one to gauge demands. Apart from renting, I will also make some consideration for selling some of these products. Since some people might end up wanting to buy the product, I should give them that opportunity. I will also sell some branded classroom items of the school like pen, event items, wristband, books etc – anything to get people in.

The Store
The store will be neatly arranged and classy with proper shelving and stacking. The arrangement will be done to allow proper ventilation. People should be able to walk freely in the store to select their items after dropping all bags by the entrance. I will put up related posters in strategic parts of the store to catch attention; although this will not be too much as is done by local movie renters. It should be made classy because people appreciate some level of class. Inventories of all books will be taken for easy accessibility. Generally, the store must look classy.

Staff
I will employ 2 staff for the business. One as the ‘corporate staff’ while the other casual staff. The casual staff will run errands, deliver books to the homes of customers who want their books delivered to them at an extra cost to them for transportation. I will put up a phone line where people can call and request for books and have them delivered to their home. The staff will also tidy the place – make sure books are clean and well covered.

Identification
There will not be any form of subscription for me – for profit sake. Strictly pay as you rent. Customers will write their names, address, phone numbers and will back up their claims with a collaborating means of identification like international passport, school id card or drivers license. The details of their rented material will be entered. All books will be stamped at the last three pages or middle page to avoid them from facing any sort of embarrassment by out rightly stamping first pages. They can write their names on the books with erasable and non distortable materials. This is psychological.

Publicity
This is what will make or break the business. Being a new business, I will spend some resources to create awareness. I will print different catchy posters and fliers with the massage and phone number spelled out and spread it around the community. I will erect some signs and displays to create proper awareness for the business. My strategy for posters will be in different varieties for example, for a poster in a medical school, I will use the cover of a popular textbook and it would scream ‘don’t buy this textbook!’ – gimmicks that will pull attention. I will also announce in forums, groups etc.

Plan and Pricing
Renting of books will span across semesters and periods. From one month, three months, one semester, a session etc for books while CDs, DVDs and projectors will be priced in days and probably months. I will also offer a slight discount for more items rented at same time as incentive. Prices will range from 40 to 70 percent of the sale price depending on the popularity and demand. Late fees will also apply and customers must agree to keep the book in good shape and abide by deadline.

Having put all these in place, the business should kick off healthily and running. From my estimation and arrangement, this wouldn’t take up a whole 1 million naira budget – rented shop: less than 100 thousand a year in my former school area or to be paid monthly, publicity: Less than 50,000, legal: Less than 50,000, items (I would prefer to mix the books to include used textbooks that are still in very good shape which is easily available and can be ordered online –textbooks.com, abebooks.com and new textbooks): this will take a bit of the remaining money and miscellaneous. My budget for items will be around 400 to 600 thousand including a projector.

After setting up the shop and starting the business with the ensuing profits, I will be aiming for expansion and replenishing the business – buying more highly demanded materials. I would like to open a subscription based library fully equipped and maybe go into part sales of these items. Get a bigger space and expand the business to include other related business ideas that the impact is elapsing Nigerians. There is no doubt the business will succeed because Nigerians will love any means that will get them their favorite materials close to their wallets and thus, they will really welcome this business model

- Emmanuel I, 3rd place winner.

la furia:
na 2day, they shld keep on researching, later u guys will want Africans to come and pay 4 d so called vaccines. i hope this pple are not broke

It's already been tested on African kids.  50% of them granted immunity to the disease.

This question is rather puzling, because the answer is so obvious. A bakery makes money by selling bread. A bakery website should be used to promote the bakery's products, i.e. bread. You don't need a business idea, you need a web developer to build a simple website and perhaps an online bread store. A bakery is a business and that business should be the focus of your friend's bakery website.

I will be very happy.

I don't believe time spent thinking about how to solve a business problem is wasted time. However, I'd like to offer a consolation prize of N5k to all those who wrote decent essays that I could not grade. This is to compensate you for your time. I always try to conduct my affairs fairly. Cheers.

Announcing the results of the contest:

Winner: Olubukola Sanwo.
2nd Place: LagBlogger.  
3rd Place: Emmanuel Promise.

Babypinkyz:
seun since you have selected your best two base on physical books rental, to be on a fair side, why dnt you choose the last 3rd position on either the online dvd rental or ebook rental or any other online entry since somw of them have spent there time wiriting base on that aspect?

Good idea. I considered it too, but in the end I decided to award the third place prize to someone
who also wrote about physical book rental. I can only judge business ideas I've studied extensively.

You're better off suing the government; that's what Gani Fawehinmi did.

spotless:
but i thought you said media rental business and include ebooks, DVDs, CDs etc and not just physical books.

I did, and it was a mistake on my part.  I'm very sorry about that.  Thought the contest was failing.

Nigeria - How to obtain an Income Tax Clearance Certificate for your company :-

Step 1: If you are yet to do so, get in touch with FIRS and register your company. The FIRS usually maintain offices in almost every local government area. So, if your office is located in Surulere, you will have to register with the Integrated Office on Bode Thomas. After registration, your company will be given a Tax Identification Number (TIN). Your TIN will be used for every tax related transaction you do like vat and WHT. It is however not to be used for your state related taxes like the ones collected by the LIRS. This should be your last direct contact.

Step 2. Whatever you do, never approach a tax man (FIRS official or office) by yourself, it can make or mar you. At this point you should get a tax consultant. However, the next steps guide you with what the processes will be.

Step 3. The tax consultant will ask you questions like when your company was incorporated and when it commenced business? A company may be incorporated but yet to commence business. Incorporation simply means you have registered your company with the corporate affairs commission. Commencement means the date you started using the company you registered for business. It doesn't matter if the business is generating income or not. Once it has a bank account that shows inflow and outflow of money, it is typically considered to have started business by the tax man.

Step 4: if your company commenced business in January 2010 like Abc Ltd and have never filed for tax then you will be asked by your consultant to provide an audited Financial Statement (FS) or Statement of Affairs. An FS is a document that contains the financial state and performance of your business for the period under consideration. It includes things like your Balance Sheet and Profit and loss account.

Step 5: Once the Financial Statement is prepared and signed by the representative of the company and the auditors, hand it over to your consultant. The Financial Statement for a company in operation also includes your estimated tax payable. Your estimated tax payable is the amount of tax you are telling the FIRS that you are liable to pay. However, this is not usually acceptable by the authorities as they often make their own computation. But you should do yours and make it as conservative as possible.

Step 6. Your consultant will give you several forms to fill. You will be guided as you fill the forms. However, it is important that you read through the forms as most of the information you reveal in it are confidential and so you will not want to give out something that might implicate you because it is wrong. You will also be told to provide copies of your letter head. These copies are used for correspondences with the tax authority which will typically include your application for tax clearance certificate. You will also need to give your consultant your Certificate of Incorporation and Memorandum and Articles of Association (often called MEMAT). You will also give the tax man a copy of the personal tax clearance certificate of your MD or/and any Director which you will obtain from the state inland revenue service. For example, in Lagos it is obtained from the LIRS.

Step 7: Your tax consultant will then submit your documents with the FIRS. The role of the tax consultant is very critical as their handling of your case with the authorities usually determines if the tax man will accept your figures and give you a certificate on time. In a situation where the account you prepared is not acceptable to the authorities they can by law use a Best of Judgement (BOJ) decision to compute the amount of tax you should pay. This is often a drastic and unfavourable scenario for the tax payer. However it can be minimized or all together avoided.

Step 8: You will be given a Tax Clearance Certificate that is signed by an Inspector of Taxes. The tax clearance certificate is usually for the 3 years preceding your application. So, for ABC Ltd, they will be given a certificate reflecting the years 2010, 2009, and 2008.

The cost of a tax consultant differ for small businesses. However, the can fall between N50k to N100k depending on the peculiarity of your case.

For more details, visit http://www.ugometrics.com/2011/10/how-to-obtain-tax-clearance-certificate.html

@nateevs: Sure. Got a lot of entries and I think I've decided on who the best 2 are. I showed the top 5 to a business consultant and the best and 2nd best she picked are also my best and second-best.

Some people sent entries on ebooks and dvd rental, but I can't really grade them if they didn't include physical books in their proposals, so I guess I should have been a bit more strict about the rules. A follow-up contest about dvd rental and e-books specifically might work. We'll see.

All I have left to do now is go through the entries one more time and pick the third best entry.

Of course, the fuel subsidy will lead to protests. Even a blind bat can see that.

Approved.

What's the name of the company and what do they do?