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Business Essay Contest: Starting A Chain Of For-Profit Libraries In Nigeria

Hello,

Let's say you were given 1 million naira to set up a profitable chain of shops where the great books, especially non-fiction books, can be borrowed by paying customers.  I'd like you to write an essay on how you would start such a business with just 1 million naira, and make it grow to a predominant position in Nigeria with no additional funding.  And send it to [/b].

Your essay will be judged based on the soundness of your business strategy as described in the essay.  The winning essay will be the one which best demonstrates that the writer knows exactly what it will take to start and run a profitable book lending business in Nigeria.  The following elements might help: honesty, passion, rigor, research, profit-mindedness, pragmatism, accurate numbers, and other details.  But we'll be judging the plan/strategy in your essay as a whole.

The prizes are as follows: The writer of the the best essay as explained above will win [b]60,000 naira, the runner-up 30,000 naira, and the 3rd best 15,000 naira.  The contest starts now, but submissions will be accepted between the Monday the 10th and Friday the 14th of October, 2011.  The winners will be announced on Monday, the 17th of October, 2011 and awarded their prizes by direct deposit into their bank accounts.

I would strongly recommend that you try to understand the business models of Netflix and Blockbuster, even though they don't lend books and their business models probably won't work in Nigeria anyway.  If you're interested in running such a business, you should consider sending your CV with the essay. 

Any questions?  Good luck!

Regards,
Seun Osewa <[/b]>

---

[b]October 7 UPDATE: I've decided to continue with the competition but expand its scope a little bit:
1) The contest is not limited to books anymore. You can pitch a business that lends DVDs, CDs, and any other types of media in addition to or instead of books.
2) The contest is not limited to physical media anymore. You can pitch a business that lets people 'borrow' ebooks, stream movies/tv/music, etc.
3) You don't necessarily have to setup a chain of stores. A single store might suffice, if it enjoys a lot of traffic.
4) The stores need not be physical. They can be online stores, etc.

Good luck!

According to Ugometrics, 419 should be credited for reducing unemployment in Nigeria in the last decade. 
According to the blog, it might have reduced unemployment, armed robbery, and discouraged terrorism!

Excerpt:

I have been curious to know what role 419 might have played in reducing unemployment, armed robbery or even terrorism. 419 was mostly carried out by unemployed youths. These perpetrators were mostly fresh graduates who couldn't get a job after spending 4 to 5 years in school. Some of them were the last hope of their family having gone through hell to school them.

Back then, most fresh graduates who didn't have a job spent a large part of their time in cyber cafe's. This engaged their minds for most of the day taking away any other thought of a different kind of crime. Armed robbery wasn't very attractive to these guys. Neither were they ready to engage in some positively creative activity.

If I recollect just some years back, a fresh graduate who just joined the cyber crime network can within 3 months "pick" as much as $5,000 from victims. The British government once estimated a sum of £150m had been lost to cyber crime in a research conducted in 2006.

These guys made a lot of money. They bought flashy cars, some built houses and most even got married all with their ill-gotten wealth. Some of them were also good investors and at the time helped boost the Nigerian Stock market. No wonder the stock market crash of 2008 also coincided with the drastic fall in cyber crime by the late 2000's.

With all this in mind one may not be wrong to infer that cyber crime did help keep busy a restless group of our society that may otherwise had been engaged in a bloodier activity. This now brings me to think if the reduction of cybercrime has a relationship with the increase in the spate of kidnapping and terrorism thought to be perpetuated by youths. This may well be difficult to prove as kidnappers and the terrorist have all been a mixture of people in different age grades. But then there may be a compelling argument to believe a strong relationship does exist.

Back then, we never heard of kidnapping. We didn't hear of bomb blast as well. The youths were fully engaged in a cyber crime that involved absolute concentration and tasking of the mind as they strive to device more creative means of scamming. The idle mind is the devils workshop as they say and their minds were hardly idle . . . (continued here)

Can you believe this insinuation?  Do you agree with it?  An alternate view of the same events is that 419 introduced many youths to the pleasures of easy money through crime.  And when the activities of EFCC made scamming more risky and less lucrative, they shifted to other criminal ways of making easy money.  For example, kidnapping.  If youths were not introduced to 419 en mass, most of them would probably be doing constructive things with their lives.

Read the whole thing here: Did 419 help reduce unemployment in the last decade

diesel costs and daily sales would be helpful

Hi,

In our thread about how to get a car loan, many people said car loans make no sense in Nigeria.

ifyalways: A car is the last thing I would take a loan for!As far as Ifeoma is concerned,a car remains a liability(be it for biz purporse or for comfort) and as such can only be purchased with "cash".

fm7070: What about interest rate?
Car is a liability. not an asset.
That is where most Nigerians miss it and loom in poverty all their lives

Ijogz K: Car loan ke How wuld som1 use his own hand and money to buy liability Olorun Majeeeeeeee!!!
When u can get loan to buy land or house. Or start up a business or execute a contract. You kon carry money go buy Car,

catso: A CAR LOAN, !
Do not try to receive loan on something that is not bringing/generating income to you.
Car loan from nigeria bank?
Have you ever wonder what the interest pay will be plus all the hidden charges?
Please think twice!

chuckdee4: A car is the wrong thing to get on loan, the moment you buy a new car it starts loosing value, so why take a loan for something that will continually drop in value. I am all for the improvement of people's lifestyle but not at such an expensive price

fm7070: Have you have considered the future of the people you're advising? If they lose their job today, what happens to them and their family? and even the liability (car) they've bought. They ended up selling it so cheap to service the debt. Or do you think banks will sympathise with you if you lose your job?

However, I am not condemning buying a car or getting a loan to buy a car, but what am saying is that: Build your asset first before getting liabilities.
In America, many people will die in debt,  even their children will inherit their debt after working all days of their life. They want to live beyond their income just because of credit monster made available to them.

I will recommend this book to everyone:  Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Read it and become rich from the Inside.

But the author wrote a new post to defend car loans, insisting that "a car loan may well be a wise decision if you take a debt that is compatible with your income".  Do you agree with this statement?  Read the author's defense of car loans here: Is it wise to buy a car with a loan?

The idea is offensive, but more importantly, it's not even true. Not in the slightest. At all. Period.

Whats the cost of powering the machine for 24 hours on diesel to produce those blocks?

If you owned a company, would you sign such a deal? Would you work for a company
that agrees to a deal putting your life on the line in case of failure? Try to think things through.

If the figure was 10 times higher or ten times lower you would have reacted the same way.

Banks can fail, but the Federal Government will always be able to 'print' more naira to pay creditors.

The girl in the ABSU gang-rape video was decently dressed. That is all I have to say about the matter.

I think fixed deposit accounts are a waste of time.  The rates offered are unappealing
If you need a risk-free investment, look at FGN Bonds. See also: How To Invest In Nigerian Bonds.

UgoDre has just written a tutorial about getting a car loan in Nigeria.  It contains everything you need to know.

Mike: Hi Ugo I need a car loan how do i get one?

Ugo: Getting a car loan in Nigeria is not that difficult provided you are qualified for it. The following steps may just give you a shot at getting the loan

Mike: Hold on. Qualified? How is one qualified?

Ugo: Nigerian banks are very much inclined to extend car loans to individuals who have a regular income stream. A regular income stream basically means you have a regular source of revenue such as salary or income from a trade. Salary earners with companies that a well known have better chances of securing a car loan. Individuals who are self employed can also get a car loan provided they can prove that their business generates a regular pattern of inflow. The easiest way to demonstrate that is to show them your bank statement for a period of atleast 2 years. So basically, these are the guys that you can classify as qualified.

Mike: Now I get it. So if I was working for one "Baba A Supplies" I might not get a loan?

Ugo: The chances of getting the loan will indeed be very small. However, it does not rule you out completely as it only makes it more difficult. You will have to prove to them that the company is a viable company and that they are able to pay you continous salary for the period of the loan.

Mike: Ok so how can I get the loan?

Ugo: These are the following steps (For salary earners. Same maybe slightly different for self employed individuals)

Step 1: Identify the kind of car you wish to buy. Be it a tokunbo car or a brand new car the banks are always willing to finance. This is a very important step as you do not want to approach a bank without knowing what car you have in mind to buy. That way you have a guide even if you decide to change your mind on the type of car along the way. (continue here)

The full article (an informative must-read) is here: http://ugodre..com/2011/09/i-need-car-loan-101.html

logic1:
A survey of 1,004 out of 150,000,000 possible Nigerians is DEFINITELY NOT a survey especially when it involves economic figures!
It is highly lugubrious that this kind of mis-information can be published by a finance house.

If the participants in the survey were chosed randomly, then 1000 participants would be more than enough.
If the respondents were not chosen randomly, even 1 million participants won't give you an accurate answer.

-> Business/Money

-> Business/Money

See https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-49962.0.html

Nagging works better if your goal is to kill your husband.
Silent treatment works if you want to kill your wife.
Neither of them is constructive.

What's your CAC Registration Number? Where is your head office located? Who sponsors the operation?

How will ignoring the rot in government convince people to buy The Moment instead of, say, Vanguard?
I feel current papers do a decent job of tackling corruption. They are a bit tactful, but that's about it.

Yesterday, we learnt about the decision by NEXT Newspapers to stop their printing press.
Today, yet another newspaper has been launched to change the face of journalism in Nigeria.

THE Moment, the latest and wave making newspaper in Nigeria, was yesterday officially launched in Lagos, with a commitment by the publisher to change the face of journalism in the country.

The event, held at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, attracted captains of industry, media representatives, royal fathers and other well wishers.

Speaking on the vision of the newspaper, the publisher, Mr. Moffat Ekoriko, said the paper was inspired by a patriotic zeal for a better Nigeria in addition to the desire to introduce a new trend into the country’s journalism.

He said The Moment would look at issues critically and reveal the truth always, adding that it would also make people to contribute to the development of the society.

He said his aim was to take the paper to number three position in the industry by the year 2013, explaining that the staff of the organisation had undergone rigorous training and are motivated to build a global newspaper.

‘We are floating a paper that will look at things critically and reveal the truth. The media must be the eyes of the society. We are publishing a paper that will make people contribute to the development of the society. We want a paper that will proffer solutions to Nigeria’s problems,’ he said.

Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Ufot Udeme, called for support for the new publication, noting that the challenge of sustaining a newspaper publication in Nigeria was very tasking.

He observed that the road to newspaper publication in the country is littered with ‘corpses.’ He therefore, urged the team behind the paper not to relent on its effort, as the business terrain is highly competitive and unfavourable.

Also giving a goodwill message, the Managing Director of Solutions Communications Limited, Mr. Gabriel Agbor, saluted the courage of the publisher, noting that at times like this it is difficult to take up newspaper publication because of the challenges involved.

While urging the publisher to remain firm on his vision, Agbor noted that circumstances that might be beyond his control could set in, but with hard work and a stroke of luck, he would succeed.

http://www.momentng.com/en/news/4199/the-moment-launched-in-lagos.html

Do they stand a chance?  I actually bought a copy of the newspaper on the stands today.  It's ok,
but as a business, I don't know that they stand a chance.  What will they do that NEXT didn't do?

Award winning journalists are good at what they do, and I respect the NEXT newspaper publisher and editors so much, but the newspaper market is a tough market that is actually dying all over the world. 

It's almost impossible to break into it and make money because:
1) Youths, who are more open to change, don't want to buy newspapers.  Ever.
2) Old men and women are creatures of habit.  They will continue buying the newspapers they are used to.

The 234next website was an early success, because NEXT Newspapers were the first to embrace the Internet. 
But the Vanguard Newspapers have really improved their web efforts, beating 234next and even Nairaland.

Price?

There's no such business. If there was such a business, everyone would want
to rush into it and the resulting competition would erase the profit margin. It's ridiculous.

@Lord Babs: It was rape. Any judge that decides that it was not rape is simply a corrupt judge.
The legal process is supposed to be a means of enforcing universal moral understandings: don't
kill, don't rape, don't cheat people. If the legal process gives rapists loopholes to escape punishment,
even when the laws are quite clear on what constitutes rape, then there is something wrong with it.

If your contention is that, because we are not judges, we are too dumb to understand the law
then why should we be tried and judged on the basis of laws we can't possibly understand?

When did it happen?

If you blackmail a girl to get her to sleep with you, it's rape.
If you sleep with your twin brother's wife pretending to be him, it's rape.
If you slap and hit a girl and threaten to hold her for 2 days if she "doesn't cooperate", it's rape.

Here's the legal definition of violation in Nigerian law:
"Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl, without her consent,
or with her consent, if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threats or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm,
or by means of false and fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act,
or in the case of a married woman, by personating her husband,
is guilty of an offence which is called violation."

Based on the above definition, any reasonable person will agree with me that the event that took place in the ABU video was, in fact, violation.  No question about it.  It's not even debatable.  They used force, they threatened her, and intimidated her to get her cooperation.  No question about that.

@hollandis: leave his innocent sisters (if anything) out of it. They didn't do or say anything bad.

How about a picture of a person whose organs are allegedly missing?