Masterclass Series — Business Ideas and Project Creation
Venue: WhatsApp
Time: 7:00pm - 8:45pm
Date: July 30th, 2019
Facilitator: Imafidon Ayemere
Moderator: Ogundimu Ayoola David
Attendance: 257 individuals
Imafidon’s Profile:
Imafidon Ayemere is a small business development consultant and social entrepreneur focusing on business grant and fundraising consulting for small start-ups. He is the Lead Consultant of Ogagr8 Wealthgivers Concept, a small business development consulting firm; and Co-founder of Helping Life Microfinance Institution. Imafidon dedicates a greater part of his time to coach, mentor and help other entrepreneurs secure scarce business resources and scale up. He is passionately helping to improve the economic life of vulnerable groups, women and youths through entrepreneurial and financial empowerment.
He is an Alumni of YALI RLC, TEF and FGN/World bank sponsored GEM BIG awardee, and a semifinalist of the prestigious African Entrepreneurship Award 2018. He has directly helped in securing over N180m in grants to entrepreneurs/startups through his small business development consulting firm. He can be reached via email: imaorigina@yahoo.com, Facebook: imafidon Ayemere, and Twitter: @imaorigina.
Ayoola’s Profile:
Ayoola Ogundimu is a surveyor and and tour guide. He is the CEO of West Coast Travels.
Summary of discussion held:
Imafidon stated that most successful entrepreneurs do not get paid for what they do in quotes, but they get paid for the value they deliver. It is not just about the unique products or service but, what you are selling will determine if your business will be scalable. He added that It is not about how well crafted a business idea is but, the ability to transform the business idea to business opportunity and then launch.
Business Idea:
A business idea is a mere thought about what may work and what may never work out. Business ideas are very important in starting a business.The most brilliant business idea may fail even before it starts if the right steps are not taken. He empasised that small businesses do not actually have a Tailor Made model that guarantee 100% success.
Although every discussion in the masterclass may not guarantee success but, it would guarantee participants a reducing failure rate in thier small business or startup.
Imafidon requested for 5 volunteers to briefly share their experiences of a business idea they started which flopped on the long run.
Chrisbill : After National Youth Service, I decided to start a business centre so as not to stay at home. I spent over N300,000 buying the needed equipment. The idea was to situate the business centre in a particular polytechnic of which I did without the necessary feasibility study. After staying there for some months, I decided to close the business as the business was not as viable as I believe it will be.
Prince: I started up a laundry and dry cleaning business with all equipment it moved well at first but, along the line, I noticed my business was falling out.
Imafidon mentioned that the formulation of an idea is the first stage in launching a business but, that is just the first stage. Meaning that an entrepreneur was not supposed to invest hard earned morney into the passionate business idea alone until the busines idea has been transformed into a profitable business opportunity. The business idea has to be developed to solve a particular problem or problems or need. But, solving people’s need alone is not enough to qualify an individual as an entrepreneur or an organisation as a business-oriented company. Because charitable organisations, churches, mosques also solve problems and even bigger problems. He emphasised that idea should be turned into an opportunity that would constantly develop means of generating income. And that is a business opportunity.
Imafidon emphasised that the missing link there are customers. He illustrated an example; you have an idea of setting up a restaurant business or you prepare a good business plan, it is still a mere business Idea. But, knowing and providing the exact kind of food your target customers need and cashing on it, is a good business opportunity.
He added that an idea is only but idea until it is transformed into a profitable business opportunity, through the M.V.P strategy. He mentioned that he usually adviced his clients and friends not to hurriedly launch into the business world.
Business ideas Stripped Down
Imafidon stated that an Idea is the creative aspect of a business that attempts in solving problems while the opportunity created out of that idea is the monetary aspects of the business. Many small businesses try to launch business ideas instead of launching business opportunities out of that idea.
Generating Business Ideas using the Modified Unbearable Superpowers(MUS )Technique:
Step by Step;
(I) What problem gets you upset? Try to figure out the major problem that gets you upset that is annoying you or annoying people around you especially people within your target customers. Is it traffic?, high cost of data?, environment?, Junk foods?, low quality schools around you?, high cost of transportation? Keep letting out the problems that annoys you, the situation that you always feel bad about. In this space, you should be problem centric: see the problem the way customer service feel bad about it. List all the problems. This is the first thing in idea generation.
(2) What knowledge do you have or have you acquired over the years? Here, try to list out the various knowledge you have garnered over the years. If you are an accountant, you have legal knowledge, you have writing knowledge, good business plan for Asian skills you went to school for a particular course of study, you have gone to trainings in different fields, especially as it relates with the problem listed above. Just list them.
(3) What skills have you developed over the years? Those special competencies you have developed for the years. e.g. driving skills, business plan preparation skills, accounting, farming or singing skills you developed. List some of those skills you have developed over the years through trainings or practice.
(4) What challenges or problems have you solved or overcome in the past? It may just be solving hunger problem for a group of people, solving traffic congestion problem in your area or any other problem you have solved for yourself or others. Begin to list some of those particular problem you have solved for yourself or for others. It does not have to be similar to the current problem you are trying to solve above.
(5) Finally, considering your skills, knowledge and previous problems you have solved, try to figure out some solutions to the problem you have listed above.
He mentioned that there are no shortcuts to generating business ideas. He shared an experience of a time he was about co-founding his latest project which was a registered microfinance business. He used this tool personally to look at his past solutions (which was helping entrepreneurs to access finance), his skill sets, knowledge in business and financing and then the current problems he was facing- lack of access to micro loans and financial services at the grassroots. The technique helped a great deal!
Tips on How to Validate a Business Idea and Turn it Into a Good Business Idea:
(1) Meet ups and Networking event;
• One of the best ways he personally uses and encourage his clients and people within his circle to use in validating if business ideas are good ideas. Go directly to the target customers with the raw ideas even before the products are built. endeavour to meet them face-to-face or online to talk to them about your idea. Find out exactly where the target customers are hanging out and go there to ask for feedback for your idea.
• Never go to them as the boss but, as a member of the field team. If they like it, good. Enlist them into your data base and if they do not like it, get a feedback. They are people you are going to keep communicating your problems with as you build your business.
• Go with a questionnaire to meet with them online or face-to-face. Focus on the problem first before developing the product or solution.
(2) Minimum viable products. This simply means building a small sample or quantity of your products with very little cost and distribute to your target customers either for free or for a reasonable price.
Most important thing you are looking for is not the money at this stage. It is the feedback. This is when you intend to invest little money in building a viable product. You can thereafter distribute it to your target customers. Please ensure at this stage you only include the core values. Once your business idea is validated and customers say it is good before you launch, then it is good
80 profitable business ideas you can launch:
1) Female car washer business.
2) ICT training for kids and teens. I.e. coding, mobile app, cartoon etc.
3) Online radio stations business.
4) Online pidgin English newspaper.
5) Printed newspapers in pidgin English language.
6) Digital farming investment club.
7) Online abattoir business.
8) Small housing development.
9) Online vehicle spare parts sales and delivery shop.
10) School bag and shoes production for kids.
11) Waste recycling business.
12) Driving school business with free learner’s permit and discount on Driver’s License.
13) Mobile house repairs services mobile house repair services like tiling painter, cleaning, bricklaying and all likes.
14) Creche and after school services.
15) Mobile toilet business.
16) Mobile Cretche centres for parties, seminars training centres.
17) Publication of nursery and primary school educational materials and books.
18) Online ticket booking platform for buses traveling to 36 states.
19) Manufacturing of whiteboard ink and marker pen.
20) Setting up of agro farm estates.
21) Sales and development of residential estates through mlm model.
22) Setting up of mobile laundry and dry cleaning services that move from Street to Street to wash customers clothes.
23) Online job portal for artisans.
24) Small-scale business development platform for women entrepreneurs.
25) Production of school uniforms school bags lunch box for children using 100% African materials or Ankara.
26) Rural microcredit business/microfinance institution.
27) Bank agency business.
28) Mobile pharmacy store.
29) Micro health insurance business.
30) Manufacturing of custom-made female wigs.
31) Affordable anti cattle-grazing chemicals is for farmers in other to end farmers-herdsmen conflict.
32) Special organically modified cattle feed 4 cattle rearers.
33) Production of powdered egg.
34) Production of blended coconut and milk garri.
35) Processing of egg into powder.
36) Female premium taxi and trycircle driving business.
37) Cartoon productions using pidgin English Yoruba hausa and Igbo an Igbo language.
38) Mosquito repellent house paint production.
39) Block moulding and paving stone production business.
40) Sachet palm oil and locust beans business 39 tomato and pepper paste production.
41) E-commerce platform for the sales of agrifoods.
42) Online real estate portal for people looking for urgent accommodation to let.
43) SMEs financing network that link investors with small business owners.
44) Affordable sanitary pad production.
45) Nutritional infant food formula.
46) Powdered fruit juice production.
47) Herbal toothpaste production.
48) Production of laundry detergents,starch, and soap.
49) Private students hostel business.
50) Pure water production.
51) Production of matchstick toothpick using production using bamboo stick.
52) Solar torch lights for rural dwellers.
53) Production of solar panel roofing sheets.
54) Animal husbandry(goats, pig and sheep farming.
55) Affordable durable duvets bed sheet pillow case and blankets.
56) Production of socks handkerchief singlets and boxes.
57) Production of female bra and pants using locally sourced fabrics.
58) Custard production.
59) Cassava starch production.
60) Yam flour production and cassava flour production.
61) Garri and fufu flour production or packaging.
62) Renting and hiring of farm tools and tractor services.
63) Logistic and delivery services.
64) Organic fertilizers productions from recycled waste.
65) Processing and bottling of healthy drinks like zobo drinks, kunu, tigernut etc.
66) Palm wine processing and bottling.
67) Yam processing into high quality pharmaceutical grade starch.
68) Affordable micro education insurance services for poor people.
69) Digital banking platform.
70) Hybrid crowdfunding platform for SMEs.
71) Agro-tourism educational services for schools.
72) Mosquito repellent cream production.
73) Online or digital car wash services.
74) Agro food processing and packaging business.
75) Nursery and primary school business.
76) Mobile school business that can move from one community to another.
77) Mobile Sales and delivery of domestic gas business.
78) Production of noodles and spaghetti using 100% cassava pulp.
79) Digital agribusiness School.
80) Private school business for prison inmates.
81) Palm kernel processing business.
82) Female barbing saloon business offering premium services to only male customers.
83) Online medical consulting services (doctorshapshap.com).
84) Affordably quick Online legal services for poor people.(mylawyer.ng).
85) Sex & Fertility booster herbal medicine.
86) Exclusive Christian or Muslim believers' matchmaking services.
87) Royal palace tourism business.
88) Entrepreneurs tourism services.
89) Urban farming business.
90) Baby diaper production or distribution.
91) Mobile accounting services for artisans and small businesses.
92) Kiddies fashion show business
Project Creation:
Srategy is M.V.P
M for Mentoring.
V. for Volunteering.
P. for Practice through Learn Startups.
Imafidon concluded that before an individual starts a business, mentoring is essential, volunteer for other organisation, and launch the business idea through learn startup techniques.
Report written by:
Tinuola Aina
Assistant National Secretary
YALI RLC Alumni Nigeria Chapter
