youwin business plan stage 2
TRANSCRIPT
oo YOUWIN Business Plan Stage 2
Section 1
Q. Business Name: The name of the venture shall be “BEE82
Poultry Farms”
BEE82 Poultry Farms was established in 2011 to fill the gap of
the ever increasing demand for poultry food in Kano state and its
neighboring states
These are the cheapest eggs to buy
2. The Product
The main activity of BEE82 Poultry Farms is the poultry breeding and poultry production will involve day-old chicks being purchased, breaded and nurtured for the production of layers for eggs production; poultry meat (broilers) and also the sales of the old layers as meat for consumption. These will supplement the inadequate and irregular, insufficient eggs and meat production in Kano state. These eggs will be produced by free-range hens that will be fed on grains that are grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers or any other genetically engineered product.
Our products (Eggs) are first grades eggs weighted between 55g to 65g in size and will be packaged in transparent foils and preserved against sunlight and most importantly, will be the cheapest eggs to buy in the state. We will supply and make available the old layer birds as meats to consumers such as the ‘Maisuyas’, Hoteliers, ‘maisayis-indomies’ sellers and restaurants within Kano metropolis.
The product includes the following listed below:
1) A White and brown Oval–shaped eggs and 2) Brown Old layers3) Broilers
3. Targeted Market and Customers
a. Our eggs and poultry meat are in high demand both from direct
customers and businesses that uses eggs for their products. In
Kano state today, a state which is known for its high demand for
poultry products and meat; we will produce our products for the
direct customers which include stop-by individuals, families,
Corporate Kano, restaurants, fast food joints and Maisuyas within
and Kano metropolis; While our indirect consumers will be the
manufacturer and establishments that desire our products for
their own products e.g. Yahuza Suya; ice cream and yoghurt
producers
; And bakeries processed food developers.
Our poultry farm will also service some of the Kano state market
e.g. Yan Lemu, Naibawa motor park, corner Dawaki market and
Uguwan Uku motor park.
4.
Q. Is the market for your product or service growing or shrinking?
Kano state has an estimated population of 9.38 million people
(2006 census) and is the second largest state in Nigeria.
Agriculture is the largest sector in Kano in terms of provision of
employment and income generation to its populace. Over 70% of
its populace are directly and indirectly consumers of its
agricultural products
Our target as a company is to commence with 4,000 birds
capacity and increase to 20,000 birds’ capacity within the next 2
years. This we will do to enhance the supply of eggs and poultry
meat for the populace at affordable price as we also ensure the
creation of jobs for some unemployed youths in the society.
The above analysis shows that the market for poultry in Kano
State is a an ever increasing one as Kano is a large market for all
types of poultry products, including eggs. Producers do not have
to seek buyers; rather, buyers in Kano State have long sought out
producers. Dealers or middlemen buy from farms and sell to
direct consumers (individuals, corner shops, and supermarkets)
and to processors for onward sales to direct consumers. The latter
group includes many sellers of tea, and of sellers of fried yams
and eggs, and of fried bean cakes. These last two groups are the
largest outlets for eggs in Kano. Eggs are sold informally to the
neighboring countries of Niger and Chad. In normal times, eggs
produced in Kano were not sufficient to meet the demand.
The Kano state poultry industry is a
Kano State is one of the leading markets for poultry in northern
Nigeria. In Kano, most poultry farms are small -- about two thirds
have no more than 5,000 birds, and only about 5% of poultry
farms in Kano State stock more than 50,000 birds. Kano formerly
could not meet locally the demand for eggs. Eggs are sold
informally to the neighboring countries of Niger and Chad. In
normal times, eggs produced in Kano were not sufficient to meet
the demand;
Kano is a large market for all types of poultry products, including
eggs. Producers do not have to seek buyers; rather, buyers in
Kano State have long sought out producers. Dealers or
middlemen buy from farms and sell to direct consumers
(individuals, corner shops, and supermarkets) and to processors
for onward sales to direct consumers. The latter group includes
many sellers of tea, and of sellers of fried yams and eggs, and of
fried bean cakes. These last two groups are the largest outlets for
eggs in Kano. ¶5. Eggs are sold informally to the neighboring
countries of Niger and Chad. In normal times, eggs produced in
Kano were not sufficient to meet the demand;
5. Pricing Power:
Q. Explain the unique qualities concerning your products that will
enable you to maintain profitable pricing
Search for unique qualities of my poultry products!
Hygienic and
The range of our services is purely professional. They go beyond
the mere delivery of services as required by the customer. We go
the extra mile of adding value to the intention of the customer by
understanding the basic purpose of what the customer wants to
do with our services and help the customer see the bigger picture
of the whole subject matter. For instance, if we have a media job
that requires our doing a voice-over on a documentary for a TV
station or a particular producer, we would desire to understand
the purpose that particular documentary would want to achieve
and try to mirror in the psychology of the viewers in the specific
demography. This will help us to give fillip to the scripting and
the voice-tonation to help pass the message with an emotional
flair that will attract and arrest the attention of the viewers.
The same principles apply to our training and secretarial services
units. We always have the extra value that the customer goes
away with.
As we plan an expansion and full deployment of our services to
our target market, we intend to do a promotional price regime for
a specific number of weeks to generate a determined traffic of
customers. Our pricing however in this respect will be reasonable
enough for us to maintain a margin of profitability in the long
haul. The basic circumstance that will continue to guide our
pricing regime(s) is the extra quality we shall bring into play in
the conduct of our business. That however does not divorce us
from the fact that our competitors’ price will be ignored. We will
ensure that we are competitive enough to drive traffic before our
customers keep a better idea of the quality of service we have to
render.
Section 2
The Vision
The vision of BEE82 Poultry farms is to ‘see a well-nourished
society’.
And the company’s mission is to provide high and best
quality nutritional poultry products at affordable means.
I am passionate that a well-nourished society can be achieved
through our best quality and refined poultry product we provide in
Kano state. In other for us to achieve this we will ensure we
adhere strictly to quality and hygienic products.
The People
Ogudo Omonjiade is a graduate (B-Tech) of Physics
Electronics from Federal University of Technology Minna
Niger State, Nigeria with also Post graduate diplomas in
Education. I am a small business trainer and teacher of
microenterprise with close to five years’ experience
mentoring and developing small business in Northern
Nigeria; I have acquired some skills and experience in the
areas of agriculture and education. He is a member of a
few Agricultural cooperative societies registered in Kano
State that focuses on poultry production and mechanized
farming. I am also a member of the Kano state chapter of
the Poultry Association of Nigeria.
I currently work with Opportunities Industrialization
Centers International (OICI) as a Programs Associate on
Entrepreneurship Development and Resource Mobilization
Assistant (Pa ED/RM). My roles basically are to provide
business and entrepreneurship development trainings to
disadvantaged youths and women within Kano state. I
also encourage and ensure through the resource
mobilization department, that the participants embark on
community development and sanitation initiatives. This
we do in keeping a clean society.
I have 2years experience as an apprentice and poultry
assistant at a relations poultry farms in Kano State.
I am also a business consultant and developer of small
scale poultry businesses in Kano. Currently I manage a
cooperative poultry farm called Atama Poultry Multi-
purpose cooperative society Ltd. The poultry venture
which is registered with the Kano state ministry of
cooperatives; a farm that stared poultry production with
200 birds.
Q. Describe your work experience in the business you plan to
start including a list of your skills and knowledge, which will be
required in your business
A. Ogudo Omon is a graduate (B-Tech) of Physics Electronics
from Federal University of Technology Minna Niger State, Nigeria
with also Post graduate diplomas in Education. I am a small
business trainer and teacher of microenterprise with close to five
years’ experience mentoring and developing small business in
Northern Nigeria; I have acquired some skills and experience in
the areas of agriculture and education. He is a member of a few
Agricultural cooperative societies registered in Kano State that
focuses on poultry production and mechanized farming. I am also
a member of the Kano state chapter of the Poultry Association of
Nigeria.
I have 2years experience as an apprentice and poultry
assistant at a relations poultry farms in Kano State. Ogudo Omon
is the founder of Born Extraordinarily Excellent International (BEE
International) an organization with the sole aim of bringing
mentorship, training, apprenticeship and information to young
people (teenagers) in northern Nigeria.
Furthermore, he is a graduate of the PAN African University
(Entrepreneurship Development Center) Lagos Creative
Enterprise Certificate course sponsored by British Council and
Glascow University Wales.
I also attended a business plan/business development
training organized YOUWIN in Kaduna in 2011.
In view of the foregoing, He has attained necessary business
acumen, financial discipline and managerial skills to make him
succeed in the chosen business line.
Section 3 Communications
Resource requirements:
Telephone
a) CDMA Fixed Wireless Phone for the poultry(1 No. CDMA phone @ N25, 000 = N25,000
Cost of running the phones per annum(N3,000 card x 3/week= 12,000 x 12 months) = N144,000
b) CUG Telephones for staff(N3,000 x 6 units) = N18,000
Computers
2 branded desktop computers (completeWith UPS & accessories) @ N90,000 = N180,0001 laserjet 4000 series printer = N60,0001 deskjet 3 in 1 (printer, scanner & copier) = N25,000
Internet Access
Budget for modem (MTN@N8000x12) = N96, 000.00
Total Cost of all Communications = N548, 000.
00
Section 4 Organization
Business Organization
Q. Explain the form of business organization you intend to
use and why is it the best for your business.
BEE82 Poultry Farms is a registered under the Corporate
Affairs Commission of Nigeria as a sole proprietorship
venture with registration number NG1305 with current plans
to upgrade into a limited liability Company. Currently we
operate functional a current account with Guaranty Trust
Bank and the details are as follows:
Account Name: BEE EnterprisesBankers: Guaranty Trust BankAccount No:
My decision to operate the poultry business in this form is to
enable me build the establishment from its foundational
stage to a full operational and viable-existing structure. It is
designed to grow as a long-time and durable establishment
with the mandate to deliver quality and cutting-edge
services to her customers.
The organization has a Central Administration which is headed by
me the founder being the Managing Director We will have a
central accounting system with an Accountant, a veterinary
doctor as a consultant who be on ground at the farm once a
week.
We will also employ the services of three laborers and one
security man whose responsibility will be to check and monitor
the movement within and around the farm. One of the labour
men shall act as a sales boy/marketer. We will employ the
services of experienced personnel to carry out various tasks
and assignment for the organization as this will also create
proper accountability and create a venture that will live
beyond the owners.
Q. Professional Consultants
We shall employ the services of the following professionals
and consultants listed below:
a. Barrister Emmanuel I. Ogudo-Emmanuel Ogudo & CO
Solicitors
10A Solo Amahaolu Street
Off International Airport Road,
Lagos
b. Dr. Noble Igbokwe- veterinary Doctor/Consultant
Seriki Yaki Road,Sabon Gari
Kano
c. Mr. Zack Uchebgu- IT consultant/ Business Developer
26 Alu Avenue, off Ahmadu Bello Way Kano
d. Ms Ofure Ogudo- Animal Scientist
263 Hadejia Road, Kano State
e. Mohammed Zarma- Insurance Consultant
1. Poultry Association of Nigeria licence/ Membership
Certificate
2. Environmental and premises license
3. Corporate Affairs Commission
4. Business Registration with Kano State Government
Section 5
Insurance
1. Burglary and Theft Insurance Package on the fixed asset
and property which is valued at 10% on the total fixed
cost.
a. 10% of the fixed cost is N150, 000.
2. Poultry Birds Insurance Package on the birds valued at
2.5% on the cost of the birds.
a. Total cost of birds is valued at N1, 000, 000
b. Total number of Birds is 4000 Birds
c. 2.5% of the total cost is N25,000
3. Fire Insurance (to cover our premises and machinery
Anticipated Insurance Premiums per annumN200, 000.00
Section 6
Premises
Location Criteria: The birds will be housed in a 150 x 120
square meters piece of land and situated within the Kano
state.
The space requirement shall be
Poultry farm length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 mPoultry farm width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 mPoultry houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Poultry house length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 mPoultry house width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 m
Store room length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 mStore room width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 mToilet length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 mToilet width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 mManager's house length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 mManager's house width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 mHens / partition of cage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Partitions/ cage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Hens / cage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Starter cages/ house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Future Requirements
We intend to acquire a large portion of land and also increase the poultry house to enable us accommodates more birds for huge productions and high profitability.
Estimated occupancy cost as a % of sales
Estimated occupancy cost per annum is N480, 000.00. The cost as a percentage of sales is 4.5%.
Section 7
Internal Controls
Explain your intended internal controls and cash controls, check signing policy, strategy for controlling shrinkage and dishonesty and control of incoming merchandise.
Internal & Cash Controls
In order to ensure that our financial system is fraud proof, our
internal control mechanism in place and further being improved
against the backdrop of our expansion program is summarized in
the following steps:
a) All services rendered is ticketed by the official who offered
the service and in consonance with our approved pricing system
issues a ticket showing the amount to the customer who takes the
ticket to the Cashier where the relevant sum is paid and a receipt
is issued.
b) Our receipt is in triplicate. The original one is issued to the
customer, the second is kept in a file for audit purposes and the
last one is left in the booklet as a reconciliation copy.
c) At the end of each day’s transaction, the Cashier renders an
account of the day’s receipts to the Head of Department or his
delegate who receives all cash and reconciles same with the
receipts issued. He or she signs on a register meant for cash
rendered for the day.
d) All monies received are paid into the Company’s account the
next morning by the Accounts Officer. Tellers of amounts paid
are photocopied in three copies. The first copy is filed in the
banking transaction file, the second is kept in the audit records
file and the third is given to the Head of Department for the
records of banking transactions for reconciliation purposes.
Cheque Signing Policy
a) At each point in time, the Company’s account will be run by
three signatories with the mandate of any two to sign. For all
funds to be withdrawn, a formal request is compiled by the
Accountant who presents it to the Managing Director/CEO or his
delegate at any point for vetting and approval before cheques are
drawn.
b) Armed with this approval, the Accountant prepares
cheque(s) and passes same to any two signatories available with
an attached copy of the MD/CEO or his delegate’s approval. The
signatories’ signs and the cheque is presented for withdrawal.
Other Control Strategies
c) All payments to be made for contracts, repairs, and
maintenance or even to clients will be through the bank. Cash
transactions will be discouraged as much as possible except for
minor expenses which involve the day to day running of the
operations of the Company.
Incoming merchandise
a) For all purchases to be made in respect of company’s
operating activities, the Head of Department shall receive
requests by staff concerned, check and confirm the record of
previous inventories and approves purchases.
b) Designated suppliers are requested to supply the specified
materials or goods and upon the presented of their invoice, a
cheque is raised in the said sum and the suppliers are paid
therefrom.
c) Supplied materials or inventories are recorded by the
Accountant and kept in the store. Requests for usages are
approved by the Head of Department while the Accountant issues
the materials for use.
Section 8: Financing
Financing Strategy
Upload a chart or spreadsheet showing all of the sources of your start-up capital.
The Start-up Capital here is my equity contribution of N450,000.00 and the grant of N4.5 million I am applying through the You-Win Program.
Upload a cash flow projection and projected income statements to show sources of repayment of loans, if applicable.
= NOT APPLICABLE
Explain any government assistance or loan guarantee programs you intend to apply for.
Besides the YouWiN Business Plan program which this plan is meant to satisfy, there is no immediate government assistance or loan guarantee programs that I need to apply for on behalf of the Company.
List your sources of referrals to lending institutions. (Your accountant, etc.)
= NOT APPLICABLE
Section 9: E-Commerce
E-Commerce Plans
Describe in detail how you plan to use the Internet in marketing your product or service.
The Internet provides a unique platform for marketing of products
in contemporary business times.
First among the specific means I will deploy via the information
super-highway are:
1. Social Media Platforms
Facebook: I currently have an active Facebook presence
with over 1400 subscribers. Through this medium, I will
reach out to a huge clientele base who are resident in Kano
state, Niger state and environs for our business. Our
business is however not restricted to the North West geo-
political zone of Nigeria alone, therefore will Facebook gives
me a global outlook and this I will use extensively. Small
space adverts and specific posts on our services will be
consistent. www.facebook.com/ogudo
Twitter: I use Twitter basically to drop links for those who
follow me and those I follow directing them to our company
website and blogs so they can view and get information
about our activities and our services.
www .twitter.com/pierreoceans
Blackberry Services: I currently have over 260 friends on
my blackberry (BIS) messenger friends list; my friends cut
across a wide range of friends from Kano and neighboring
states.
Poultry Farmers online forum sites: this platform will
also enable me relate with members and farmers from same
industry. I will also learn the latest information available
worldwide
LinkedIn: This platform for professionals will enable me to
partner with individuals and institutions that do the same
kind of business with us and we can leverage on
relationships to market our services. Besides, other
professionals who require our range of services can be
serviced through our presence on LinkedIn.
2. Website
My personal website –www.beeglobal.blogspot.com has
incorporated in it a segment devoted totally to our services
in Bee82 Poultry Farms. My contacts and traffic on
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are constantly directed to
this link as a marketing tool with the www.fidjit.com online
tool.
We are also in constructing a website for our farms which
will be hosted online and will also serve as a web2.0 platform
for other application to run. We intend to also create a
section on the site for adverts of other agricultural products;
thereby making some profits. www.bee82farms.com
3. Online Bulk SMS and Voice Calls: This will also serve a
great tool for our business, as over 3000 phone numbers we
have will be communicated with our products directly on their
phones through the e-commerce bulk SMS and bulk-voice
platform. This will be a great marketing tool for our business.
4. BlogSpot
I will also create a separate working BlogSpot for our
enterprise to reach out to the populace and provide a one
stop shop for quality and affordable poultry products.
E-Commerce Budgeting
Provide a detailed breakdown of the costs involved in creating, operating and maintaining your e-commerce activities.
Mobile modem/subscription (MTN) for 1 year for 2 mobile/laptop Users (N8,000 x 12) - 96,000.00
Facebook and Search engine adverts - 50,000.00
Website Upgrade & Hosting for 1 year 50,000.00
196,000.00
E-Commerce Competition
Describe how your best competitors utilize e-commerce and your strategy to improve on their practices.
In the geographical divide we find ourselves today; Kano state,
North West Nigeria, my major competitors utilize only at a
minimum basis the opportunities for marketing available on the
Internet. This is simply because the environment is purely a
consumer-based (tangibles) environment. There is less emphasis
on the use of e-commerce as a tool for creating business viability.
However, because I have an eye on a national and sub-regional
market (West Africa) in terms of our products; I am determined to
spread our tentacles on the net wide to capture a sizeable
amount of the market as is available to all my competitors in the
envisioned market I desire to play in.
We intend to use all possible e-commerce mechanisms available
to drive sales and traffic to my organization. As with the use of
bulk SMS and voice will create a new platform for more sales
within our environment. We will maximize the internet to a
maximum percentage; utilize all freebies available to our
advantage in order for us to capture the market.
My strategy is therefore to make more online visibility and
presence.
Section 10: Acquisitions
This section is currently not applicable to our Business Plan.
Section 11: Marketing
Marketing Plan
Describe your overall marketing and sales strategy including how you plan to get and retain customers.
Marketing & Sales Strategy
I intend to use a three-prong approach in my marketing and sales strategy. This is predicated on the fact that the Kano area is a uniquely and peculiar market to play in. In marketing, I will deploy a media campaign to reach the generality of the people with more emphasis on radio jingles especially in the Hausa language.
I will also deploy an e-Commerce campaign using the Internet. I have a very active Facebook page, a twitter account that has a huge following and I am on LinkedIn. Facebook advert will come into play. I run two blogs that has enjoyed tremendous hits and I will use it maximally for my e-Commerce marketing campaign.
The third approach is the one-on-one direct word-of-mouth marketing accompanied by handbills, flyers, brochures and targeted bulk SMS to potential customers. This also involves when the clients come into our premises, we give them value through excellent customer service with superior customer value capabilities and appropriation. This will naturally engender repeat patronage and create a chain of customers who come as a result of the testimonies of those who have had contacts with us.
We have three classes of services I am rendering viz: Multi-Media Services, Personal/ Business Development Trainings & Secretarial, Publishing/Writing & Internet/Information Marketing. Upon expansion, I desire to run promotional activities on a quarterly basis to drive traffic to our range of services and create a major presence through the churches in the region. My affiliation with the Church world as an ordained pastor is giving me an advantage to penetrate the leadership of a broad base of churches to put our services in the consciousness of more people.
Advertising and Promotion Plans
Describe your plans and budgets for advertising and promotions.
As mentioned in the strategy sub-section, I intend to adopt a three-prong approach for advertising and promotions.
They are:
a) Electronic/Print media adverts with specific bias for radio jingles especially in Hausa language. This will be consistent and sustained in the first three months of expansion activities. We intend to use all our programs on radio whose airtime slot are paid for by sponsors already to deploy free adverts besides the paid slots we intend to take independently.
b) E-commerce advertising and promotions will be deployed through my platforms on social media, blogspots and website.
c) Word-of-mouth marketing using handbills, brochures and repeat customer referrals. A major part of this strategy will be carried on by our team of marketing staff.
Budget
1. Radio (Cool FM – Kano) :Radio jingles periodically for the first three months - N 45,000
2. Classified Advert in Daily Trust Newspaper Twice monthly classified adverts in the paper for the first3 months - N 40,000
3. E- Commerce The budget for e-commerce in E-commerce section willcover for what we need to market and promote ourselveson the Internet. - 196,000
4. Brochures, handbills & flyers, flex banners and 1 yardbanners around the city over for take-off - N 59,000
N400,000
Purchasing & Inventory Control
In the first three (3) months, we shall purchase working tools (consumables for computers, printing and items that are of non-perishable nature) in bulk and keep track of them. There are purchases that are of daily nature or weekly and monthly nature. There shall be a daily, weekly and monthly budgets for such items to avoid working tools running out while we have customers to service.
In subsequent months, after studying the trend of requirements for each piece of tool, we shall project on the basis of expected sales and demand.
The Inventory Control mechanism that will be in place will ensure that we avoid wastage and keep track of every item purchased as consumable working tools. A minor weekly audit of inventory of stock shall be taken while we shall conduct a quarterly and annual inventory to keep track as it will also give us the opportunity to plan and budget well for purchases subsequently.
Training Policies
Describe your plans for hiring and training your sales associates
In the first one year of expanded operations, we shall have two full-time marketing staff and at least 10 stringers on the field working on commission or casual basis as may be required for each special campaign.
At inception, we shall conduct a general orientation training programme for every staff in Marketing and Sales. This general training is to give the generality of our staff the induction knowledge that our business is nothing without the selling of our services to the customer. Every staff therefore will be given the orientation of a sales person.
Then, we shall organize a special indepth training for our full-time marketing/sales team and the hired field workers who would operate on commission/casual basis. This training will precede the formal launching out of the expanded operations. Subsequently, we shall train them on a daily basis on the various techniques and strategies of marketing and sales.
Some of these sessions will be purely interactive as we receive feedback from the field and generate appropriate response to the feelers we get.
Training and retraining will continue to feature in our monthly plans for the generality of our staff with specialized programs designed for our Marketing/Sales team.
The Competition
Describe your strongest competitors and how you intend to compete
Our strongest competitors who operate in the different range of our services in the Kano area are in the business without the professional touch that is demanded but making appreciable impact as a result of their long presence in the businesses in the region. For instance, in the Multi-Media sphere, very few people who handle production activities in this area are structured as a going concern. They run their businesses on a solo level and leveraging on their relationships with key stakeholders in the media arena to push their trade. Some of them do not have the technical and professional competence but depend on the staff of the same media houses they service to do “private practice” while they take a percentage of the proceeds as payment.
To successfully compete in this realm in such an unprofessional but yet lucrative realm, we are building a structured organization that will become a known brand for professionalism and excellence. With a structured marketing and networking marketing team, coupled with the visioner’s intellectual conduct which will be brought to bear on the business, we shall compete favorably with these competitors and within a short period of time (following an aggressive advertising and promotion campaign in the first three months) have a commanding presence in the market.
Our Business & Personal Development Training unit has key competitors in the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Centre for Management Development (CMD), Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and privately run Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC). The first three are government sponsored while the last is a privately run non-governmental organization involved in entrepreneurship and empowerment training programs.
Our strategy for finding our niche market for training is simply looking at the critical areas that these training organizations do not major on at the moment which is also needed by people and organizations. Some of these areas are comprehensive training on entrepreneurship that cuts across personal leadership, capacity building in different spheres of entrepreneurship requiring expertise via the tools of the Information and
Communications Technology, basic hands-on training on various types of business that will enable participants begin to deploy their skills for earning residual income at the completion of the training. Such trainings will include critical vocational skills acquisition that are relevant to the need of our immediate environment and by extension other parts of the country. Our strength will be in the content of our program being very practical and our pricing will be affordable enough to attract trainee traffic.
How I plan to take advantage of Competitor’s Weak Points
List your competitors’ short comings and how you can capitalize on them
The major short-comings of the competitors we have mentioned are:
a) Inability to get trainees from privately run organizations for training programsb) Inability to attract individuals not working for any established firm but desirous of
increasing your personal capacityc) Their dependence only on referred trainees from government institutions and
organizations and big multi-nationals.d) Their pricing policy – very unaffordable for private individuals and small firms and
organizations.
Our strategy is to go after private individuals such as NYSC Corp Members, Private School Proprietors and Proprietresses to train their teachers, middle class civil servants desirous of increasing their streams of income while yet maintaining their pay cheques, blue-collar employees in banks and corporate giants who would want to increase their capacity and worth at the work place and private business people who desire to expand their operations with critical knowledge in this area, etc.
We shall also use our pricing to attract some government institutions and corporations/multi-nationals while convincing them with the fact that we are a recognized training outfit registered and/or affiliated to statutory bodies like Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and Centre for Management Development (CMD).
We desire to collaborate with these organs to also organize trainings on sub-contracted basis for them. Currently, we are the training consultants to the Kano State Chapter of the Manufacturers Institute of Nigeria (MAN) and have carried out trainings for their member companies at various times. We desire to build on this leverage and compete for a good percentage of the training market not just in the Kano region but in the North West geo-political sphere.
We have competitors in large quantity for our Secretarial & Internet Service realm but not so much in the range within the same unit we refer to as Publishing/Writing & Internet/Information Marketing.
In the Secretarial & Internet Service business, most practitioners are engaged in it on survival basis. We have business centers littered everywhere and most of the staff who work there are mere computer operators and not really qualified secretaries. They do not have what it takes to provide content and edit documents brought in by customers. Their value appropriation is very low. Added to this is the very uncomfortable accommodation they use for their businesses which gives the customers very little comfort while their work is being done.
Internet cafes are littered all over the city but the critical issue is the space problem. Then they use network providers whose services are epileptic because the fees are cheaper. Customers therefore get very poor services and because there are few choices for better services, they just continue to patronize them.
Our strategy to compete here is to deploy qualified secretaries to work in our Secretarial Business Center and Internet Café. We will also provide a welcoming environment that will make customers feel at home.
There are no independent small scale Publishing/Writing & Information Marketing organizations in the Kano area. We shall therefore we pioneering this brand of services. What we have with a resemblance of publishing are mere printing presses. We intend to provide qualitative publishing services complete with shadow-writing services, speech writing and concept development services to our clients. We shall provide training on Information Marketing and demonstrate this for our clientele students as we earn income on two fronts.
Section 12: Growth ProgramExpansion
Describe your growth: You might include development of profitable pilot operation, sources of financing, cash flow, accounting system in place, incentive compensation plan for managers, benefits package and policies, economics of scale.
Operating a one-stop Resource Center which encompasses a media service unit, a business/personal development training arm and a secretarial, internet & publishing services division is a daunting task. With the right mix of management and accounting system in place, growth is inevitable.
The growth plan within the first one and half years is to start another Resource Center in another city within the geo-political zone of North West. This pilot expansion operation will be located within 200 kilometers radius of the mother-headquarters in Kano.
The source of funding this pilot expansion program is expected to come from a micro-credit bank after we must have drawn up a profitable and winning business plan for the operation. The scale of operation will primarily be a secretarial and internet services. Media and training services will be undertaken by the Kano headquarters on referral basis as resources and manpower will be mobilized to conduct such operations as per the need within the first one year.
The Manager in this branch operation will carry out marketing of our media and training services to be handled with the human and operational resources of the headquarters while focusing on driving clientele for the Secretarial & Internet services.
Incentive for Managers
Once operational, the managers will run the operation in this branch and in subsequent branches to follow as a franchise. They will be given the opportunity to operate it with a percentage of ownership. Initial mobilization for a successful take-off is the setting up of the branch after the model we had successfully launched and operated in Kano. The Managers will then be trained, equipped and empowered to run it like their own. This will definitely cause them to give all their best as they become stakeholders in the venture.
Accounting System
This branch outlet will maintain a self-accounting system modeled after what is on ground in the Kano operations with all the necessary support coming from Kano.
Further Growth
When the branch has run successfully for one year, it would be easier to determine based on profitability analysis if it can muster the running of the additional two units at its location without counting on the Kano headquarters for all the resources it will require.
Handling Major Problems
Describe scenarios of adverse conditions and how you intend to respond to them. For example how you would plan to handle a 25% reduction in sales, or new competitions, etc. Prepare a cash flow projection based on lowered expectations and show how and where you would reduce costs to maintain liquidity.
No matter how much one anticipates some problems in planning a successful and profitable business, certain adverse conditions might not be within the view of the business person. Some of the issues that generate such scenarios are most times outside the control of the business person. Such conditions like political and economic changes, environmental factors occasioned by weather or industry internal and external issues arising from competition, etc.
When such conditions come up, it will definitely affect the profitability of the organization.
My response is to take a cursory look at the percentage of lowered patronage and which particular unit of our range of services this has been affected. I will study the critical reasons that would have influenced such drop and take appropriate response which could be increased marketing, improved customer service and extra-value on our services, special promotions and a look at our overhead to forestall a damage to our profit level occasioned by drop in patronage.
A cash flow projection based on lowered expectations of 25% of reduction in sales is attached on how to cope with such situations.
Upload a cash flow projection based on lowered income expectations that shows where you would save costs to stay in business.
Appendix: YouWiN! Impact
Benefit of Grant
What would receiving a grant through the YouWiN program allow you to do with your business that you wouldn't otherwise be able to do?
The YouWiN program’s grant is a life-line for our proposed Resource Center housing the range of our three critical services.
With the grant:
We will definitely expand our operations which are currently run from a single office setting to a pedestal where we can service an entire city and region’s need as far as our services are concerned.
This expansion will definitely require that we engage additional hands and this will generate employment and be a boost to the nation’s economy. Employing 8 more people will directly impact on their well being and by extension the economy of those related to them.
The quality of services we will render to our different clientele would otherwise not be available in the Kano area if we do not get the grant to expand. The customers we desire to serve will either continue to depend on mediocre services by those who are not professionally inclined like us or go to far flung cities like Lagos and Abuja to get served.
Our expansion will improve the local economy and give a boost to those who will depend on us for rent, consumables, and the various services that we cannot employ directly.
Contingency Plans
What are your contingency plans for ensuring the success of your business even if you are not selected for this grant?
There are contingency plans for ensuring my business desire is a reality even if I am not selected for this grant:
a) Loan from a bank : I will approach a bank with a winning business plan after operating a consistent account with them using income from my range of services at the level I am operating now.
b) Partnership with an independent financier : I will present my plan to individuals I believe will be willing to support my idea and sell it to them. It might be a single individual or more than one person. The amount of their contributions will determine the equity of business they will own in the business.
c) Self-funding from building on my services being offered : The other option is to continue to render my services of media consultancy, training and publishing/internet marketing and save up funds and implement my business plan in phases over a period of time.
Employment Impact
How many additional workers do you think you will employ 1 year from now if you receive the grant compared to if you don't receive the grant?
From the plans on ground for expansion of my operations, I will confidently say Creslead Nigeria Enterprises should have in its employment about additional 7 staff working with it one year from now.
If I don’t receive the grant, I might just have in place three (3) staff working for me.