The 3 Vital Elements Every Nigerian Start-ups and Budding Entrepreneurs must Consider.

FUNDAMENTAL & PRACTICAL ELEMENTS OF AN IDEA THAT WOULD MAKE A GOOD& SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS START UP.

Nigerians are so gifted in ideation that every year, over 1 million businesses are started in the various parts of the country. These businesses are in varied scale, nano, micro, small and medium sized businesses. 
However and sadly too, research has shown that more than 90% of start ups in Nigeria die before their 5th birthday. In fact up to half attain the failure status in the first year.

The following three are among the biggest reasons for these abysmal record. And these three are what I have called the fundamental and practical elements of business start up and sustainability. You probably know them,  but I want to briefly tell you why they are so important in your choice of business.

1. Need
The only reason every good business exists is to provide solution(s) to the needs of the people. If a business doesn't solve a real  problem, that business is dead on arrival. Need is what drives Traffic to your business and traffic drives Profitability and profitability is the life wire of a business. There are a lot of indices to measure and analyze need. So look at the idea of a business you have and ask yourself, does it solve a problem for me or for many other people NOW or IN THE NEAR FUTURE? Answer this question honestly and determine whether or not there would be a need for your business there.

TIP: Your idea needs to be a solution to the problem of MANY PEOPLE who are within your location or who you  can readily and cheaply reach,  before it would be considered a potentially viable business idea.

2. Talent/Skill/Knowledge  You need to have the ability to initiate,  design and deliver the solution(s) that your idea is promising. Not a half baked, but a good knowledge or skill or talent required to develop and deliver quality and unique solution(s). This element is what ensures that your traffic continues to flow. When you have an idea that satisfied the Element 1 above, but you failed to consider this element, you will get a result similar to the 'one-year' businesses that experience massive turn out in their first few weeks or months of business but suddenly died out in the first few years for what they call 'low' patronage whereas the real reason is actually 'low quality' attributable to poverty of skills, knowledge or talents. You must guard against this. Find a solution to the challenge of this element before you think about starting up a business.

TIP: You must not have this element in you as an entrepreneur, but you have to find a way to see that your business has it in itself.

3. Passion Whereas passion is not necessarily a factor in starting a business, it is the one most influential factor in keeping a business afloat in hard times. Why Albert Einstein refused to give up after several trials to get an electric bulb is because of passion. Mark Zuckerberg didn't sell Facebook to Bill Gates for a lucrative amount many years back because of his passion for coding and for connecting people. So love for what you are doing, not because it's generating profit but because you love to do them,  will keep you and your business through the tough times that are inevitable in a business' life. You are less likely to have a strong enough passion for a business whose idea you didn't originate. Stolen ideas do not survive the first five years in business.

TIP: If the idea is not your original brain child, get the brain box of the idea involved in the business or at least keep a relationship that ensures you can always get help from them when you run into problems. It's a principle of ideation. Ideas go to specific people for a reason.

In these few lines lie some of the reasons why businesses/start-ups fail in their early years in Nigeria.

If you would love to start a business in the coming year or in the future, just make sure that among other things, your idea passes the test of these three elements.

You can easily get funds for your business if they meet these key elements.

Applications will open for the 3rd edition of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program (TEEP), where 1000 viable startups in  Africa will be given up to $10,000, and the Bank of Industry Youth Entrepreneurship Support Programme (BOI YES-P) where up to 7,000 Nigerian graduates between 18 to 35 years can access up to N5million loan, will open in January 2017.

You don't need just a unique idea to stand a chance, you need to be able to communicate your idea and bring out very salient details that are important in the business. And most importantly, your application need to do all these better than others who will be competing for the available slots.

If you will need someone to review your business idea document for you, or draft a compelling business concept note for you in any sector, just reply with a comment, send me an email @ onuohachibuikem@gmail.com or  Whatsapp 07087364947.

NB: I have a very busy schedule I will only be able to handle a few requests, the earlier the better.