Youth Ignite Initiative 2017 Nigerian Entrepreneurs

About Youth Ignite 

In light of the recent economic downturn, development strategies that create new jobs and support the growth of businesses are of greater need than ever. Microenterprises play a critical role in this quest as they account for a larger share of newly created jobs. However, only a fraction of these start-ups survive for more than two years or even develop into the high-growth firms. Amongst the biggest barriers to their sustained growth are lack of access to training, development support, and access to funding. The “Youth Ignite” Project (under the Bank of Industry’s (BOI) Microenterprise Finance Program) seek to address these challenge by supporting 1 million entrepreneurs to create 5 million jobs over the next 5 years. Microenterprises will be provided training, single-digit interest loans and ongoing support during the course of 5 years.

Objective

The main objective of the project is to create new jobs through entrepreneurship by supporting 1 million entrepreneurs over the next 5 years to create 5 million jobs.

Prerequisites for the contest

Who we are looking for: Talented, creative and dedicated young people who have an existing business or idea that they believe in and are committed to bringing to life.

How to apply

• Interested entrepreneurs should visit HERE
• Entries must be submitted online within the specified timeframe and conform to specified guidelines and terms and conditions of participation clearly outlined on this website.
• All entries will be reviewed by the Panel of Judges who consist of carefully selected accomplished professionals from all walks of life

 

UNDERSTANDING MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING NETWORKING 101 SERIES- V

NETWORKING- NOT PERFECT BUT A BETTER BUSINES MODEL

Life is not about ‘making a living’; its about ‘quality of the life we live’. The earlier one wakes up to be in charge of his life and the earlier one realizes that the employee mindset is far from being normal, the better. Yunus Muhammad said “All people are entrepreneurs, but many do not have the opportunity to find out”. Why? We are brought up to solely rely on Education. But permit me to go down history lane, Long before the Victorian system of education, people were entrepreneurs. This is not an attempt to condemn the concept of employment or education. Absolute No! But on the contrary, Education is expected to be the black-box where deductive and innovative ideas are concocted and explored to improve humanity.  One is earning salary does not mean you can’t earn more. But today, an average employee is a debtor and has a very high chance of dying miserably. If you think this is an exaggeration, ask an average pensioner? He/she barely gets the peanuts deserved after 35 years of meritorious service. Or better still ask an employee? He/she is indebted directly or indirectly especially if he/she depends solely on salary. Mind you, its cuts across all strata of employees irrespective of their pay because, the higher the pay, the higher the lifestyle, the higher the persons to help spent it. Show me one employee living larger than his income and devoid of debt, and then I will show you a thief/criminal/financial fraudster/ bribe collector who do not depend on his genuine income. Mind you, there are exceptions to those who are engaged in businesses and other genuine enterprises. Sorry, I do not meant to be that harsh; man must survive but it is the hard truth.

These times we find ourselves might be very bad economically but for entrepreneurs who are open-minded, it is a time to be creative and innovative. It is a time to do something different. A time to increase/have more than one source of income.  You can take charge of your future only when you take charge of your income source. To do that, you need your own business. Networking is a personal business where you build people by adding value through several products and services offered by the parent networking company. There are several products and services that needed to be promoted to people who actually need them. And instead of these companies going to the media, they would rather choose Networking because it is a grass-root model, a customer-to-customer advertisement. An in place of paying for advert and promotions, these customers are being paid.

By implication, if an entrepreneur key into this business model, he/she would enjoy all the benefit of owning a physical business model without the associated risk such as recurrent expenditures. More so, there is no limitation to your earnings provided you are working towards it (Performance is the key). So if now or in the nearest future, your employer would pay you a constant peanut just for you to meet up with a particular performance index; don’t you think its better you work for yourself, in your own pace, at your leisure time and not receive peanuts as salary. The future you want, you create consciously or unconsciously. I would rather have you create a solid future consciously now.

UNDERSTANDING MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING NETWORKING 101 SERIES- IV

THE 21^ST CENTURY BUSINESS

The invent of the Victorian System of Education brought about the Introduction of the White-Collar jobs. Jobs that require professional skills more than physical labour. It was the most lucrative, most enterprising and most rewarding. In the early 90’s, a school cert holder is well respected far more than an elder in the village. The Victorian system of Education created living machines or robots suitable for administrative work (the corporate world) even till today.  Now, there is nothing absolutely wrong with being a Career person but everything is totally wrong when we are not malleable to Change. Change they say is a constant thing.

Today, working in the Corporate world/economy is no longer guaranteed , how much more help fulfill everyone’s dream because, there are less administrative work to do, those in the system do not want to leave at the appropriate time and if they do, they put their own persons. It is always assumed that the corporate world is the safest and most respected place to work. Today, every now and then, the government and other Corporate public and private  entities are downsizing, implementing pay cut, cutting down cost at any slightest chance. Do you still think your job is safe? An average pensioner barely gets his pension, yet an average graduate dreams of working in that same Corporate world. What an irony?

Personally, I wouldn’t blame anyone who sticks to his gun on Corporate world because the readily available alternative such as physical business ownership in the form of semi-professional skills like hairdressing, mechanics, fashion designing etc.; Provision shop  amongst others; have need for a reasonable capital which is barely available. So we are stuck!

Just take a look at the trend

100 years ago:

• ·         Go to school to learn to be an employee
• ·         Join a company waiting to employ you
• ·         Work for the company for donkey years
• ·         Retire and be redundant till death comes calling

A few decades ago:

• ·         Go to school to learn to be an employee
• ·        Find a company that will employ you
• ·         Switch companies for various political/economic/financial reason till you are satisfied
• ·         Make sure you do not retire because you have nothing tangible to fall back to by adjusting your documents, so you can stay a little more while you do everything you can to retire massively and financially stable at least.
• ·         Retire and be redundant till death comes calling

Today:

• ·         Go to school to learn to be an employee
• ·         Find out you are either unemployable because you lack basic skill now needed by recruiting companies or you are one hell of a lucky dude who is employed which can be due to several factors, one of which I call the NIGERIAN FACTOR.
• ·         Go into entrepreneurship or go to learn a skill to start a small scale business which may or may not survive the first two years
• ·         Continue to switch between jobs or join the political terrain

·         Whichever path you choose, you are still a low income earner, one with a J_ourney O_f B_orrowers earning S_omething A_lways L_ow A_nd R_idicules Y_ou .

Just like Robert Kiyosaki said “Your job is not going to take care of you. The government will not take care of you. Nobody’s going to take care of you. It’s a new century, and the rules have changed. My  parents  believed  in  job  security,  company  pensions,  Social  Security,  and Medicare.  These  are  all  worn-out,  obsolete  ideas  left  over  from  an  age  gone  by. Today  job  security  is  a  joke,  and  the  very  idea  of  lifetime  employment  with  a single  company—an  ideal  so  proudly  championed  by  IBM  in  its  heyday—is  as anachronistic as a manual typewriter”

If you’ve spent years climbing the corporate ladder, have you ever stopped to notice the view? What view, you ask? The rear end of the person in front of you. That’s what you get to look forward to. If that’s the way you want to view the rest of your life, then this write up probably isn’t for you. But if you are sick and tired of looking at someone else’s behind, then keep tab with NETWORK 101 series.

Now, it is important to know that the economy is not the issue. The issue is YOU. Life is tough. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Or are you part of those who keep on blaming witches and unverifiable phenomenon of your challenges

In as much as the above scenario is still at play in Nigeria, the world’s paradigm has changed from corporate time economy to performance economy. In the nearest future, YOU will be paid according to your performance irrespective of your profession. Already, it is happening in several sectors top on the list is the banking sector. . If you want a solid future, you need to create it. You can take charge of your future only when you take control of your income source. You need your own business. A 21^st century business called Networking.

NB: No one will employ you a graduate because of your certificate, but the skills you have acquired wherever, whenever which is the key to your performance. Its not gona be business as usual anymore. STEP UP

UNDERSTANDING MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING NETWORKING 101 SERIES -III

A NEW ECONOMIC MODEL (PERFORMANCE BASED)

Over the years firms employ people for their time especially in Nigeria. An average office job is a 6am-6pm time frame. So irrespective of whether the day was productive or not, an employee is expectant of his S_omething A_lways L_ow A_nd R_idicles Y_ou (Peanuts) at the end of a time frame usually 30 days. But, permit to forsee the future, that productivity will be underlying factor to earn as one will be paid by one’s performance and not by one’s time. What this means is that,

·         A sales person would not get expected pay until he/she meet target sales.

·         An employee earning a steady salary let’s say N100,000 would have it slashed to basic pay like N20,000 and would be given a performance benchmark to meet up to earn additional pay. No, you have no option than to keep the job because there are several persons who will jump at the job. Moreso, the firm has nothing to lose but everything to gain. You are the one on the hot seat. Hit the target, earn more. Fail to do that; earn far less. Now, by the time you consistently hit performance target, guess what? It would be raised (a new target is given). Listen, that is what the future holds for every profession sooner or later.

Is someone saying it’s not possible? Ok. May I remind you, there are lesser jobs to do courtesy of technology and recession. Firms are cutting cost with immediate alarcrity. Thus, creating an under-staffed working environment with only the anointed few either by merit or by the opposite of it that were spared. These spared employees are over-worked and given expected targets. Check around in the banking sector, civil service, the oil and gas sector to come to terms with reality.

Still in doubt? if I may ask;

·         when was the last time you wrote a letter and posted it? When you could just make call.

·         When was the last time you bought/rent movies in a movie store? When you could just download away in a jiffy.

·         When was the last time you went to the bank to withdraw at the counter? When the ATM is a stone’s throw away.

Do you realize, technology and efficiency is taking away our every day jobs.The hand writing is well written on the wall. You can choose to read, acknowledge and begin to re-align or worst still ignore it. A new Economic model has come to stay and has brought with it the means to survive it (Network Marketing).