Start-up Basics Archives - Page 2 of 5

Nigerian Startup Bill

Legalize it: When legislation is introduced an enabling sustainable environment for disruption is created Startup Bills are meant to serve as a legalized framework that enables the development of startups and provides added value at a national as well as international level. It encourages the creation, development, management, and operation of startups through monetary and non-monetary means. Tunisia led the way in the introduction of the Startup Act in 2018 where a legal framework was created to establish and encourage a culture of innovative thinking and entrepreneurship. In Tunisia, the bill stipulates that the salary of founders will be provided by the government so that they can focus on new startups. The goal in other words is to create an enabling, incentivized but regulated environment. In Nigeria, a collaboration between the tech startup ecosystem as well as the presidency has drafted the Nigerian Startup Bill. The Bill which is stipulated to be the highest-ranking in Africa (based on depth) was approved by the Nigerian Federal Executive Council in 2021 and will be submitted to the National Assembly by the President this 2022. Although there is no publicly available copy of the drafted bill, there is information that is publicly available. The Nigerian Startup Bill will apply to all companies that are registered as Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship (also known as Startups) in Nigeria. The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy will be the regulator in charge of ensuring the legislation is implemented. There will also be a committee set up; the National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, for the review of policies and directives from ministers, departments, and agencies within the country. This committee will consist of the President, Vice President, select Ministers, the Central Bank Governor, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) as well as representatives of the Startup Consultant Forum. For example, the ban of motorcycles in February 2020 in Lagos state which affected motorcycle hailing platforms will have to be reviewed by this committee before the Governor takes action. The Bill will also allow for incentives such as tax rebates, it will protect intellectual property and create a platform for interaction and communication between the government, incubators, and stakeholders. The tech community is holding their breath and hoping for the same results in the National Assembly as seen in Senegal with 90% voting in favor of their startup bill and they are hoping that in Nigeria as early as Q2 2022, the bill takes effect. Contact Versa Research your trusted data, research & consulting partner! https://techhiveadvisory.org.ng/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Start-Up-LAws.pdf https://techpoint.africa/newsletter/techpoint-digest-234/?utm_source=mailster&utm_medium=email&utm_term&utm_content&utm_campaign=techpoint%20africa%20digest https://techpoint.africa/2021/10/01/nigerias-proposed-startup-bill/?utm_source=mailster&utm_medium=email&utm_term&utm_content&utm_campaign=techpoint%20africa%20digest https://startupbill.ng/#timeline

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How to Curb Mass Migration of Tech Talents from Africa

The search for commensurate rewards is one that drives the human pursuit in different sectors, from medicine, to tech, to artisanship and entrepreneurship. This is why tech talents have been leaving the African continent in search of greener pastures. Due to the ongoing trend where the immediate environment does not facilitate the growth and expansion of talents, people are forced to new locations. Places like Silicon Valley encourages tech enthusiasts to build more and develop already existing technologies in order to improve the quality of lives. The impact of human capital in developing a region cannot be overlooked as it is a key factor. Through human capital development, values gained from experiences and skills are transferred as solutions to organizations, companies and establishments which in turn develops the country or regional economy. Not only are tech employees migrating, start-ups are also migrating. It is no doubt the 4 M’s of business which are money, machine, manpower and material are key factors to sustaining business growth and achieving success in an industry. In a scenario where there is money and material but no manpower to coordinate the working process or utilize available resources, productivity is hampered. Therefore, the constant migration of proactive minds to other climes will have a long reaching effect in the development of the African continent if not checked. Hence, if you set up the industries and put up the infrastructure with no requisite man-power you have already set yourself up for failure. Common problems which cause tech migration: The issues can majorly be classified into 4 M’s which are lacking as seen in Africa. They include: Method The nature of tech jobs differs amongst the various arms of technology and usually requires flexibility. Most tech jobs can be done remotely and so disrupts the conventional mode of technical jobs. In Africa, not many countries have companies that accept working remotely as it is believed, distance might affect productivity. Machine Infrastructure is a great component in getting jobs done in the tech space. A tech operator would need his tech tools like computers and other gadgets to get his job done. These tools do not power themselves and obviously need power supply, internet connection, network configurations and the likes. Not having electricity or power supply elements can be highly discouraging. Industries and organizations come under infrastructure as there are fewer companies to create opportunities, provide the suitable workspace and meet the needs of employees. Money Money is a big factor in brain drain in Africa where most tech employees are overworked and under-paid which is why they look to work with the western world where they get paid according to the value they offer and duration of tasks. The salary of tech employees outside Africa can sum up $200,000+ per annum and those in Africa can’t earn up to that following the unfavorable conditions of the environment. Manpower The master of it all. With the numerous unfavorable situations, skilled individuals migrate, families move along, friends inspire skilled friends to leave also because everyone wants to make it. Africa is left to worsen with already existing problems and more to come. In years to come, only few inhabitants would be skilled and Africa would be forced to invite home its people to provide solutions with their expertise. Solutions to retaining tech abilities in Africa Amidst the whole situations, possible solutions to minimize or stop brain drain in Africa include: Good Working conditions for employees. Favorable rules and regulations set up for start-ups. Up-skilling staff through job training and workshops. Start-up support in every aspect e.g. funding, advisory, mentoring and networking. Building the tech sector as a separate industry to be budgeted for. Increasing the remuneration of tech employees and modus operandi according to work functions. Healthy start-up competitions. Setting up Tech regulatory bodies to monitor and evaluate technological progress in the country/region. Inculcating tech in educational curriculum.

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Tips and Tricks of Choosing a Business Name

Your Business name will be associated with you for a long time. So, it’s critical to think about it thoroughly before forming a company, developing a website, or making signage and other promotional items. To help you started, here are a few pointers. How important is a name? Apple. Google. Yahoo. History is replete with examples of industry giants who had names that were at best, nondescript, and at worst, irrelevant. So, should you invest time and energy in choosing a ‘good’ name for your company? And how do you go about achieving this? Choosing a Name The following criteria should be taken into consideration in choosing a good business name: It should be available as a domain name It should evoke the thing it names It should be easy to pronounce It should be inoffensive globally (or at least in your target markets) It should have positive associations It should be easy to say It should have unambiguous spelling It should be memorable It should not be too long You can also create polls, surveys and leverage communities on social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn) to get input from the larger world and your target customers when choosing a company name. Registering a Domain Name When choosing a domain name, you are advised to have full dot-com availability. If you can help it, you should ideally endeavor to stay away from the following: Hyphens Special characters Dot-net Dot-org Other top-level domains Country domains Changing Your Name Ideally, the name you choose should reflect: Who you are What you do How you do it It’s not the end of the world if you decide after a year or so that your business name is not quite right. However, you would have largely wasted any earlier marketing effort in building up awareness. Action Steps Brainstorm 5 potential names for your business Use social media to determine the most popular version Check hosting websites such as Godaddy and Bluehost to confirm the availability of your chosen name Read Also: Converting your Business Name to a Limited Liability Company For more posts from this author, visit: www.gloryenyinnaya.com

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A Start-up Guide to Tax

Tax is a compulsory contribution levied by the government. Taxation is important in any economy and its effects remain significant because it helps greatly in the redistribution of income and gives the government funds that it can use to finance public services such as the provision of adequate national security, public infrastructure, power, good road network and a host of other social amenities. So, it’s important for you to pay your taxes. Whilst there are different types of taxes, we will focus on those you should know and pay as a small business. Companies Income Tax: The Companies Income Tax (CIT) is a tax imposed in Nigeria on the profits of registered businesses. It also includes the tax on profits earned by foreign corporations doing business in Nigeria. Limited Liability Companies, including public limited liability companies, pay the CIT. Non-residents are subject to CIT on their Nigeria-sourced income, while resident companies are subject to CIT on their worldwide income. Corporate income tax is calculated using accounting profits that have been taxed. For companies with a turnover of more than N100 million naira, the CIT is currently charged at a rate of 30%. For companies with a turnover of between N25 million and N100 million, it is also charged at a 20 percent rate. The tax is calculated using data from the previous year (i.e. tax is charged on profits for the accounting year ending in the year preceding assessment). According to the Finance Act 2019, companies with a turnover of less than N25 million are exempt from paying company income tax. A non-resident company with a fixed base or a permanent establishment (PE) is taxable on the profits attributable to the fixed base in terms of business profits. As a result, it must register for CIT and file tax returns. Value Added Tax: It is a consumption tax that is levied on a product or services whenever value is added at each stage in the chain of production to the point of sale. It can also be said to be an indirect tax placed on the domestic consumption of goods and services, except for those that are zero-rated (not liable to tax), such as food and essential drugs, or goods or services generally exempted by law. This means that any person or individual, corporate or sole organizations that consumes or buys any taxable any taxable product or service will have to pay VAT. In Nigeria, the average VAT rate charged on the purchase price of certain goods and services is 7.5%. As soon as you register your business, whether as a company or a business name in Nigeria, you are expected to start filing VAT returns. VAT is paid by your customers on whatever money they pay you for your goods or services. Where a business does not earn revenue in a month, or hasn’t started operations, the business is expected to file a NIL return, i.e., you go to the FIRS office nearest to you and fill a VAT returns stating that you made no earnings that month. Stamp Duties: Under the Stamp Duty Act, stamp duty is payable on any agreement executed in Nigeria which includes those relating to any property situated in Nigeria. It is chargeable either at fixed rates or in proportion to the value of a transaction or a property, depending on the class of instrument. Where you prepare documents bordering on deed of assignment of a property, memorandum and articles of association of a company, and legal mortgage, ensure that you have them stamped. It is important to do so because it ensures that these documents are admissible when they are tendered before any law court in Nigeria. There are agencies in the 3 tiers of government who collect and enforce taxes. At the Federal level, there is the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), at the State Government level, there are the respective State Boards of Internal Revenue (SBIRs) of the thirty- six states of the Federation, one of which is the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS). Local Governments also administer rates and levies collectible by them through their various councils. Tax is a very crucial component of business that every start-up should be aware of, which is why it’s fine to seek professional advice from a tax expert who can them through the process. We advise you do the same too. Read Also: Registration of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for tax purposes Read Also: Key things to know about the Nigerian Tax System

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How to Write a Winning Executive Summary

There is no set structure for an executive summary, but there are guidelines you must follow to ensure your business plan or investment proposal gets the attention it deserves. A well-written executive summary needs to contain the following elements, among others: Vision – What problems are you trying to solve? What are your guiding principles? Mission statement – What’s the purpose of your venture? Business model – What’s the rationale of how you create, deliver, and capture value? How will you create value? Who will you create it for? B2B, B2C? How will you generate revenue? How capital intensive is your venture? Describe your product or service – Does it meet customers’ needs? What are its key attributes? Products – function, durability, installation, ease of use, packaging Service – function, environment, reliability, responsiveness, availability, usability Retail – product offerings, ambiance, decor, layout, location What are the benefits of the product? Quality – durability, reliability Good service – on-time delivery, maintenance, tech support Efficiency – ease of use, greater output, less waste Convenience – flexibility Cost savings When you’re trying to sell an idea to a potential investor, you’ll need to craft the pitch-perfect executive summary. The tips above will show you how to write one that will get your business plan read and get your foot in the door.

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Key Factors that Hinder SME Growth

According to a report published by the World Bank, it was observed that while Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) create 7 out of 10 jobs in emerging markets, access to finance has remained a key constraint to SME growth. The Report noted that access to finance is one of the most cited obstacles facing SMEs to grow their businesses in emerging markets and developing countries. While access to funding is a challenge for most SMEs across the world and especially in Nigeria, the ability to create jobs to support the ongoing efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria has become a significant priority as several financial interventions such as the Anchors Borrowers Programme, TraderMoni, Survival fund, AGSMEIS initiative, the creative industry fund, etc. seeks to drive economic development by directly impacting SMEs in order to create jobs. A question of whether the interventions provided has been properly utilized has also been a major concern to the Central Bank of Nigeria as there has been a high level of defaulting in the ability of these SMEs to make repayment for the loans as well as a discovery of misappropriation of funds. The challenges SMEs face are hinged on different factors and access to finance is one of them, however, without fixing some other challenges that are cardinal to the success of a business, access to funding would make no difference in the operations of such businesses. Some of the key factors that hinder the growth of SMEs aside from access to finance are: 1. Lack of Good Financial Records One of the reasons for the failure of SMEs is the lack of proper financial records. Inability to understand whether a business is making a profit or running at a loss is an assumption that owners of SMEs indulge in, thinking that as long as there is cash flow, the business can survive. While cash flow ensures that a business keeps running, survival does not in any way equate to growth as growth comes from profitability. In order to expand, offer additional products or services, or hire extra hands you need your business to be profitable. Keeping financial records does not have to be rigorous. It simply has to be what forms the cost of running the business (expenditure) and what are the sources of revenue (income). Income has to be higher than expenditure in order to be profitable in business while still serving the client with quality value. There are several tools in place to ease bookkeeping e.g. Quickbooks and Sage 50. These tools can help managers without accounting background track their finances. 2. Lack of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Due to the lack of jobs for the teeming population, entrepreneurship becomes the best chance for most recent graduates and those in the informal sector, therefore leading to the emergence of accidental entrepreneurs. These sets of entrepreneurs lack the basic skills to compete globally with their counterparts as there are many gaps such as lack of adequate training to establish and manage a business. They do not also have a Standard Operating Procedure for their businesses. Standard Operating Procedures are a set of instructions that help to create structure on how a business is operated by the team, this helps to create cohesion and organization in the day-to-day activities of the business. SMEs usually run on impulse either due to ignorance or inability to hire an expert to create an SOP, leading to haphazardly running the organization in a fire-brigade approach, making deadlines almost impossible to reach and satisfying customers becomes a mirage. 3. Inability to Leverage Social Capital Social capital refers to the ability to leverage key relationships with different stakeholders that are key to a business. This form of capital can either be a relationship with the supplier of raw materials required for production, to support the receipt of input at a reasonable price or provision of the materials on credit. Relationships with family, friends, associates, and belonging to circles of social clubs can be the beginning of securing customers whose patronage would help secure capital for takeoff. 4. Inability To Create Visibility Online Creating social media handles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other channels as well as having a website are necessary for a business to become visible to its target market. SMEs are limited in customer acquisition as their dependence is only on customers that can access their physical location. Being able to gain visibility to markets outside your environment of operation will give your business a competitive edge and also ensure you gain immense visibility online, therefore, increasing your overall efforts in acquiring customers and continuous cash flow. When these factors are properly tailored to support the growth of a business, having access to capital might not necessarily be a major challenge as reported by SMEs as a buffer of opportunity to benefit from the market has already been created as a result of putting the following constants in place.

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How To Validate Start-up Ideas With Design Thinking

Innovators are concerned about building a product that will have a huge impact on the lives of people by increasing the quality of living standards, addressing a pain point or an alternative that is cost effective for its consumers. With these great thoughts comes a big question that has to be answered before launching a product or service and it is the question of “is there a market”? The addressable market size becomes a question to answer in order to ensure that when a product is manufactured, it will find users or consumers who are willing to utilize the product based on the offer that is being given. One of the techniques that most successful start-ups in the world has applied to ascertain whether a product will sell or not is called “Design Thinking” Leading Change One of the failures is the assumption that there is a market, is one that can be seen or witnessed in solutions that have been made for people. An example is the construction of an overhead bridge for pedestrians to avoid crossing the expressway. However, the humans who this provision has been made for usually ignore the bridge and use the expressway to connect to their routes, which even makes their transit riskier than the use of the overhead bridge. Why would anywhere risk their lives to cross an expressway when there is an overhead bridge beside them? Failure in the consideration of what would drive people to use the overhead bridge is what is lacking and why the preference for the use of the expressway. Would these same people use the overhead bridge if there were possible factors considered before making the designs? The answer is an absolute yes. The failure in the use of the overhead bridge is driven around the fact that the normal tendencies of human behavior were not considered before constructing the bridge. Human Centered Design Design thinking takes into consideration the natural tendencies of human behavior before designing a solution. This will ensure shared responsibility from both parties such that there is already a market with reasonable demand to capture a market share than can sustain the business when eventually presented to the users. The failure of most start-up ideas is embedded in the emotional attachment that founders have to their ideas which makes it difficult for them to be open to feedback from the prospective users. However, a fact based finding should be prioritized against emotions when creating a solution. How Design Thinking Drives Innovation There are five stages in the design thinking process 1. Empathize Being able to empathize with customers most especially when it is a challenge or pain point that makes the purchasing or usage of a product or service difficult for them gives you an opportunity to learn closely from them. Customers who have a reference point of a better offering would always voice out hence, active listening to their challenges is a great feedback for start-ups. This stage consists of interviews in getting to know what the ideal scenario is to prospective customers. 2. Define Having interviewed the prospects, it then becomes necessary to begin to define what the challenges are from all the opinions gathered from several interviews conducted with stakeholders. The age group of those facing these challenges, their income level, experience, education and location becomes parameters to pay attention to. 3. Ideate The aim of conducting interviews and surveys by visiting the field is to be able to generate a product or service that has a fit for the market. All the feedback that has been given now needs to undergo divergent or convergent processes where divergent takes the several opinions and create solutions around them while convergent thinking helps to narrow down to the best idea. These two thought processes helps to come up with what the proposed solution to be developed would be. 4. Prototype Prototyping involves making a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), a minimum viable product is one that is made with the minimum resources in order to furthermore see how customers interact with the product or service in its pilot or beta phase. The feedback from the usage and engage would then help to determine whether a full product would be manufactured or not. For digital products such as web or mobile apps, tools such as Figma or Adobe XD can be used to make a prototype. 5. Test The testing stage helps to pick the ideas that work and move very fast to implement them. If there are impediments or bugs, then it has to be corrected. When the product passes the testing stage, a complete product category can now be created and ready to make entry into the market. The first two stages in the process of design thinking helps to look out for evidence by carrying out Primary Market Research (PMR) to ascertain by means of qualitative and quantitative analysis the fact there are evidences to either support whether a challenge really exists or not for a solution to be created. Founders should learn to embrace what the primary market research presents in order to avoid losing big as a result of the assumptions of what they either expect the market to be or their emotional connection to the product. Read Also: Ten Marketing Tips for Startups

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What You Should Know about VAT

Gone are the days when small and medium-sized scale business owners will say forget Value Added Tax (VAT). It is for big companies. If you continue to operate your business with that mindset, both the amount for VAT and penalties will keep piling up. VAT is a tax that is added to the price of goods or services. It is charged at a rate of 7.5 percent. The current battle by some State governments to collect VAT in their various states instead of the Federal Government is a great concern for every business owner. Every business owner is by law a tax agent to the Government. It means that officially your business is meant to file VAT to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on or before the 21st of every month. Who pays VAT? VAT is paid by users of the paid goods and services. Every business that makes sales of products or services either at a stretch or cumulatively the sum of twenty-five million nairas (N25,000,000) or more in a year is liable to pay VAT. Considering this new development, the governments will employ all kinds of law enforcement, including touts, to collect more VAT. This will put more pressure on business owners and their cashflows. This law enforcement when they visit you as VAT defaulter, you will have to settle them, and still pay the VAT you owe including the penalty. What a loss! Put your house (business) in order by doing the following; 1. Separate your personal finance from business finance by simply placing yourself as a business owner on salary. If your business cannot pay salary then wages. 2. Stop using your company account to assist people who have relations overseas just because there is a promise of extra cash. You cannot prove is not for business afterward. Then you will be forced to pay VAT out of it. 3. Start keeping proper records of all your business transactions. 4. If in the last three (3) or six (6) months you have not made sales or purchases worth six a million (N6,000,000), do not charge Value Added Tax anymore to your customers this year. The reason is that you may not be making up to twenty-five million Naira (N25,000,000). 5. Even though you do not charge Value Added Tax you are supposed to be filing VAT to either FIRS or State Board of Internal Revenue depending on the state of residence. Presently, Rivers and Lagos states are the leading states in Value Added Tax collection. Hello entrepreneur, you cannot afford as a business owner in this present economy in Nigeria not to file Value Added Tax. The need and demand for money by the government at all levels have never been like this. This will push the government to take measures you may consider “not business-friendly”. Read Also: Here’s Whats New on Tax Identification Number

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Legal Structures You Need as a Media Agency

Hello Zainab, I currently run a Media Agency with my co-founder. We are looking to scale by representing various Content Creators, and platforms, that is while they create the shows, songs, or content, we would be the ones to handle the business aspect of things We have been doing business on a month-to-month basis, what legal structure do we need to put in place to handle all our deals as a Media Agency? Thanks Do-it-right Business Owner Hi Do-it-right Business Owner, I’m always glad to hear of people creating solutions and doing it well, so I owe you a smile. Starting with your question on a recommended legal structure, the first thing you need to do is to incorporate your business. You shouldn’t confuse this with registering a business name. An incorporated company differs from a business name as it is a separate legal entity while in the case of a business name, there is no separation between the proprietor(s) and the registered business. Also, you should get a founders agreement that governs the relationship between founders. It defines all the roles, obligations, and benefits of each founder. It’s always better to sort this out at the early stages of your business. You should also have terms and conditions which indicate intellectual property usage and rights with the content creators. You should also look at having a privacy policy for the use of all the personal information you will gather. With all this said, you should still seek legal advice from a lawyer who can help you out with more intricate details. You can find one here As an additional resource, you can read up these articles:- Types of business entities, Setting up a legal entity for your business in Nigeria. These videos could be helpful too- Diylaw Video 1, Diylaw Video 2 Keep succeeding Do-it-right Business Owner

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Tips – Pitch Perfect!

“If you can’t explain it simply, you do not understand it well enough” – Albert Einstein Einstein said it perfectly! Pitching your business idea to a 3rd party is when you give a clear understanding of your idea, plans, and goals so as to get their buy-in. This 3rd party could be a potential client or a potential investor. Your goal is to communicate clearly and enthusiastically to motivate and persuade so as to turn your vision or idea into a reality. Before you get to a pitching session, you must do your research. You must first research the potential investor or client; learn more about their likes and dislikes, their needs, pain points, the kinds of ideas they invest in, the relationships they have with the businesses they invest in. You need to understand the market opportunity of your idea, your target audience, your product-market fit, your value proposition, your financials, and most importantly your exit strategy. As you are preparing for your pitch, here are 5 things that are essential for you to do to win the pitch Story Story: Tell a story! Using the active voice, your idea should be in the format of a story. The storyline could be aligned with the problem and need your idea is solving or filling. Implement the KISS strategy: Keep it stupidly simple! Use short sentences and familiar, everyday words but don’t stray too far from investor lingo (eg minimum viable product). Ensure you have visuals, people understand better when they can see, but keep these visuals simple. Facts & Feelings: Quantitative as well as qualitative data. You need to show the data, it is essential. However, do not forget that emotions play a big role in decision making so use language and metaphor that will stir their emotions. Mystery: Do not give all the information at the beginning of the presentation. The brain craves anticipation so give teasers that will keep your audience interested and wanting more in the beginning. Repetition: The more you repeat something of importance, the more likely it is to be remembered. Repeat information (your company name, your name, your idea) as much as possible so it is remembered. Pitching can be a daunting experience; mainly because we place so many expectations on it. As long as you know your idea and pitch audience inside out, you can clearly state the market opportunity of your idea, your target audience, your product-market fit, your value proposition, your financials, and your exit strategy, and are prepared; go in, have fun, and don’t put too much pressure on the experience. Contact Versa Research your trusted data, research & consulting partner! References https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/business-pitching https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/how-to-pitch-a-business-idea

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Start-up Basics