Life after National Youth Service Corps

EVERY year, thousands of graduates are produced from our tertiary institutions without any hope of getting jobs. The one- year National Youth Service Corps ( NYSC), is mandatory for every Nigerian graduate and thereafter, one is left to fend for him or herself. In recent times, job is very difficult to come by, the situation is pathetic. The economy is in comatose and there is no solution in sight. A couple of years ago, the African Development Bank at its regional presentation of a report titled: “Creating decent jobs, strategies, policies and instruments, the president of the Bank Dr. Adewumi Adesina in his address raised concern about unemployment situation in Nigeria.

He said that the condition could become catastrophic if decent jobs were not created for the country’s youth population. In another related development, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association ( NECA) has also raised an alarm concerning the high rate of unemployment in the country. As part of solution to unemployment, most young graduates are now taken deliberate steps to change the narratives and take control of their future. These steps include; setting up a small business and attending entrepreneurship programmes.

The main objective of this article is to guide the youth on how they can set up their business and succeed. As a start up, you need to put on your thinking cap if you really want to succeed in the business world. Studies have shown that most small business fail within the first three years due to inability to manage risk. For instance, the United Kingdom is a nation of small businesses.

In the UK, there are more than 12.5 million small businesses employing half the work force in U. K and accounting for half the turn over. Yet over half of those business fail within the first three years. This is because majority of the business owners do not have the knowledge to balance entrepreneurial skill with the risk management which is vital to anyone wanting to be a success in business. When you are about to set up your business, the first thing you need to do is to identify where you are needed in the market place that is, you need to have an idea of what exactly you want to do.

You need to gather a lot of information to assist you. This is done by accessing the internet to gain a wider variety of ideas.

Moreover, there will be need for you to attend lectures, conferences, symposiums as well as informal networking lunches in and around your field so that you would be able to access your impact on the market place. Secondly, you need to look at the costs of investment realistically and how you will access money to start up the business. It will be a reasonable idea if you can spend your money on one solid project and get it right rather than spend your resources on two different project that buckle through in adequate funding.

Thirdly, you need to build your teams that will bring all the necessary skills together. One of the first requirements of a successful businessman is to establish and maintain an equilibrium between what you want to do and how you are going to do it. That is, you need to accept the concept of “Ends”, “Ways” and “Means”. “Ends” are the definition of the purpose and objectives of your business, “Ways” are the methods and options of achieving those objectives while “Means” are the resources available to make things happen and sustain forward action.

In practical terms, let us assume that you have decided to put up a pure water production plant in your neighborhood. The “Ends” is to provide portable water for the community, the “Ways” are the equipment needed to provide the portable water. These will include sinking of borehole, building of overhead tanks, provision of power such as giant generators, plastic bottles and packaging materials. You will also need a truck that will convey the bottled water to customers. Then the “Means” of achieving the objectives will be the resources that are available to make things happen. The major resources for this particular project are money, manpower and materials. For a startup, money is the major challenge and the question is how do you raise money to start up the business? First you can apply for a loan from your bank. You need to discuss the matter with your bank manager.

Before you discuss with your bank manager, you need to write an application for a loan, attach the report of your feasibility study and proposal to your application and summit to the bank manager. Apart from approaching the bank manager for a loan, if you are a member of a cooperative society, you can also contact them for a loan. There are quite a few Non- Governmental Organisations that do assist start up businesses. One of them is Live Above Poverty Organisation ( LAPO).

The organisation assists startup businesses. All you need to do is to approach them. In addition, you can also contact your relations and friends to assist you. Another important thing you need to bear in mind when setting up a business is the location; this is very important. You must make sure that the business is strategically located, this way you can attract a lot of customers. In addition, you must make sure that the price of your product is reasonable. You need to carry out a “market/ basket survey” in order to determine your own price. Remember that most small businesses fail in the first three years.

The question is how do you reduce risk in your business? First, you need to identify high value assets and protect them by insuring them. Secondly, always guide your intellectual property right otherwise competitors can copy your ideas and replicate them elsewhere. Another important aspect of the business is advertisement. You should be able to market your products if you want to grow your business. This can be done through the internet, artificial intelligent, newspapers, radio jingles and flyers. You should be ready to spend a lot of money on advertisement. Furthermore, you need to create a platform whereby you will be getting feedback from your customers in respect of your products.

Another method which can be employed in growing your business is by reducing the price of your product during the festivity period like Sallah, Easter, Christmas etc. Alternatively, you can make available things like hampers for your customers during the festive period as a sign of appreciation. In conclusion, before you commit yourself to a particular business, you need to carry out detailed work in order to establish with the accuracy and confidence that the “means” ( resources) exist to act in the “ways” ( method) to achieve the require “Ends” ( objectives). It therefore follows from the concept of “Ends”, “Ways” and “Means” that before any business plan can be executed, it is important to be absolutely clear about what the precise objective is. Get the end state right and the rest will surely follow and most importantly, environment must be conducive in order to make the business to thrive.