In this article, I will be attempting to answer this question - for any
serious prospect ready to write a professional standard business plan prepared
for his/her peculiar business needs. This question is important because it
serves as a guide in the selection process so that you can actually work
optimally with your budget and avoid wasting your money on the wrong type of business plan writer or even worse getting served with a watered down/poor
quality business plan – usually copied online.
First before answering the question it is important for me to state there
are two important facts you must not overlook when finding the right price for
a business plan in Nigeria and these facts are;
Fact #1 - there are professionally written
and low quality business plans being peddled for sale
There are low quality business plans which are craftily and dishonestly
packaged as standard/professional business plans by people who clearly don’t
know how to write any form of business document using standard business
language and tone. Just as there is good quality, custom written business plans
which are professionally written and which will be specific for your own
business needs – not one that is written for any business and sold to you as if
it will work for you. I’ll explain more about them shortly.
Fact #2 - there are real professional
business plan writers and there are quacks pretending to be professionals
There are many quacks masquerading as professional business plan writers and
there are few professional business plan writers in Nigeria. The quacks you can
identify easily in three ways. First way and this is an easy giveaway is with
their poor command of English. When you read their blog posts you can easily
spot errors in their use of tenses, irrelevant ideas explored and poor
analysis.
Another way to identify them is their lack of originality. There is no way a
good business plan writer would be an expert in copying and lifting contents
from other sources and still have the right imagination to write a business
plan for you that will measure up to the minimum standard which very well
informed bank officials and investors would be looking out for.
Thirdly you can identify the quacks with their lack of specialization. They
are into many things, promoting network marketing programs, affiliate products,
claiming to be motivational speakers, trying to sell you worthless ebooks they
themselves can’t use because of the irrelevance of the expressed ideas and poor
research put into writing it, claiming to be experts in many fields e.g
agriculture, ecommerce, internet startups, supply chain management etc but the
age of the business plan writer often shows he or she is both very young and is
at best qualified for a junior management position – imagine being an expert in
many fields but at the same time doing full time, small scale business plan
consulting, how do they tally?
Prices of Different Business Plan Options
in Nigeria
Here is a shortlist of different business plan options with their respective
price range;
Free/Sample Business Plans – this costs
nothing
You can easily find these business plans online when you do a search on
google or bing. They are usually complete and have standard formats to work
with but if you choose one of these business plans make sure you edit it well
and paraphrase properly especially if you want to show a bank or investor.
Secondly adapt the business plan to the Nigerian environment and in particular
to your own business but also ensure that you also tweak the business plan
format to match with your business opportunity and business plan needs.
How much is a Pre-written Business Plan in
Nigeria? - N5,000 to N15,000
These are already written business plans available for sale and for this
price range it seems very attractive but I must warn you here, do
not buy any of these types if you want to present it to a bank, business plan
competition or investor because it has not been written for your own
business. The person who wrote this is dishonest to claim you can submit this
type of business plan to any bank, investor or submit to any business plan
competition.
Imagine if 100 people buy this type of business plan to submit for a business
plan competition and many of them are in the same business. That means there
will be many similar business plans which will scuttle your chances of getting
funded and this is even worse when you are dealing with banks.
Secondly when he wrote it, he wasn’t thinking about whether your business is
located in Abuja, Lagos, Benin or Port Harcourt. Business success sometimes
depends on location and also target markets differ and consumer behaviours in
one region may differ from another region.
Thirdly, the business plan is outdated. Imagine a business plan for Maize
farming for instance written in 2007 being sold to you for use in 2017. There
have been a lot of changes in Agriculture over the last 10 years in terms of
government policies, farming practice, resources farmers can access, new market
situations etc but the person who wants to sell this to you doesn’t care about
this except of course taking your money.
How much is a Custom written Business Plan
in Nigeria? It’s N20,000 and above
For this type of business plan there are many price options so it is hard
really to say it would cost you so and so amount. But here is what you should
know about the price, it depends on the business plan writer, the type of
business, the expected delivery date of the business plan and sometimes even
the amount of capital the client is targeting.
Some business plan writers have a flat rate which they charge for any kind
of business and they don’t negotiate prices with the client – either you pay
what they are asking for or you simply have to move on to patronize someone
else whereas some other business plan writers are willing to negotiate price
with you provided you can agree to their terms.
With the bank of industry though many of their accredited SME consultants
can charge you as little as N20,000 to prepare a business plan but there are
others that don’t charge less than N150,000.
There are also other specialist business plan writers who charge at least N600,000 for a business plan but these are high level, highly experienced and
very competent business plan writers who on their own are business consultants
to large organisations and only do business with high net worth individuals and
groups.
Final thoughts on how much you should pay
for a Business Plan in Nigeria
But for small sized entrepreneurs looking for affordable business plans to
buy in Nigeria this is my suggestion. If your budget is between N20,000 to
N50,000 and the business plan writer is not willing to negotiate his fee with
you, try another business plan writer – but be careful so you don’t patronize
quacks. If your budget is above N50,000 first ask the business plan writer for
his fee, if he mentions it and it’s non-negotiable but within your budget then
you are good to go.
If you wish to buy a
custom/professionally written business plan in Nigeria, you can give me a call:
0803 206 4106 or email me: paulonwueme@gmail.com
for details
I'll turn your business ideas into bankable business plans and proposals: Business Plan Consultant| Feasibility Study Writer. Call: 0803 206 4106 (I'm based in Abuja)
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Monday, July 17, 2017
Top 5 Most Profitable Crop Farming Businesses to Start and Run in Nigeria
Posted by
Paul Onwueme
at
8:19:00 AM
Labels: Nigerian Business Plans
Lucrative farming Business ideas in Nigeria,
Most profitable farming businesses in Nigeria,
Profitable Agricultural Businesses in Nigeria
If you are looking to start a crop
farming business in Nigeria and wondering just where to start looking for
ideas, there are a few I would share with you in this article. In fact they are
the most profitable crop farming businesses to do in Nigeria as at 2017 based
on their return on investment.
Interesting thing about these farming
businesses is that they can be started on a small scale with as little as N100,000 and you can be sure of getting
your money back within a very short period of say a few months. But let me
warn, while they are profitable they are also very risky businesses to do and I
will explain the risks involved in these businesses.
Challenges of running a Farming Business in Nigeria
Firstly you must consider certain
things first before looking to go into farming.
- Farming is a very tedious and labour intensive business to do in Nigeria. Mechanized farming which would have removed the labour intensive part is very expensive to setup and is out of the question for many small scale investors seeking opportunities in Agriculture.
- There are regulatory and policy challenges to deal with. There are not enough policies to support farming as a business and the few policies in place are not well implemented.
- There are marketing issues like how will you evacuate your farm produce to the market? How will you secure the best price for your produce? If you want to export your farm produce how will you locate international buyers or if you want to sell locally how will you get reliable processors and traders who will pay meaningful amounts for your produce? Even joining a farmer’s cooperative may not solve all these problems.
- There is problem of optimal production which involves having the right farming mix, techniques and input that will maximize yields from your farm. How will you get affordable and fertilizer, extension services, quality seed varieties, pesticides? etc
- There is the problem of storage of your produce. At least 20% of harvested farm produce gets wasted due to poor storage facilities. This must negatively affect your profit potentials.
- Pest and diseases can ravage your crops whether those on the field or the ones you have harvested and stored in your barns and farm storage. In 2015, more than 80% of tomato crops in Nigeria were destroyed by a farm pest called ‘Tula Absoluta’ which many nicknamed “Tomato Ebola”.
But even after all these, farming
can be profitable once you learn the right approach and build a reliable
business to identify and overcome your business challenges.
The 5 most profitable farming businesses to do in Nigeria
These are the most profitable
farming businesses to do in Nigeria in 2017 because there is a huge local market
for them and they also offer farmers attractive profit margins. Let’s set the
ball rolling with;
#1 Soya Beans or Soybean Farming
Soy bean farming is the most
lucrative farming business to do in Nigeria. Farmers in this business make at
least 106% - 200% return on investment for each planting season. That means if you
invest N100,000 into small scale
soybean farming, you should make at least N
106,000 profit after selling your produce, what’s more there are always ready
buyers willing to take your produce once you have your harvests ready for
evacuation.
#2 Rice Farming
Rice farming makes between 60-150% return on investment for each planting season. Rice can be produced twice
yearly and the market demand for rice has always been on the increase since
independence. There has never been a year in which annual demand for rice
declined compared to the previous year and Nigeria is the second largest
importer of rice in the world.
#3 Maize Farming
Growing maize is becoming
increasingly more lucrative than previous years. This is because many large
scale buyers of maize now approach farmers directly through their cooperatives
to source for their products at much higher prices than the farmers would get
if they sold directly to middlemen traders. These large scale farmers include;
poultry farms, Animal feed mills and food processing companies. Also government
has recently supplied many maize farmers with improved seed varieties which
yield more and are more resistant to diseases. 40-120% return on investment on every planting season.
#4 Tomato Farming
Tomato farming is volatile but
still profitable. It isn’t suitable to do in the southern part of Nigeria because
the best varieties grow in the North were the right soil, temperature and
rainfall are present. With the advent of local production of tomato paste and
with huge investment by Dangote and Erisco foods who have both invested over N8
billion in 3 years in processing local tomatoes into paste you can be sure of
making quick sales. But there are two catches. First you must be located within
the right planting zone where these companies can reach you and you must join
the right farmers’ cooperative. The return on investment is 30-100% for each
planting season.
#5 Cotton Farming
Cotton can be processed into animal
feeds, crushed to produce oils, is useful in the pharmaceutical industries,
textile industries for making khaki, underwear, fishing nets, book covers and
more. Even if there is no local market for it, the international market demand
for cotton is huge and Nigeria even if it can produce 3 times is current level
would not be able to meet its own quota of existing global. The return on
investment is between 20 to 80% for every planting season.
I wish I could go on but this
article must have an end and unfortunately it is at this point but you can
learn more about farming techniques and marketing plans you can pursue for each
of these farming businesses if you intend to do any of them.
Give me a call or send me an email if you need a business plan
on any of these businesses. My phone number: 0803 206 4106 and email: paulonwueme@gmail.com
Sunday, July 9, 2017
Sample Business Plan Baby Products Retail Store in Nigeria
Posted by
Paul Onwueme
at
12:16:00 AM
Labels: Nigerian Business Plans
Baby products business in Nigeria,
Baby Store Business Plan in Nigeria,
Sample Business Plan for Baby Retail Shop in Nigeria
Nigeria has a huge market for sale of baby products
ranging from diapers, to baby clothing to baby shoes, baby toys and other
products that can be associated with children under 18 months of age – those
that can reasonably be breast fed or still growing little teeth.
Socially Nigerians tend to celebrate with their family member, friend, colleague, church member or neighbor who just put to bed. Guess how they choose to celebrate with them – by buying baby products as gifts presented to the parents as a way of showing their love for the new child. It is a very common
The Opportunity in Selling Baby Products in Nigeria
There are many opportunities in Nigeria to sell baby products in Nigeria. Let us start with the population of new born babies. In 2016 an estimated 5.2 million babies were born in Nigeria with over 2 million of them born to parents who reside in many Nigerian towns and cities. The main customers of baby products reside in the towns and cities of which an estimated 40% of Nigerians are resident in. The big towns and cities include state capitals, transit such as towns, trading towns and other densely populated commercial areas etc
Nigeria’s Population is growing very fast
Nigeria’s population is growing at an
alarming 3.2% per annum which would make Nigeria the 3rd largest
country in the world - by population - by the year 2050 when our population would
reach 400 million. This is because family planning is not widespread in
Nigeria. Most homes have at least 4 children even among educated middleclass
families. There is also the issue of early marriages. In Nigeria women get
married as early as 21. Combine that with our high fertility rate of 5.7% -
this means most Nigerian women between the ages of 19-39 will bare at least 5
children which is the 10th highest in the world. Nigeria will keep
producing millions of babies every year.
Huge
Pool of Customers in Nigeria
There is a huge market pool of over 38
million customers to consider (parents with children less than 2 years). About
15.2 million of them reside in state capitals and cities such as; Lagos, Port
Harcourt, Abuja, Benin, Jos, Kano, Ibadan, Ilorin to mention a few. This
population keeps increasing year after year meaning that by next year we should
be expecting a higher population of parents with children less than 2 years of
age.
Products are
affordable to the Nigerian Middle Class
Thirdly baby products are relatively
affordable for the middle class who are 23-30% of total population according to
the World Bank. In Nigeria middle class families consist on average two parents
and 4 children with gross household income of N120,000 and above. Most middle
class families can afford to buy this range of products and they reside mostly
in the urban centers.
There are few
Specialist Baby Product Shops
There are a lot of shops that sell baby
product but very few of them are specialist stores. This means they can only
stock their shops with the most common baby products i.e diapers and baby food
but not on baby clothes. Most people buy their baby products from corner shops
and Supermarkets
in Nigeria. Secondly they are not likely to source quality baby wares and
products at the best available price.
Family
Planning is not widespread
Nigeria is one of the least compliant
countries in the world when it comes to the use of contraceptives and other
family planning methods. Our cultural, religious and social practices encourage
larger families compared to European and Asian households.
Low
Marketing Costs
Being a retail product that cuts across
many social and economic divides, the cost of reaching potential customers is
relatively low compared to many other products. There are marketing strategies
that can achieve good results in a short time with a small budget that fits
into this business. This offers a chance for investors to realize quicker sales
if the marketing approach used is cost effective
High
Profit Margins
Baby products also carry a higher profit
margin than many fast moving consumer products. Some baby products such as
diapers can attract 10% or more in sales margin compared with other kinds of
consumer items.
The Challenges
There are many things that could affect your business negatively or prevent you from achieving your business goals. In Nigeria I have identified at least 9 for baby product range of businesses but I will only explain 3 in this article;
Counterfeiting of Baby Products
One thing common in the Nigerian landscape is how soon a fast moving product is counterfeited or produced using substandard ingredients in order to make a quick buck. It cuts across drinks, to clothing to bags, shoes and a lot more and certainly baby products are not excluded. The unfortunate thing is that consumers often don’t know better. This can actually discourage some people from buying from your store.
Strategic Shop locations are expensive
To have a strategic location to drive sales to your business is very hard to come by because the available spots are usually very expensive and can contribute to your already high operating cost
Stiff Competition
A lot of people already know about this business and there is no way they will sit back and allow others profit from it. Since there are many alternatives to the products you will be selling you will likely lose some potential customers so long as people can order for the same product from someone else. But this shouldn’t discourage you as aggressive marketing works well when there is stiff competition
There are at least 15 different ways I know you can find new customers for your business. There is word of mouth, targeted internet marketing, social media marketing, use of a strategic shop location, online shopping malls among other methods many of which are low budget and effective.
Startup Requirements for Baby Products Retail Store in Nigeria
- 2 years’ Shop Rent – 1,200,000
- Inventory – 3,000,000
- Adverts and Marketing – 600,000
- Working Capital – 600,000
- 3 months salaries – 300,000
- Contingency – 600,000
- Total – 6,300,000
1st Year Financial Summary
- Gross sales = 18,000,000
- Gross Profit = 5,400,000
- Net profit before tax = 3,240,000
- Taxation = 972,000
- Net Profit after Tax = 2,268,000
- Return on Investment = 36%
- Breakeven period = 9th or 10th month if sales target is met
- Payback period = 3rd year
Do you wish to setup a baby/children’s store in Nigeria and need a professionally written business plan for it? Give me a call: 0803 206 4106 or email me: paulonwueme@gmail.com to get one prepared professionally for you.
Sunday, July 2, 2017
What will be Africa’s Biggest Untapped Business Opportunity from 2017 to 2030?
Posted by
Paul Onwueme
at
1:31:00 AM
Labels: Nigerian Business Plans
Africa's Biggest Business Opportunity,
African Biggest Investment Opportunity,
Nigeria's fastest growing Business Opportunity
In this article I’m going to be referencing facts and data from the World Bank, Africa Development Bank, National Bureau of Statistics, McKinsey global, KPMG and USA today in analyzing Africa’s biggest untapped business opportunity. I won’t be using citations - so you don’t feel you are reading an academic essay.
This topic asks a question and I personally didn't have an answer till I read McKinsey
Global services market report on this earlier this year. The highly respected marketing
research company particularly mentioned an industry as Africa’s biggest
business opportunity by 2025 – but I emphasized untapped.
KPMG also reports
that this business opportunity will thrive as more Africans start earning above
$1,000 per annum - which is the minimum amount required to be classified as
middle class in Africa by ADB and World Bank criteria.
I call it untapped because as of
2014 only 8% of Nigerians patronize them. Nigeria being Africa’s largest market
(by population) is still lagging behind South Africa and Egypt by sales volume
in this industry. Unlike other business opportunities in Africa, this one isn’t
seasonal, short term or adversely affected by harsh economic conditions except by
inflation and declining purchasing power. The irony though is that even so the industry
still grows even with inflation and declining purchasing power.
- Africa’s Biggest Business Opportunity would be worth over $400 billion in sales per annum by 2020
- Over 420 million customers would patronize the industry by 2025
- Less than 40% of the entire market would be captured by 2025
- The growth of this industry would also involve massive economic growth (over 5% per annum) for many African countries.
- Internet technology would be a major driver of sales for this industry
- Increasing annual purchasing power from customers is projected for this industry
- The industry is expected to create many new age millionaires (less than 40 years of age) in Africa by 2030
What industry am I talking about? Let
me tease you a bit. It is an industry that grows on average at 7% per annum in
most African countries. It sells everyday items, is associated with the middleclass,
it rarely experiences negative growth in Africa even during recessions except
during civil wars and severe famine.
I am talking here about the formal retail
industry which comprises registered, taxable and regulated supermarkets,
grocery stores, boutiques and clothing shops, food markets, online retail shops
and any business involved in selling consumer items directly to consumers at
retail prices. I am not referring to kiosks and informal petty trading although
they also fall under retail albeit the informal sector.
There has been a massive growth in population
of most African cities due to rural-urban mass drift as young school leavers in
rural communities migrate to towns and cities in search better economic
opportunities.
Many African cities especially national and regional/state
capitals are growing at an alarming 3-5% per annum from rural-urban migration
which puts pressure on domestic food security and increases local demand for consumer
items and consumables.
Add the cosmopolitan lifestyle of
most city dwellers and you begin to see why going to the supermarket or grocery
store is more convenient that storing food supplies in barns or why maintaining
a home garden isn’t feasible for them.
People can’t produce their own food
items, design their own clothes, make their own makeup kits etc but they have
needs for these things and the population of these people keeps rising every
year in many big towns and cities in Africa. Currently less than 300 million Africans
live in towns and cities but the story will change in another 8 years when
their population will reach 420 million with at least 156 million of them being
middleclass as against the current 60 million plus middleclass city dwellers. Nigeria
in particular would have over 40 million middleclass urban residents by 2025.
Factors that will ensure the rapid growth of the retail industry
in Africa
- Rural-Urban drift [Urbanization]
- Online Social Media influence on Millennials
- Westernization of the growing youth population
- Rapid growth in middl eclass population
- Large number of white and blue collar jobs in African towns and cities
- Improved enactment and enforcement of urban and town planning laws [Urbanization]
- Rising influx of foreign investors
- Increasing government spending on infrastructural projects
- Africa’s extractive and consumer based economy isn’t likely to transform into a more productive one even by 2050 giving room for the retail boom to thrive
What does this mean for Investors and Retail Entrepreneurs?
- There is a fast shifting trend observed among retail shoppers and consumers in Africa. Many of them now have access to mobile and internet banking, they have rising tastes for modern gadgets and products
- There is a rapidly growing population of millennials who are gaining purchasing power to buy and pay for goods and services. Most of these people would be looking online to purchase their preferred items
- Financial institutions in Africa are increasing their funding of consumer spending with tailor made services to their customers
- Africans are now going cashless which makes shopping; easier, safer, faster and cheaper
- More people will be able to spend cash on the go whether at the airports, schools, hotels, restaurants, at car parks etc
Conclusion for African Entrepreneurs and Investors
Investors and retail entrepreneurs
should be looking to setup formal retail marts at strategic places in cities in
Africa. Shoprite, Park ‘N’ Shop, Ebeano, SPAR and NEXT are not sufficient to
meet these growing demand. More players should join and serve this market
Looking to write bankable business plans in Nigeria? Give me a call: 0803 206 4106 or email me: paulonwueme@gmail.com
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