MSME
Should I quit my job and start a business? Yes, if you pass these tests
Are you ready to quit your day job to run a business of your own? This is a question most entrepreneurs often find themselves struggling to answer. If you are one of them, here are four things you must consider.
Are you ready to quit your day job to run a business of your own? This is a question most employees often find themselves struggling to answer. If you are one of them, here are four things you must consider before taking the plunge into full-time entrepreneurship.
After going through this article, you will be able to decide whether to say farewell to your boss right away, stick it out a little while longer, or even keep both your job and your business.
Let’s get started, shall we?
Are you financially safe?
Startups take time to become stable and profitable. Within the first few months and sometimes years, a lot of spendings are usually involved. That’s why it is important to make sure you have enough money to see you through this phase. Will you be able to live comfortably until such a time your business begins to turn enough profit to pay you?
Remember, you won’t go far if you dip into your business account to support your daily expenses. Every turnover should go right back into growing the business; at least until such a time when your profits outweigh your business expenses many times over.
[Read Also: Here are 10 ways you can earn an extra N50,000 every month]
So, before you up and leave your 9 to 5, ensure that you have at least six to eight months living expenses saved up. This way, you avoid running your business down before it even stands a chance.
Are you ready to expand but barely have time?
Having a fulltime job is not a joke. You are expected to perform up to par or risk being queried or sacked as a matter of fact. This means you might not give your business enough attention, assuming you have one.
Even if you have managed to do so up till now, a time will come when you’re performing so well that you need to scale. At this point, you might not be able to do those important things you want for your business because of your job.
Does this scenario apply to you? Then you may want to consider shaking hands with your employer and saying those goodbyes.
A sustainable and fast growing venture requires maximum commitment.
Do you have what it takes to beat the big brands?
Most businesses fail due to their inability to keep up with competitors. Even if you have managed to create a unique product or service, you can still lose market share if bigger brands or even other startups take your idea and make it even better.
For this reason, you need to know how to do things a bit differently so as to capture and keep customers.
If you quit your job before you figure out how to stay ahead of the competition, you might be taking a huge risk.
How knowledgeable are you in your chosen venture?
If you are not already an expert in the field you want to start a business in, then you need time to know everything there is to know. Perhaps you came across the idea from a friend and feel it’s something you can key into? Well, do not get too excited that you jump in with both legs. Give yourself time and make sure it’s something you can handle.
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Even if you have become an expert, you still have to learn how the market works and also gain some experience in running the business. Keep your job till you are sure it’s reasonable to quit.
Consider this, it’s easier to begin a venture in an area you’ve been involved in for a long time. Leaving your job to start a business in the same field is advisable. In this case, it would be like you’ve been getting paid to learn a trade. This is why you should pick your career wisely.
In Conclusion…
It feels good to be your own boss and have a venture you call your own. But don’t be too carried away that you lose sight of what you already have. If you’ve made considerable progress in your career, it might not be wise to flush it all down the drain.
If you are really passionate about your business idea, you can run it by the side in the meantime until it becomes completely sustainable.
[Read Also: The 20 Habits of Eventual Millionaires]
MSME
130 farmers to receive seed funding of N100,000 each
The target of the programme is to adopt farmers in 774 LGAs across the country.
The National Information Technology Development Agency has kick-started a job and wealth creation programme where 130 farmers will each receive seed funding of N100,000. The programme will be supervised by the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.
According to a statement from the agency, the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) programme is in line with the government’s drive to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty, and it will start with 130 farmers in Jigawa state.
In line with President @MBuhari's administration drive to lift 100m Nigerians out of poverty, @NITDANigeria, under the supervision of @FMoCDENigeria kick starts job and wealth creation programme by adopting 130 farmers on National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA). pic.twitter.com/Z4cWdrlQgs
— NITDA Nigeria (@NITDANigeria) June 29, 2020
The target of the programme is to adopt farmers in 774 LGAs across the country, open the platform to all agriculture ecosystem players with access to information, facilitate and improve productivity, reduce the cost of production, and facilitate access to local and international markets.
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With all of this in place, it is expected that the farmers will be able to build sustainable business models and digital business opportunities that will create not less than 6 million well-paying jobs in the next 10 years.
“NAVSA Platform is aimed at digitalising agriculture to drive Digital Economy, as part of President Buhari’s agenda to leverage on technology and innovation to revolutionise the agriculture value chain,” the statement read.
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Among other things, the farmers will be empowered with a digital platform, smart devices (tablets), connectivity for data and calls, Digital agripreneurship skills, and enrolment with telecom operators and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for identification.
All of these will be given to them at the end of the programme, which will last from July 1 to July 13, 2020.
MSME
Business owners will now get CAC certificate with TIN
This will also allow them to easily request loans and credit facilities from financial institutions.
As part of the Ease Of Doing Business Initiative, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) will now work with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to issue Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) along with the Certificate of Incorporation.
This will save companies and small business owners the troubles of applying separately to the FIRS for their Tax Identification Numbers.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on Monday, June 29, and seen by Nairametrics.
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The statement reads in part “Certificates of Incorporation of companies registered under part A of the CAMA will henceforth carry Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) issued by the FIRS”.
With this development, companies and business owners can now proceed to open a corporate account upon receiving their Certificate of Incorporation, rather than waiting another week or more for the issuance of Tax Identification Numbers.
READ MORE: How FG plans to support Women-owned MSMEs to recover from the pandemic
This also allows them to easily request loans and credit facilities from financial institutions and dispenses the need to visit the FIRS office.
For the revenue collection agency, the development is set to improve the accuracy of its database of registered businesses operating in the country and can aid it to widen its revenue net.
MSME
How FG plans to support Women-owned MSMEs to recover from the pandemic
The impact of the on pandemic micro, small and medium enterprises has been quite massive.
The Federal Government of Nigeria is set to roll out palliatives to assist women-owned medium and small businesses (MSME’s) recover from the impact of the pandemic.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, in Abuja during the virtual E-launch of the National Survey on the impact of COVID-19 on women-owned businesses in Nigeria, monitored by NAN.
According to Tallen, the survey captured trends and patterns of the losses caused by the pandemic on women-owned businesses, and will now guide the government’s move to revive the affected businesses.
The impact of the pandemic on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) has been quite massive, and resulted in unforeseen losses for business owners, she noted.
“We are all currently experiencing the effects, which have crippled the supply chain of businesses, with dire consequences on MSMEs, where the majority of women’s owned businesses are situated,” she said.
READ MORE: Focus on one positive impact of COVID-19 on the financial services sector
She noted that the government had commenced the implementation of the findings of the survey, through the ongoing UN Women Assisted Palliative Distribution Project, targeted at poor women in 17 states of the federation.
In addition, the ministry of women affairs is also set to scale-up some projects for women in National Empowerment Fund (NaWEF), Government Empowerment and Enterprise Programme (GEEP) and the Business Development Fund for Women (BUDFOW).
Other areas include the ECOWAS and Access Bank 50 Million Women Speak Platform Project (50MWSPP), the Trust Fund agreement with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to implement the HP-LIFE entrepreneurship and job creation project.
Tallen said further that the ministry would also engage with the Nigeria for Women Project (NFWP), and conduct a mapping of state-level interventions on COVID-19.
READ MORE: PwC survey identifies key priorities of Nigerian businesses amid Covid-19 pandemic
She also encouraged policymakers, development partners, and donor agencies to adopt the report’s recommendation for the immediate and post COVID-19 responses for women entrepreneurs.
“The Ministry is engaging with States, relevant government institutions, NGOs, business groups, PWDs cooperative societies, elderly cooperative groups, and women-focused groups to achieve this.
“I want to encourage our partners to not only stop here but let us together again look at the possibility of conducting a follow-up survey to track the progress of women entrepreneurs recovery.
The survey was conducted by NACCIMA and SME.NG, and it contained recommendations in retooling policies to address both immediate and post COVID-19 strategies as well as the way forward.
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Gabriel
June 20, 2019 at 8:06 pm
Thanks for this write-up.
How possible to manage your upcoming business with a job that barely give chance to monitor or manage both together.
You are cage that you can’t do anything for yourself.
Kindly advice
Thanks
Gabriel
Ajah