YOUWIN AND THE NIGERIAN WOMAN

We have been so excited inviting women to apply for Youwin.Yes 1-10 million can really change the lives of the lucky winners and create jobs.The problem with youwin is that it is not for the ordinary woman on the street who has no idea what a business plan is,cannot access the internet and cannot write a concept note.This woman is marginalised by poor quality education and access to the 50bn the FGN set aside for youwin.Govt cant be everywhere and do everything.That woman on the street im talking about needs just 5000, 10,000 , 20,000 ,50,000 or a 100,000 Naira to improve her life and that of her family.If we are talking about training it will take very little to train these women,we dont have to gather them in one venue we can do the training by radio.Th...

e most important thing we need are the funds. If communities can send children to school by contributing money we can do the same for women to set up businesses.I emphasize on women because it is a notorious fact that the womens business better sustains the primary and necessary needs of the family.The sucesses recorded by Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen bank in Asia is an example. If Nigerians can become one of the highest customers of the private jet industry buying over 130 new private jets between 2007 and 2012 on an average of $50million per jet we have no business being poor as a nation.Nigeria as a nation is rich but the normal citizens are poor.Nigerias wealth lies in the hands of Government officials ,politicians and their cronies.Whatever they do God doesnt sleep and He is all seeing.My grouse is what you and i are doing to build others.Seven years ago a woman asked me for 500 Naira as an investment to start selling firewood i gave her a thousand and she returned two years after to say thank you and tell me she has built on that.Most people trade blindly or set up businesses dumbly.Lets give them basic training the way SMEDAN is doing as we give them the loans,lets borrow a leaf from youwin minus the complex "turanci";Set up small business idea competitions pick out the feasible ones,mentor others to make the ideas suceed let the community or different tribal associations,neighbourhood associations,religious groups fund these initiatives.Pressure the rich men in your locality to subscribe and fund the programs.Identify people with promise;is it the kosai seller on your road ?What would she need to graduate to providing kosai,kunu,waina,moin-moin,chips and plantain for breakfast .Her small kosai corner can turn into your neighbourhoods breakfast corner with just a 2 hour lecture and less than 20,000 Naira.The possibilities are endless.Monitoring and training,will provide the necessary security to avoid diversion of funds."

YOUWIN;DOING OLD THINGS IN A NEW WAY

 

For the last two months or so I have pumped the issue of Youwin the FGNs business grant program down the throats of my friends, family and strangers especially my social media contacts. I tend to be skeptical about FG policies and programs but embraced this one seeing that it’s a win-win situation. I still believe that it’s a program for the elite and will do very little for Nigerian women, but if we can get more than the 1200 winners of the premier Youwin competition this time and they can employ at least 5 people each men and women that will be at least 6000 people employed. The remaining 140million Nigerians that are unemployed will get their chance when the competition is re launched soon.

I insist that it’s a win-win situation even if you don’t win this edition because:

1. You can apply next time; The FGN earmarked 50billion Naira for the program last year, they only got 1200 winners and I’m sure very few got the full grant sum of 10million.

2. If indeed you did good research, have a decent feasibility study and a feasible business plan your ideas or business plan cannot go to waste, for you to become an entrepreneur you need to dust your proposal and show it to investors, one may get several rejections but somewhere out there your yes awaits you.

3. There are other funds available from the FGN and other sources  do a little digging and you may find a program that’s right for you. For women we await the new CBN business program for women coming up. If you didn’t apply for Youwin you might get a chance with CBNs program.

4. If you have gone as far as submitting your concept note, that means you have a fair idea of what you’re doing. In some cases by scaling down the size of your project you may find that you don’t need outside funding after all and you can start on your own or with others. In fact by the time you start something tangible you have a shot at applying for a grant from Youwin and other sources, with higher chances of getting the grant.

5. All over the world you hear about venture capitalists and angel investors but they seem not to exist or are virtually impossible to locate in Nigeria. Instead of dumping money in the bank wealthy Nigerians can put their money to work for them by investing in some of the business plans being submitted for youwin.

Doing old things in a new way; of the three tenets of youwin the one that seems to frustrate people the most is innovation. Women have been running helter-skelter nationwide trying to find or create brand new businesses. This is due to lack of business education, even those that attended schools of higher learning seem to be handicapped in that respect. I presented Youwin to an audience of 48 women to aid them in applying for the grant unfortunately none could give me an innovative business idea.

Yes new things are created everyday but you don’t have to be the one to create it, you can pick something old add value to it by making some changes or improvements. In answer to the many phone calls, text messages and visits from women who want to apply for Youwin; I say look around you, within our immediate environments alone we can find several things that can be improved upon. Don’t wait for the solution to come from Asia, America or Europe we know our challenges better and if there’s the possibility that other people have the same problem and will pay to use or own your solution then Youwin awaits you.

Do some modern marketing etc and you are good to go. It’s not a person’s level of education or social prowess that will determine their ability to succeed rather it’s the beauty of the idea by virtue of its being innovative. It’s ability to create and sustain jobs and; for it to be economically viable.

Women tend to be highly creative and innovative, entering the kitchen and creating gourmet meals out of remnants is a typical example, juggling family schedules is another. People generally need to set aside or find a way to throw out their business inhibitions after all nothing ventured nothing gained. To be an entrepreneur is a big challenge and I’m glad Nigerian women are ready.