NewStats: 3,263,637 , 8,180,880 topics. Date: Saturday, 07 June 2025 at 01:54 AM 2v6e276z3e3g |
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godblessuyirich: |
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Abeys1: |
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Mide3367: Are you still actively involved in export of smoked fish? How many cycles have you done so far and to which country? |
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sammiesent: Hi, you sent me a PM. How can I help you please? |
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udumakalu: I feel your pain. Trust me, the biggest financial mistake a person can make in Nigeria is to take a loan to invest in a business that is not been managed directly by him/her! |
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thobbierulz: Ok |
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I'm have received an offer for collaboration with a fish farmer for export of dried fish and snails Is there anyone who has being involved in export of dried fish and snails before. What are the things I need to be aware of? |
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Do not be in a hurry to invests and do not allow yourself to be rushed When making an investment do not allow yourself to be rushed into making payment. Always take your time to make your enquiries and review them where necessary. You need to bear in mind that if you make payment to the wrong or fraudulent person you may not be able to recover your money. I will give you an instance, in some instances where the business promoter feels that the investor may not want to invest if he were to get hold of some unfavourable information about the business he will try to put an undue sense of urgency into the transaction by trying to rush you into committing funds to the business. It could also be a situation where all the expenses of the business have not been properly disclosed to the investor. In such a situation the final profit will be much less than what has been disclosed. The reason for rushing you into the making the investment is because the business promoter is aware that the investor is probably considering other investments and will likely base his final decision on profitability. Ultimately if the investor become aware that the actual profit is much less he will likely shift his attention elsewhere therefore in order to avoid this the business promoter will try to rush you into releasing money by coming up with some spurious excuse about deadline or some other excuse concerning scarcity of raw materials etc and a need to speed up the investment process. He could also come up with several other reasons but the objective is usually to stampede you into making the investment – Don’t fall for it! Take as much time as you need to do a proper review of the investment opportunity and the dynamics involved before you make a commitment. ...to be continued next week |
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Do not be in a hurry to invests and do not allow yourself to be rushed When making an investment do not allow yourself to be rushed into making payment. Always take your time to make your enquiries and review them where necessary. You need to bear in mind that if you make payment to the wrong or fraudulent person you may not be able to recover your money. I will give you an instance, in some instances where the business promoter feels that the investor may not want to invest if he were to get hold of some unfavourable information about the business he will try to put an undue sense of urgency into the transaction by trying to rush you into committing funds to the business. It could also be a situation where all the expenses of the business have not been properly disclosed to the investor. In such a situation the final profit will be much less than what has been disclosed. The reason for rushing you into the making the investment is because the business promoter is aware that the investor is probably considering other investments and will likely base his final decision on profitability. Ultimately if the investor become aware that the actual profit is much less he will likely shift his attention elsewhere therefore in order to avoid this the business promoter will try to rush you into releasing money by coming up with some spurious excuse about deadline or some other excuse concerning scarcity of raw materials etc and a need to speed up the investment process. He could also come up with several other reasons but the objective is usually to stampede you into making the investment – Don’t fall for it! Take as much time as you need to do a proper review of the investment opportunity and the dynamics involved before you make a commitment. 1 Like |
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oscarvicto: In your opinion which state in Nigeria has the best quality locally produced rice? |
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Inteltower: The link you posted is not working. Please ask entrepreneurs who meet the conditions outlined on the first page of this thread to me. I will not deal with a middleman The business must have been in operation for about 24 months or 18 months at the very worst. It must also have a dedicated bank . It must be based in Lagos Proposals should be sent to this email:- [email protected] |
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to ask all necessary questions Do not make any assumptions when considering making an investment in a business. It is usually very difficult to retrieve your money once you have made a transfer to an investee especially if it turns out to be a bad investment therefore you need to be absolutely sure that you are not dealing with a scammer or someone who is genuine but is incompetent or making bogus claims. Before you make an investment or financial commitment make sure you ask all necessary questions and obtain safisfactory answers before you proceed. Personally for me if I notice that the person is reluctant to provide answers or does not know the answers to questions about the business I just back off and walk away from the deal. Some of the questions you need to ask are: - How long has the business been in existence? - Is it an incorporated business or ed business name? (This question is very important) - Does the business have a dedicated business bank ? - What service or product does the business sell to the public? - How do clients make payment? - Does the business sell on credit? - What are the controls in place to make sure there are no leakages? - What are the immediate future growth plans for the business? - Why does the business need additional capital? - How much has the promoter committed to the business? - Will the new cash to be invested be classified as a loan or equity? - What is the agreed interest rate or dividend? - What will be the exit strategy for the investor? (if any) The questions I have listed are not exhaustive so you can come up with other questions that will give you and insight on the type of business under consideration. The general idea is for you to have a view of the business that will enable you assess the risks involved and thereby make an informed decision. Do not take all the answers you receive as the gospel truth. It is your responsibility to do an independent check or verification of your own based on the answers you receive. ...to be continued next week |
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to ask all necessary questions Do not make any assumptions when considering making an investment in a business. It is usually very difficult to retrieve your money once you have made a transfer to an investee especially if it turns out to be a bad investment therefore you need to be absolutely sure that you are not dealing with a scammer or someone who is genuine but is incompetent or making bogus claims. Before you make an investment or financial commitment make sure you ask all necessary questions and obtain safisfactory answers before you proceed. Personally for me if I notice that the person is reluctant to provide answers or does not know the answers to questions about the business I just back off and walk away from the deal. Some of the questions you need to ask are: - How long has the business been in existence? - Is it an incorporated business or ed business name? (This question is very important) - Does the business have a dedicated business bank ? - What service or product does the business sell to the public? - How do clients make payment? - Does the business sell on credit? - What are the controls in place to make sure there are no leakages? - What are the immediate future growth plans for the business? - Why does the business need additional capital? - How much has the promoter committed to the business? - Will the new cash to be invested be classified as a loan or equity? - What is the agreed interest rate or dividend? - What will be the exit strategy for the investor? (if any) The questions I have listed are not exhaustive so you can come up with other questions that will give you and insight on the type of business under consideration. The general idea is for you to have a view of the business that will enable you assess the risks involved and thereby make an informed decision. Do not take all the answers you receive as the gospel truth. It is your responsibility to do an independent check or verification of your own based on the answers you receive. ...to be continued next week 1 Like 1 Share |
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Inteltower: I no longer invest in startups cos the probability of failure is much higher with attendant loss of capital. I prefer to invest in young profitable companies that have reached at least 3 years but require additional infusion of funds to scale up their operations. 1 Like |
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I promised to provide some pointers to would-be investors on what to look out for before making an investment. The first in the series will start today. Enjoy reading... Always do due diligence before investing The importance of doing a due diligence before making an investment cannot be over-emphasized. Be sure to whatever the business promoter tells you. Do not make any assumptions. You have a right to obtain all relevant information since you are planning to stake your money in the business which in effect means you will be exposing yourself to the loss of capital. Part of the things you need to check is to be sure that the business owner actually has the competency and experience to run that business. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to put your money in a business where the principal owner does not understand the business or where he does not fully understand the trends in the business yearly cycle. The learning curve will be much longer and the risk of loss is higher. Always ask for evidence of past performance of the business. The best place to get this is from the bank of the business. Do not rely solely on internal records of the business owner because this can be manipulated to give the impression that there is an on-going business. When reviewing the bank statement look out for payments from customers and clients and also payments to suppliers and other creditors. The bank statement does not necessarily need to have a large closing balance but it should have regular transaction flow which indicates presence of business activity. The bank statement will also show you exposure of the business to external debt which you need to be aware of before you put in your money. If the business has a large debt profile which it cannot justify by either presence of physically assets and the profit margins are very thing it’s best to walk away from the deal. Other things you need to check for are: - Licences and authorization to carry on a business - Contracts between existing business partners - Competitors to the business - Review cycle of flow of cash in the business and internal controls to be sure there are no leakages Please feel free to send in any questions you may have. |
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I promised to provide some pointers to would-be investors on what to look out for before making an investment. The first in the series will start today. Enjoy reading... Always do due diligence before investing The importance of doing a due diligence before making an investment cannot be over-emphasized. Be sure to whatever the business promoter tells you. Do not make any assumptions. You have a right to obtain all relevant information since you are planning to stake your money in the business which in effect means you will be exposing yourself to the loss of capital. Part of the things you need to check is to be sure that the business owner actually has the competency and experience to run that business. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to put your money in a business where the principal owner does not understand the business or where he does not fully understand the trends in the business yearly cycle. The learning curve will be much longer and the risk of loss is higher. Always ask for evidence of past performance of the business. The best place to get this is from the bank of the business. Do not rely solely on internal records of the business owner because this can be manipulated to give the impression that there is an on-going business. When reviewing the bank statement look out for payments from customers and clients and also payments to suppliers and other creditors. The bank statement does not necessarily need to have a large closing balance but it should have regular transaction flow which indicates presence of business activity. The bank statement will also show you exposure of the business to external debt which you need to be aware of before you put in your money. If the business has a large debt profile which it cannot justify by either presence of physically assets and the profit margins are very thing it’s best to walk away from the deal. Other things you need to check for are: - Licences and authorization to carry on a business - Contracts between existing business partners - Competitors to the business - Review cycle of flow of cash in the business and internal controls to be sure there are no leakages 1 Like |
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Welcome back from the lockdown, I hope we can all pick up the pieces and proceed with our lives Starting from Sunday, I will be sharing some pointers based on my personal experience what I think you should look out for when making an investment in a small company. I'm still open to investing in good and viable business ideas that have been tested so if you have any let's hear it 1 Like |
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lonelygem: From an investors point of view putting money in a business goes beyond just having insurance, assets and cash. The promoter has to have a workable model and that includes having a business idea which will bring in a constant flow of cash in order to payback the investment and also provide profits. You mentioned insurance a means of providing comfort. There is no single insurance policy anywhere that provides coverage against all perils. What you may have is insurance on assets, insurance against lost of profits, fiduciary insurance or insurance against theft. It is next to impossible for a start-up company to be in a position to pay for all these insurance policies at the same time. Another point you mention is assets, It's not just enough for the promoter to claim he has an asset to be used as security for the funds from the investor. It is important to be sure that the assets has good title which rests in the promoter or his business, and that the asset is in a location that has commercial value. Concerning the issue of equity contribution by the promoter you are of the opinion that asking the promoter to contribute 40% of the equity is high. Personally I would peg the minimum equity contribution from the business promoter at 30%. If you have a good business idea and you are not ready to bring in at least 30% of the equity it means you're running away from risk which invariably suggests that you're not even confident the business will succeed. Having said all this I still maintain my stand - I will NEVER again invest in any start-up with less than 18 months period of operation except in very special circumstances. Cheers 2 Likes 1 Share |
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olisaEze: He has built it where he wants to. Let's respect that 2 Likes |
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Donbrig: ![]() |
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Jilingori: I would you later before the end of this week to get more details from you. Please note that I shall do a thorough due diligence to confirm whatever info you provide therefore you must have third party documentary evidence to back up your claims |
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Jilingori: How come is it that you have been running a business for 13 years and you never considered it necessary to a business name? Do you have any proof to show that this business has been in operation since 2007? What was your monthly turnover for the last 3 months? Do you have bank statements that prove this? |
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oscarvicto: Do you own or manage a fish farm? Where are you based? |
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lonelygem: What is the nature of your experience? What value are you bringing to the 'table'? |
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oscarvicto: Have you been involved in distributorship of rice before...I'm referring to about 1 or 2 trailer loads of rice from Olam? |
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Yakpa: My observation is that a lot of the so-called entrepreneurs just want to have bragging rights to be able to call themselves "CEO". Unfortunately they do not understand that being a business owner comes with a lot of responsibilities. When you're the CEO the buck stops on your table, the survival or failure of the is entirely up to you, you need to be ready to go the extra mile to make sure the business works out. A number of the promoters of these new start up do not want to take risks with there own resources, they want to push the financial risk to the investor so they can easily exit the business if something goes wrong. Then there are those who are not sincere but are looking for a way to scam you under the guise of looking for an investor for their new business. I would advise any potential investors to be wary of any start up where the promoter is asking you to invest in an intangible asset or expense, especially something whose value is difficult to ascertain. You need to be sure that the asset of expense being acquired or incurred will result in commensurate addition of value to the business before you make a committment 2 Likes 1 Share |
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Emmzy201: Your business idea sound good however, I'm no longer investing in start-ups that do not have a track history. The three I invested in were monumental disasters and I ended up loosing a lot of money. Right now I would stick with my policy of investing only in a business that has run for at least 18 months. I would advise however, that you make sure you a business name and open a bank in the name of this business. Be aware that your business idea is not entirely new therefore it must have some features that set it apart from other similar ventures and guarantee a stream of income You will need to present evidence of income earned as proof of viability of the business if you hope to attract the attention of investors when you want to scale up the business after the first 2 years or so 1 Like |
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Is there anyone here who has experience in rice business? I want someone who had a good understanding of the entire value chain...from planting to harvesting, milling, de-stoning, baging and sale |
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ojesymsym: No the optometry clinic was not one of the failures. I did not eventually invest in the optometry clinic |
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400billionman: The payback period for this project is rather long: Investment outlay N3,200,000 Investment returns per annum N800,000 - If we assume the investor received 60% of the annual investment returns =N480,000 - Payback period = 3,200,000/480,000 = 6.6years to recover just the original investment! And we have not even factored in profit element and time value of money |
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