THE NEED

If you have ever been to the streets of Lagos, then you would understand the craze for business. Everywhere you go, men, women, young and old who are either setting up a business or startup or own already established businesses. There is hardly any street in Lagos without one small business operating there physically or online. In fact, it is worse online with entrepreneurs flooding social media with advertisements of their businesses and services. It is safe to say that everyone is selling something nowadays; be it physical products, digital products and what-have-you.

Many people are abandoning the 9-to-5 work model in favour of becoming entrepreneurs. And why shouldn’t they? The worrying increase in layoffs, particularly post-pandemic, is concerning. There is no longer any job security; you might be fired in the blink of an eye. Those who are not quitting their employment are establishing side hustles to generate passive income.

And there’s more.

As a result of Nigeria’s present economic crisis, the government, organizations, and various people have all encouraged and pushed for entrepreneurship. This is due to the importance of entrepreneurship in the economic development of every nation. A high level of entrepreneurship has contributed to the economic development of many nations that we see today over time.

According to CEIC, 0.76 firms were registered for every 1000 inhabitants aged 15 to 64 in Nigeria in 2016. The number of internet buyers in Nigeria was estimated to reach about 76.7 million in 2020. Nigeria is the 35th largest eCommerce market in the world, with a turnover of $5 billion in 2020, ahead of the Czech Republic and behind Israel. With a 42 percent gain, the Nigerian eCommerce sector contributed to the global growth rate of 26 percent in 2020. According to an Economist Intelligence Unit report, the Nigerian e-commerce business is currently worth more than $13 billion (EIU). Experts in the Nigerian financial services sector anticipate that the value of the Nigerian e-commerce market could reach $50 billion over the next decade.

This prompted Sarah James to embark on a project titled “Passion to Business Empire” under DO-Take Action to enlighten youths on how to turn their passion into profitable a business. Sarah is a graduate of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, who is currently self-employed as a Writer, Social Media Branding specialist, and Public Relations and Communications expert. She is passionate about equipping youths with the skills to build profitable businesses.

Sarah hosted the project virtually with 28 out-of-school youths in attendance. The details of the project entail:

•         Introduction, meet and greet
•         A keynote presentation on functional steps on how to start and grow a business into an empire
•         An interactive Q/A session where participants asked questions and were given informed answers
•         The participants took the Passion to Business Empire test online.

In the course of the project, over 28 out-of-school youths got trained on how to start and grow a business into an empire. The participants pledged to recruit and create opportunities for out-of-school youths within their community. A minimum of 3 GDCs recruited from the participants to organize a Passion to Business Empire outreach in their community. More importantly, 2 participants in the project were inspired to start their business last September.