homerac7:

@ Ma_J_Blige,

I think aasog1 has given some practical reasons, u probably don't do private business in Nigeria to appreciate d local challenges he highlighted. He said it exactly d way it is here. D entrepreneurship101 lessons u referred to don't so work in ds terrain. In fact, d guy said it all and I fully agree based on experiences.

Why do people assume that everyone on Nairaland doesnt know what they are saying? I have been in business in Nigeria since 1997, sustained the business while away from the country for ten years and the business is still up and running till now. So, what else do you want to "assume"?

Tensor.

You talk with sense. Thumbs up. Very real and devoid of the usual bickering. God bless you.

tensor777:

You are 100% right there . Creativity has little or nothing to do with mundane issues like good roads and fast broadband connectivity  . These are mere excuses.
However there are a few sociocultural reasons that militate against the fostering of a truly sustainable enterpreneurial  culture in Nigeria.
That is not to say that there are not quite a few hone-grown enterpreners in Nigeria but of course I agree with you there should be much more of them given Nigeria's size and strategic position within Africa.

Tell that to online, delivery etc. business entrepreneurs . .

Well said @Tensor.

Lack of roads, lack of internet access, lack of credit. . . purely lame excuses, eh?

After all, there are plenty of creative, profitable businesses started elsewhere in the world that didn't use ANY of these three critical ingredients, right? 

I'm hard pressed to think of any major recent success story I know of at least in my own area of expertise that did this without access to capital/high-speed net access. . .

Anyway, I'm not saying there are not very profitable things to do in Nigeria. There definitely are a lot of opportunities there. But most of them require certain other ingredients beyond just creativity.

let our admin tell us if power is not a major hindrance to his business

do you think the infrastructure and business environment in nigeria can support a facebook or microsoft or cisco or intel

can you imagine the effect of our chaotic ports on JIT logistics?

the simple practice of pp on my part is severely hindered by nigeria's infrastructure.

say dude asks me to do some design for him, say a hotel

i can't do it at work, so until i get home.

that means i lose at least 1 and a half hours - the 30 minute trip btw vi and festac is at least 2 hours because of traffic

i get home and there is no power, so i have to run a generator to do the work , which increases the cost of the work to me. depending on what is required, i may have to print and work very late into the night , which is more cost

with my internt uploading of large documents is out of it, so i have to meet with my client to deliver to him

thats on an individual scale - hampered by internet, roads, power. now multiply this a thousandfold for bigger entrepreneurs

Yet foreigners come here, ply the same roads, run into the same troubles, make their money and carte it in their millions back to their country while native Nigerians cry we cant use our brain because there are no good roads.

Kobojunkie:

Tell that to online, delivery etc. business entrepreneurs . .

Steady on kobojunkie as we are not saying these things are unimportant but they do not explain the dearth of home grown enterpreneurs in Nigeria  vis a vis a country like India which has similar if not worse infrastructural challenges.
What are we even saying when these same Indians even dominate busineess ownership in mainly Nigerian neighbourhoods in the developed West

oyb:

let our admin tell us if power is not a major hindrance to his business

Yep. No doubt his server is hosted either in Europe or the US and he SSHs in/FTPs up his work, or something.

do you think the infrastructure and business environment  in nigeria can support a facebook or microsoft or cisco or intel

can you imagine the effect of our chaotic ports on JIT logistics?

the simple practice of pp on my part is severely hindered by nigeria's infrastructure.

say dude asks me to do some design for him, say a hotel

i can't do it at work, so until i get home.

that means i lose at least 1 and a half  hours - the 30 minute trip btw vi and festac is at least 2 hours because of traffic

i get home and there is no power, so i have to run a generator to do the work , which increases the cost of the work to me. depending on what is required, i may have to print and work very late into the night , which is more cost

with my internt uploading of large documents is out of it, so i have to meet with my client to deliver to him

thats on an individual scale - hampered by internet, roads, power. now multiply this a thousandfold for bigger entrepreneurs

Exactly.

Ma_J_Blige:

Yet foreigners come here, ply the same roads, run into the same troubles, make their money and carte it in their millions back to their country while native Nigerians cry we cant use our brain because there are no good roads.

They are bringing in capital, are they not? Or are you say they come to Nigeria with no money and leave rich?

If you have even only $500k or $1 mil in capital to play around with, obviously you can get quite rich quickly in Nigeria.

But with less capital and only fuzzy "creative entrepreneurship" available, things are less likely to happen.

@ topic >>> hopelesness ! >>> ask me why we have diaspora making waves round the world (and in developed nations) while we remain languid

tensor777:

You are 100% right there . Creativity has little or nothing to do with mundane issues like good roads and fast broadband connectivity  . These are mere excuses.
However there are a few sociocultural reasons that militate against the fostering of a truly sustainable enterpreneurial  culture in Nigeria.
That is not to say that there are not quite a few home-grown enterpreners in Nigeria but of course I agree with you there should be much more of them given Nigeria's size and strategic position within Africa.

How dare you call good roads and broadband connectivity mundane issues  - if it is that mundane and Glo and Main 1 must be very stupid spending billions  trying to connect West Africa to the high speed broadband gateway of Europe and America.

tensor777:

Steady on kobojunkie as we are not saying these things are unimportant but they do not explain the dearth of home grown enterpreneurs in Nigeria  vis a vis a country like India which has similar if not worse infrastructural challenges.

India has worse infrastructural challenges than Nigeria? Justify this BOLD (and almost certainly false) statement.

And name some of their entreprenurs in that country who have gotten the job done w/o capital, light, roads, and high-speed internet access.

What are we even saying when these same Indians even dominate busineess ownership in mainly Nigerian neighbourhoods in the developed West

What you say might be true in England, I dunno, never lived there. But not in the places I've lived in the US.

eku_bear:

They are bringing in capital, are they not? Or are you say they come to Nigeria with no money and leave rich?
If you have even only $500k or $1 mil in capital to play around with, obviously you can get quite rich quickly in Nigeria.
But with less capital and only fuzzy "creative entrepreneurship" available, things are less likely to happen.

You keep on shifting the goalposts and bringing up entirely irrelevant issues. So now its about lack of start up capital. Who told you anyway that successful enterprenurs WORLDWIDE started up with million dollar capital outlay?
Anyway investing in an already saturated market is NOT CREATIVE ENTERPRENEURSHIP.

blacksta:

How dare you call good roads and broadband connectivity mundane issues  - if it is that mundane and Glo and Main 1 must be very silly spending billions  trying to connect West Africa to the high speed broadband gateway of Europe and America.

No joke. Basic infrastructure is what he is now calling mudane  

I wonder if some of these people actually live in the real world. Next thing he will say is that power is also a mundane issue, and I should generate electricity from firewood  

tensor777:

You keep on shifting the goalposts and bringing up entirely irrelevant issues.

Capital is now IRRELEVANT to entrepreneurship?

So now its about lack of start up capital. Who told you anyway that successful enterpreneirs WORLDWIDE started up with million dollar capital outlay.

Eh, who claimed 1 mil is required? But even the 20 or 50k required (something dead easy to get in the West) is quite challenging to get in Nigeria.

Anyway investing in an already saturated market is NOT CREATIVE ENTERPRENEURSHIP.

Depends on how you do it. The market for operating systems is heavily saturated, but clearly there are still opportunities there (otherwise companies like RedHat and Canonical [maker of Ubuntu] would not have been as successful.)

tensor777:

Steady on kobojunkie as we are not saying these things are unimportant but they do not explain the dearth of home grown enterpreneurs in Nigeria  vis a vis a country like India which has similar if not worse infrastructural challenges.
What are we even saying when these same Indians even dominate busineess ownership in mainly Nigerian neighbourhoods in the developed West

The lack of it -- basic infrastructure is the problem, as well as continued refusal by our own government to invest in local industry in businesses, explains the dearth. I believe access to broadband should by now be considered basic infrastructure since it is in many parts of the world, and trillions of dollars in business investments around the world DEPENDS on it.

About your statement on India, I know for sure that it is not true. India is now decades ahead of Nigeria when you compare infrastructure available there today to that available today in Nigeria.

tensor777:

You keep on shifting the goalposts and bringing up entirely irrelevant issues. So now its about lack of start up capital. Who told you anyway that successful enterprenurs WORLDWIDE started up with million dollar capital outlay?
Anyway investing in an already saturated market is NOT CREATIVE ENTERPRENEURSHIP.

brilliant point >>> even more interesting because i hold my new 4G 32GB i-touch (make i brag small  ) >>> Creative entrepreneurship creates its own market >>> much in the way Apple products do >>> one of my role models in such is Steve Jobs >>> and i'll pick him (and like-minded guys) over Bill Gates

Creative entrepreneurship finds a niche (or creates one) and fills it

blacksta:

How dare you call good roads and broadband connectivity mundane issues  - if it is that mundane and Glo and Main 1 must be very silly spending billions  trying to connect West Africa to the high speed broadband gateway of Europe and America.

Well it is a very trite issue to bring into a debate like this. There are much more important issues that militate against home-grown creative enterpreneurship than whether every feeder road is tarred or whether there is 24 hour electricity.
In any case even you should be able to see how companies like MTN were able to use dearth of fixed line infrastructure to break into the telecomms market in Africa.
That is an example of the sort of creative vision which is able to perceive gaps in the market and come up with the kind of service or product that meets that demand.

Kobojunkie:

About your statement on India, I know for sure that it is not true. India is now decades ahead of Nigeria when you compare infrastructure available there today to that available today in Nigeria.

@tensor777 was simply talking making up stories. If India has worse infrastructure problems than Nigeria, then how come they have call-service centers there and we don't in Nigeria? How did all these US tech companies outsourced so much work to them, while Nigeria has zilch? If today I need a website/software developed, I can find some guy in India to do it cheaply (me myself, I hired someone in Poland to develop a website for me.)

Not to talk of their manufacturing industry (something non-existent in Nigeria.)

Tell us another story, uncle. . .

I can now see why every Nigerian wants a white collar job in government or in already made private establishments.

Even the ones that travel abroad, all they are satisfied with are their common 8- 5 o'clock jobs, go home, sit behind the internet- jolly and all.

Even with all the so called infrastructures in the West where Nigerians abide- they are so satisfied with the meagre income they get than to spend time using their brains to come up with something to shake the world.

Is it a poor Nigerian mentality issue?

We have millions of creative peeps running things in this nation, but they seldom make it big. For one they have scores of dependants that are ready to weigh his business down with problems, if you have an investment that is worth more than 10 milla, all your village will expect you to pay the school fees of everyone, dragging you down with bad belle in the process. Your creativity could easily be killed by negativity from those around you who cannot match your intelligence.

tensor777:

Well it is a very trite issue to bring into a debate like this. There are much more important issues that militate against home-grown creative enterpreneurship than whether every feeder road is tarred or whether there is 24 hour electricity.
In any case even you should be able to see how companies like MTN were able to use dearth of fixed line infrastructure to break into the telecomms market in Africa.
That is an example of the sort of creative vision which is able to perceive gaps in the market and come up with the kind of service or product that meets that demand.

I think it is the case that you keep using the wrong examples to make whatever point you are trying to make here. MTN came into Nigerian market with billions of Naira in investment money ready to go. The company had to build, and repair most of what it needed to get itself running. I am not certain it is wise to compare such giants with the average Nigerian entrepreneur.

tensor >>> allow me the pleasure of educating this young man oops

eku_bear:

Capital is now IRRELEVANT to entrepreneurship?
*1 Eh, who claimed 1 mil is required? But even the 20 or 50k required (something dead easy to get in the West) is quite challenging to get in Nigeria.
*2 Depends on how you do it. The market for operating systems is heavily saturated, but clearly there are still opportunities there (otherwise companies like RedHat and Canonical [maker of Ubuntu] would not have been as successful.)

*1 >>> not irrelevant but critical >>> but this capital is found upon the results of creative entrepreneurships *think craftsmen and merchants in the ancient Roman Empire* >>> if you are creative you'll make your own capital >>> present day banking and other finance instruments are as a result of creative entrepreneurship you know

*2 >>> guy ! which Naija you dey >>> 50k challenging >>> for a good business idea >>> should i mention esusu (and similar groups), micro-finance banks, churches, NGO's, government initiatives, 'ideapreneurial' ventures (that deal in financing witty business schemes)  >>> get yourself informed >>> maybe the problem is you do not know how to compose and present a formal business proposal

^^^ I have to say that is a very naive approach to assessing funding of startups, especially creative startups.

The 26 year old owner of Facebook is now a billionaire in dollar terms. All he needed was an idea.

Kobojunkie:

I think it is the case that you keep using the wrong examples to make whatever point you are trying to make here. MTN came into Nigerian market with billions of Naira in investment money ready to go. The company had to build, and repair most of what it needed to get itself running. I am not certain it is wise to compare such giants with the average Nigerian entrepreneur.

Kobojunkie what exactly are you on about? Lets not get into a circular argument as is your wont at times.
Remember the OP'S list Creativity and Collaboration are irreducible prerequisites to sucessful enterpreneurship
Well someone had the technical skills and vision to come up with the cellular phone handset and network. Then there was this strategic vision that such technology would fill the infrastructural gaps in countries of subsaharan Africa. And last but not least there was the collaboration of daring investors to provide the financial muscle to turn such a vision into physical reality.

Ma_J_Blige:

The 26 year old owner of Facebook is now a billionaire in dollar terms. All he needed was an idea.

Will you stop making statements out of context  -  Are you aware of the startup or investors capital that was available to fb in it early days.  Even the almighty google sought funding from various investors.   In the Nigerian context investors dont exist and if you ever find one , his ROI would simply be unachievable.  

Entrepreneurial spirt exists in Nigeria but i am sorry to say they never grow past the front of their house or the road side  like the tyre repair guy or the woman selling pepper.

Here I am talking about fundamental basic infrastructure that is missing in Nigeria (roads, light, internet, loans) that dramatically raise the costs of doing business and turn what could be a profitable venture into an unprofitable one, and this dude is talking about the Roman Empire and esusu.

Gee, thanks for the insight.

It is clear that @Kobojunkie and some others here have actually spent time studying these issues or dealing with them personally, not just theorizing. Others here on the other hand (e.g., @tensor777) clearly have no clue what they are talking about.

Will you stop making statements out of context - Are you aware of the startup or investors capital that was available to fb in it early days. Even the almighty google sought funding from various investors. In the Nigerian context investors dont exist and if you ever find one , his ROI would simply be unachievable.

Entrepreneurial spirt exists in Nigeria but i am sorry to say they never grow past the front of their house or the road side like the tyre repair guy or the woman selling pepper.

I agree. This does not make context in Nigeria. The OP is talking ignorantly lol.

How many venture capital firms do we have in Naija lol

tensor777:

Kobojunkie what exactly are you on about? Lets not get into a circular argument as is your wont at times. Remember the OP'S list Creativity and Collaboration are irreducible prerequisites to sucessful enterpreneurship

And you were able to deduce that these are lacking in Nigerians how? I am trying to catch up with you here as I have no clue where exactly you are in this at all. And I don’t mean sides, I mean I have no idea where you have taking this discussion.

tensor777:

Well someone had the technical skills and vision to come up with the cellular phone handset and network. Then there was this strategic vision that such technology would fill gaps in countries of subsaharan Africa. And last but not least there was the collaboration of daring investors to provide the financial muscle to turn such a visioon into physical reality

Again, you are using some of the worst examples to make your point here. I still have no clue what you are really on about.

You cannot minimize the importance of having the basics in place when it comes to helping entrepreneurs, even creative ones not only start but run their businesses successfully.