Business

17 Oct

WHY BUSINESSES FAIL.

Dear Subscriber, Nobody starts a business expecting to fail, but statistics show that only 50% of new businesses survive the first five years. There are many reasons for this alarming statistic which may not necessarily have anything to do with the economy and our discourse this week identifies some of the causes of failure and how entrepreneurs can overcome these obstacles to success. 1. FUNDING CONSTRAINTS One of the major reasons most businesses fail is inadequate funding. Most entrepreneurs fail to adequately [...]

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19 Sep

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LAGOS STATE PROPERTY PROTECTION LAW

Dear Subscriber, It is the dream of the average Nigerian to own property especially in the mega City of Lagos. However over the years investments in property within the city has been bedeviled with the menace of Land grabbers (Omo-Onile in local parlance). These so called Omo-Oniles hold themselves out as traditional landowners who collect all manner of unlawful fees levies and in several cases they even sell land to multiple buyers. The terror unleashed on Lagos by these gangs [...]

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01 Aug

FINANCING YOUR IDEA.

It takes money to make money. Businesses need money to stock goods, pay staff, acquire licenses, pay rent, carry out marketing activities, pay taxes  etc and whilst finances are not necessarily as important as vision and a great product, it is however finance that gives motion to a business idea. Getting finance to kick start and run your idea can be a daunting challenge in Nigeria, and in continuation of our series on Doing Business in Nigeria we now bring [...]

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Letters of Credit Nigeria
17 Jul

LETTERS OF CREDIT EXPLAINED.

Dear Subscriber, The World has become smaller especially with the advent of the internet and it is now simpler for people that are not in the same geographical location to do business without necessarily seeing or meeting each themselves. With this simplicity however comes the huge risk of transacting parties either misunderstanding themselves or a dubious party to the transaction deliberately swindling the innocent party on the other side. As international trade evolved, the need arose for a suitable model that [...]

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10 Jul

“SHARES” EXPLAINED

Dear Subscriber, It is common to hear the word shares or share capital being used in the business sector especially relating to a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or a Public Limited Company (PLC). The word ‘Share’ is synonymous with ownership rights in a company and represents the limits of an individual or corporations rights in a business entity. In Nigeria it is common for Entrepreneurs to reflect deeply on who to bring on board their Company knowing the implications of giving [...]

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19 Jun

WHY YOU NEED A SHAREHOLDERS AGREEMENT

Dear Subscriber, You and your partners have finally incorporated a Company and put up a website to actualize the dream project you have been discussing for months. Your partners are great guys some of whom you might have known since secondary school and everything feels great as customers start patronizing your service. Two years down the line the bubble has burst and partners are at daggers drawn over various issues bordering on the management of the Company. This surely is a [...]

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13 Jun

DO I REALLY NEED A LAWYER?

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” - Shakespeare Businesses start with good ideas and little cash so it is common that entrepreneurs typically do not involve lawyers after business registration. It is also a fairly common perception that lawyers are only necessary when there is trouble rather than when everything is going right. Whilst it might be understandable for businesses to limit their legal costs during the infancy of the business it is however wisdom to work [...]

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06 Jun

5 LEGAL MISTAKES MADE BY ENTREPRENEURS

Dear Entrepreneur, Statistics show that 50% of startup businesses fail within the first five years. A common reason for this trend is the failure of most entrepreneurs to appreciate and implement proven business principles but rather get carried away with the exhilaration of starting or owning a business. A business is beyond just having an idea or identifying an opportunity and the serious entrepreneur should be willing to give what it takes to avoid being part of the failure statistics.  [...]

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30 May

UNDERSTANDING JOINT VENTURES

Dear Subscriber, One of the most powerful tools in today's competitive business world is a Joint Venture which essentially is a situation where two or more business entity’s team up for the purpose of expanding business influence and creating a more powerful market presence. They are usually short term business arrangements where parties share responsibility but retain their separate legal identities. Joint ventures (JV) remain an excellent way to boost profits with minimal up-front cost to the business owner.  It normally [...]

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23 May

ALL ABOUT PENSION.

Towards the end of 2015 it was announced that Nigeria’s Pension Funds had risen to over N5 trillion in its 10 years of operation. Despite this achievement a lot of mystery still surrounds the Pension Scheme and it’s not unusual for Employers to see it as an unnecessary burden whilst Employees don’t know how they can leverage on the scheme. Whilst the pension scheme is seen as generally favourable to the Employee, the fact remains that if Nigerian Employers (especially [...]

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