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How Cute is Cute Suites?
The last entrepreneur on this episode, Mohamed Umar, the proprietor of Cute Suites in Zamfara state made one of the most exciting presentations in the den. He was asking for N50 million and was ready to part with 33.3% equity in order to bring to fruition his idea of creating a chain of small hotels with a ‘good taste’ in his home state Zamfara. His pitch was picturesque, thought provoking, and promising. “I must commend you for such a cute name you’d found for your hotel” Femi Tejuoso complimented. The entrepreneur continued, saying that he hadn’t approached any banks yet for a loan, but was optimistic that his business would fare better with the collaboration of intelligent business men and women (like the dragons). He boasted of his hotel having a near-monopoly in the hotel business in his operational region, since other popular hoteliers had closed shop. This revelation elicited some trepidation amongst the dragons who wondered why experienced hoteliers would abandon a ‘fertile’ business terrain if not for the obvious reason of low or no viable patronage. “How many planes fly to Zamfara?” Ibukun Awosika asked, and Mohamed Umar responded, “None- we don’t have an air strip”, and Ibukun Awosika, uncomfortable, probed deeper, “so where is our traffic coming from?” and Mohamed answered, “from the contractors who live in Zamfara” – Femi Tejuoso cut in, “so if our target customers currently live in Zamfara, then they don’t need to live in a hotel”. A lot of factors bore to militate against Mohamed Umar’s business idea: there was no clear plan for revenue generation, no accessible patrons for the hotel; the plan was too government dependent in the sense that Umar relied on the income of the local government contractors to keep his hotel afloat. Despite the fact that all the dragons opted out, Mohamed Umar still presented them each with a fez cap and T-shirt branded with the Cute Suits insignia. But he didn’t leave the den until he got the dragons to introduce themselves; after which he reinforced his belief that one day his hotel will play host to one, if not all of the dragons.
“Your T-shirts and hats are nice…the name Cute Suites is nice…but the next thing you need now, which is the most important thing is the actual hotel…”
And like Nwaji Jibunoh put it, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained…”
What’s your opinion?
July 28th, 2008 at 11:54 am
seriously this is the best presentation so far…he was confident and apart from the dragons observations in his proposal which was precise and accurate i still commend him. everyother person who has appeared so far are mediocres. lacking the guts nor confidence to answer questions which they should know as facts in their areas of so called specialty
July 30th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Honestly, i admire his style of presentation. Confident, Bold, Cute and Forsight. He has really done his home work well with good feasebility studies. I think what is lacking in his menu is the pontential targets for the business. In my opinion, the dragons should encourage his vission by carring out their own feasibility studies of the project.
July 30th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
” Show me a man deligent in his work, he will stand before kings and not mere men” Thats the way I see this guy. Though in the real corporate business world, he still has a lot to do to get funds, not only from the dragons, but from any other source, I am sure he has what it takes to succeed - personal conviction! And by the way, thank God this guy came up on the show, otherwise it would have been a total disaster. For whatever, it was worth, all others that came on the show were serious “apologies” and definitely not a true representation of the ever dynamic and articulate Nigerian youth. I am sure as the show progresses, the dragons should be ready for better presentations.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:24 pm
PRETTY CUTE! I was also quite impressed by Mohammed Umar’s presentation. His bold, articulate and confident delivery won me over, as it did all the dragons in the den. Although he didn’t get the 50M, I’m sure that if he carries on with the attitude he displayed in the den, gets some more information on how to make his project viable abd attractive, he’ll achieve his dream. Before long, we’ll all be lodging in cute suites apartments not only in Zamfara, but across the country.