3rd Entrepreneur

With an ICT-based business idea geared towards servicing small businesses in Nigeria, OLUMEFU TOYIN has come to the den seeking 2 million naira in exchange for 30% equity. His opening pitch was neither persuasive nor compelling. He posited that most ICT firms targeted the large conglomerates and ignored the small businesses, but his business was strategically designed to cater to the needs of small businesses. His idea was to partner with large software manufacturers as a reseller of their products, then resell these products to small business for a commission.

His presentation did not elicit the dragons’ interest. He had also committed one of the cardinal sins of business presentations. He came to the den to seek 2 million naira from shrewd investors, dressed in very casual clothes and slippers. The dragons rebuked him for such a callous representation of himself and his business. Femi Tejuoso advised, “If you’re going to an investor to get 2 million naira, you must try to look like someone who can manage 2 million naira”

On that note the dragons opted out.

4^{th Entrepreneur}

GEORGE HEFZIBAR, an “innovative livestock entrepreneur” was next in the den. He is seeking 4.5 million naira in exchange for 30% equity in his snail farm. GEORGE seemed to have impressed the dragons with his nice-looking suit, but will he be able to convince these shrewd businessmen and women that his business idea was worth their investment? Half-way into his presentation, the dragons discovered that George had designed innovative snail-farming equipment for the racking and shelving of snails-they felt would be a more viable business than the proposed expansion of the snail farm. The dragons advised this entrepreneur to get a patent for his “racks system”, produce the racks for commercial purposes. The dragons felt strongly that there was a better business opportunity in the production of the racks. But the entrepreneur was stubborn, and according to Chris Parkes, he was paranoid about his racks system and confused about his entire business priority. With GEORGE choosing not to commercialize this innovation – the dragons opted out with the feeling that this entrepreneur was just passionate about his business, but lacked the business smarts to identify a viable business opportunity.

Lagos, Nigeria

Lecturing a group of MBA students, in one of his entrepreneurial classes, at the Lagos Business School wing of the Pan African University on Thursday, Professor Pat Utomi confessed that he wished a programme like the Dragons’ Den had been available when he was younger, to help jumpstart his entrepreneurial career – and that of his peers.

“Entrepreneurs have to be creative”, lectured Professor Pat Utomi, “they have to abandon orthodoxy and add veritable value to consumers”

He cited the story of Virgin’s Richard Branson, referring to the period prior to the launch of the Virgin Atlantic route; narrating the clever technique Richard Branson employed to generate free media coverage for new Atlantic route. If you’re not familiar with the story, the publicity-hugging billionaire of the Virgin Empire took off in a helium balloon crossing the Atlantic Ocean – and on his carrier were the inscriptions “The British Virgin”. His adventure in the sky elicited a media uproar, Professor Utomi narrated to his class, “International media houses were eager to carry the story of the ‘crazy’ Sir Richard Bronson crossing the Atlantic in the British Virgin…unwittingly providing his yet-to-be-unveiled “Virgin Atlantic” Airlines with millions of dollars worth of free advertising”

More to the point, Professor Pat Utomi hammered on the need for entrepreneurs to forge new frontiers in business, by capitalizing on the potent platform of entertainment, urging entrepreneurs to seek ways of providing more than average service to their customers by approaching every aspect of their business with futuristic creativity.

“Identify opportunity”, he began, counting a few of the steps a successful entrepreneur must take to succeed, “commercialize the venture, and professionalize the business.

“There are mediums through which a clever entrepreneur may secure free advertising for his business, and don’t forget that luck smiles only on the prepared” the ex-presidential candidate continued, “on this note I’d like to introduce to you the crew from Dragons’ Den…they’ve come up with a wonderful business television show that ought to be exploited by the smart entrepreneur”

He invited in the U.K based Neil Oyenekan, the series producer of the UBA/ MTN sponsored Business TV Show: Dragons’ Den, to address the class; Oyenekan in turn rendered a graphically compelling presentation to the class. In fact, Professor Utomi was so impressed by his presentation that he promised to dedicate his next class to teaching his MBA students how to successfully pitch on the Dragons’ Den!

We’re talking about the upper echelon of the Lagos business society. With this as a sign of the contestants the Nigerian edition is going to attract, it is safe to say that world-class entrepreneurs are ready for this opportunity of a century.
Are you?

–James Amuta