[19:01, 5/30/2018]

AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY -Dr Babatunde Onasanya, University of Ibadan

Moderator: Great evening everyone! It’s my pleasure to invite Dr Onasanya.

Dr Babatunde Onasanya was born in Abeokuta, Ogun state and attended primary, secondary and college of education there too. He studied Mathematics\physics Education from university of Ibadan and holds a Master and PhD in mathematics from same university. He is a lecturer at the department of Mathematics, UI. He also works for the Center for Petroleum, Energy Economics and Law.

You're most welcome to the platform of EARnpreneurs where noble Deaf Entrepreneurs meet. You have the floor sir.

Abiola Adenuga: Glad to hear from you Sir

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: Hi Biola!

It's so good to hear from you too after a long time.

Has anyone come across the SD goals? The popular united nation's SDG agenda?

It is all about making life more enjoyable for everyone on earth. It is a global agenda anyway.

Goal 1: No Poverty

To simply put, poverty is the lack of necessary means to meet basic need. It has different dimensions though. It could be economic or social. If poverty is to be eradicated, indeed, entrepreneurial is the way to go.

Goal 2: Zero Hunger

It is obvious that this is connected to the first goal. If people are not poor, they definitely will be able to afford food.

Or don't you think so?

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being for people
As entrepreneurs, if you are providing service such as fabrication or installation of machines, you must be conscious that it does not impact negatively on health.

Goal 4: Quality Education. 
I'm with you Biola. Do you have something to say? I just want to quickly review up to 6 and 8 then concentrate on 7.

Tony Nwokolo: 👍👍👍👌

Tony Nwokolo: 👍👍👍👌

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: On quality education, it is desired that people won't just access education but quality one. Hi Tony!

Abiola Adenuga: No Sir. Could you please say something on inclusive education?

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: 
Goal 5: Gender Equality; 
Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation (You see that this also relates to health); 
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Abiola Adenuga: The one in Lagos is like window dressing

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: Yes! The access to quality education is supposed to be inclusive and equitable. It means that all students are welcome to learn and should be supported by their schools to participate in different aspects of school life.

Now let's talk about GOAL 7: AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY

Abiola Adenuga: Thank you Sir

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: By 2030, it is hoped that people will be able to access affordable and reliable energy. Right now, there is a mix of renewable energy with the one we generate from other means. There are many ways to getting clean energy. The government alone cannot do this.You are welcome Biola. This gives opportunities to entrepreneurs to break even. People can now use solar-powered devices or generate electricity for basic home and/business appliances via inverter. All these are very clean.I want to pause for some feedbacks!!!

Tony Nwokolo: 👍👍👍

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: Thank you Tony! Are there others with us?

Tony Nwokolo: Is Nigeria ripe for nuclear energy now? And how clean is it? After the Japanese nuclear reactor accident few years ago. Chernobyl and 3-mile Island experience

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: I'm afraid I have to be frank that Nigeria is not! I visited one of our refineries and saw all sort of leakages. We make so much from oil and gas yet could not maintain its plant. Imagine if it was nuclear leakage!

Tony Nwokolo: 🤥🤥🤥🙄🙄🙄

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: Truly, for any nation that can manage the nuclear reactor, it is clean and reliable!

Tony Nwokolo: 👍👍

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: I think the use of solar electricity generator is good for Nigeria.Thank you Tony!

Tony Nwokolo: 👍

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: If you want to go into entrepreneurial side of this, you could begin by collaborating with existing and successful entrepreneurs. How do I mean? You reach an agreement to source for project to execute. They bill and execute it. But the agreement should also include WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE PROFIT IS MINE? During execution of projects, be available to learn and gain experience. With time, you could have so much experience to stand on your own.

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: Lagos State had a plan to do training on this aspect of entrepreneur.If you have a good background in Electrical or Electronic Engineering, you might just need some months of training. Let's see if there are some questions before we close!!! I will send you the link where you can register once it is opened for registration.

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.lsetf.ng/&ved=2ahUKEwiAqPafna7bAhWGtxQKHTnhAjsQFjADegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw3a6rWHBZnU1GuUfpSeVQ-G

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: 👍That is the link. A friend of mine is involved. I hope you learned something. Thank you.

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: https://www.lsetf.ng

Tony Nwokolo: 👍👍👍

Moderator: Wow! Many thanks Doc. We learnt a lot. We appreciate you for the time & knowledge shared with us tonight 👍

Moderator: Sir,  how affordable are these options?

Abiola Adenuga: Today's seminar was quite impressive.Thank you Sir

Moderator: Lagos state Employability Trust Fund.

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: Thank you.

Moderator: How affordable sir are these alternatives?

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: My great pleasure.

Ganiyat Onafeko: It is very unfortunate that Nigeria couldn't maintain her refinery and these people in charge didn't even think about the health hazard of the leakage ehn!

Ganiyat Onafeko: Thanks so much for the beautiful lecture sir

Ganiyat Onafeko: Am interested in knowing more about inverter how it works, durablity, affordability etc

Moderator: 👍

Moderator: Please keep the questions coming.

Dr Onasanya will take them one after the other possibly tomorrow.

Moderator: Thanks everyone for your participation tonight.

Sweet dreams

Tony Nwokolo: Same here. 👍👍

Tony Nwokolo: We are tired of fuel generators n it's pollution wahala.  We need cleaner, better, more efficient, affordable, durable alternatives

Tony Nwokolo: It's a pity that We are too lazy to tap out abundant sunlight efficiently as a nation, to generate efficient power for the citizens 24/7.

Tony Nwokolo: Our

Tony Nwokolo: And affordable too

+234 809 582 8123: 👌🏽 Valid points here Sir...let’s find ways to inspire the younger ones to embrace cutting edge technology and usage of STEM In bridging this wide gap too

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: Good morning! I will attend to all this.

Moderator: 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Moderator: Great morning everyone. Wish you a very prosperous day

+234 809 582 8123: Ameeeeen

Ahmed Adeleye: Big amen

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: If all cautions are taken care of, inverter is a very durable, noiseless and green way of generating electricity. If there is an average daily supply of electricity from the national grid for 7 hours, it is good enough. It converts the DC in the batteries to AC. If the case is otherwise, you need solar panels to charge the batteries.

There are small inverters with small batteries that can power low energy consuming bulbs, charge your phones, laptops etc.

STEM, I guess you mean Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Of course! That is the hope of the future.

Tony Nwokolo: 👍👍👍

Tony Nwokolo: How affordable and durable, easy to maintain? Efficient?

+234 803 082 0991: Great lecture.  

Please how to identify long lasting deep battery?

Some said Sunking is good! How true?

Dr Babatunde Onasanya: Generally, buy batteries from authorized dealers. Besides, good batteries have about 1year warranty.

NEW eSeminar series: FINANCING YOUR BUSINESS

[20:08, 5/16/2018]

OVERVIEW OF BUSINESS FINANCING: SOURCING TO EXECUTION -KEMI ALLA

 Moderator: Our guest tonight is Mrs Olukemi Alla, the Project Manager and founder of Okemscube Multiventures. She is also the author of Job Or Business:What Next?

She has also been a beneficiary of funding support and has since her NYSC (National Youths Service Corps) days promoted entrepreneurship especially among young people through the trainings and other forms of services provided by her organization. Mrs Alla you're welcome to EARnpreneurs.

Kemi Alla: Thank you for having me.

AN OVERVIEW OF BUSINESS FINANCING: SOURCING TO EXECUTION

  

Good evening everyone.

When we talk of business financing: it means how to raise money for your business

How do you raise money for your business?  You can do it through the following ways

1. Personal savings

2. Family and friends

3. Investors

4. Sponsors

5. Loans

6. Grants

I will dwell more on grants. Grants are money given to your business without expecting a payback.  It has criteria for qualification, and it's always goverened by a body.

The grant giving body sets their criteria such as the type of business, no of years in business, location etc. Grants are the best recommended way of financing a business as it requires no payback or collateral.

The requirement for grants is a well prepared business plan.

Example of grants available in Nigeria for Entrepreneurs are:

1. Diamond bank BET(Building Entrepreneurs Today)

2. Shell Live Wire Program

3. USADF grant for agricultural businesses

4. Commonwealth Grant Award

5. NDDC grant (e.t.c, and so many others)

To source for fund for your business, you need to have handy a business plan.

Moderator: http://www.joborbusiness.com.ng

Moderator: 👍

Kemi Alla:

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a written document that shows how a business intends to operate. It documents the products or services,  to the marketing plan, to the financial plan

It also shows the business direction in 3-5 years period.  A forecast of expectations of the business

To apply for grants, it has a time frame. Most grants application opens towards the last quarter of the year and extends to the first quarter of the new year.  That is from October to March.

Most application timelines is usually between 6weeks and 2 months

Therefore it is essential that as Entrepreneurs,  we should have our business plans handy before the application opens online.

Moderator: Thank you so much Mrs Alla

Kemi Alla:

Business plan format

Cover page

Executive summary

Company summary

Description of the business

Products and services

Market analysis

Competitor analysis

Marketing plan

Operational plan

Financial plan

Conclusion

Appendix

Moderator: Wow! Thank you

Taiwo: Good! By God grace, I want to do business

Kemi Alla: Once the business plan is well written and you meet the other criteria,  the grant givers will approve.

On this note, I hope I've been able to wet our appetite on how to raise money for our businesses. Thank you.

Moderator: You did a thorough justice to the topic.

Kemi Alla: Thank you ma

Moderator: Thank you so much once again madam. You shared a lot within the short period.

Kemi Alla: OK. Have a wonderful night everyone.

How to make Kunu Aya drink

Put a cup of Tigernut powder in a bowl add half cup of dates powder add 4 cups of clean drinkable water mix thoroughly then let it soak for 30 minutes stir well and pour in a cheese cloth and strain. Delicious Kunu Aya is ready serve chilled or as preferred. 

The shaft can be dried at room temperature and used for baking or as other sweeteners.

How to make Tigernut milk

Put a cup of Tigernut powder in a bowl add 3 or more cups of clean drinkable water (depending on how thick one want it ) mix thoroughly let it soak for 30 minutes stir well and pour in a cheese cloth or coffee sieve and strain. 

A tablespoon of powder milk can be added if preferred, the Tigernut milk is ready serve chilled or as preferred, the shaft can be use as sweetener in baking and others

How to make Dates /Dabino milk

Put a 1/4 cup of dates powder in a bowl add 2 cups of clean drinkable water mix thoroughly and allow it soak for 30 minutes stir well and sieve with cheese cloth or coffee sieve add 4 tablespoons of powder milk and mix thoroughly, delicious Date milk is ready serve chilled or as preferred.

Written by Ganiyat Onafeko, a Deaf Entrepreneur and member of EARnpreneurs

To order your home-made Tiger nuts or Dates powder, please contact Ganiyat on +234 818 4728 534 (SMS or Whatsapp message only).

Deaf Entrepreneurship series: Akeem, The Wonder Vehicle Body Builder

#Deaf Entreprenuership Series# 

Akeem Adesiyan: The Wonder Vehicle Body Builder

They say if Akeem Adesiyan works on your accident ridden car, it would turn new like it never had a crash in the first instance.
So as an advocate of Deaf Entrepreneurship, I needed to fix something in my car and as my custom was, I insisted it had to be a deaf person to deliver the job and then I met Akeem and his friend, Saheed. Of course, I gladly gave them the job!
Born on March 28, in 1983, Akeem attended Saint Benedict's school, Lagos but when his school management observed he couldn’t cope with ‘normal’ school but appear ‘restless’, his dad was advised to to enroll him in a ‘special’ school for the Deaf. Thereafter he became a pupil of Wesley Schools for Deaf and later, State Secondary School, Eric Moore. Today he is holds a diploma in Vehicle Body Building from the Federal Technical College (Special), Yaba, Lagos.
While discussing with him, he tried to express how much he loved his job as a Vehicle Body Builder, (popularly called Panel Beater).
EARnpreneur: How do you engage in discussions with your customers? Akeem: I lip-read (watching the movement of another’s lips) EARnpreneur: What is the one thing you desire the most about your job? Akeem: I really wish to have an oven for baking cars/vehicles after body repairs. I also need other instruments to carry out my work of body building for vehicles especially for accident cars such as Expansion body jack, Hydrolytic jack (heavy) and Body Cramper. Akeem says his dream is to establish a modern mechanic workshop which is comparable to world class.
As work progressed on my car, I engaged him in discussion and wanted to know more about him, then his father Mr Adesiyan, walked in.
Mr Adesiyan, a retired military personnel shared the story of how Akeem became deaf due to a domestic accident occasioned by an armed robbery attack on the day he was born and the struggle to ensure he had an education, the stigma of having a child with disability and much more.
What has been your experience training a deaf child? Was it different from raising other children? Mr Adesiyan: Ah! A lot of patience. We sometimes quarrel and ‘settle’ (reconcile). They can be very difficult to control because they consistently watch your non-verbal cues, by looking at faces, lips etc. Sometimes they feel you are saying something against them but with patience and love, you make them understand you were not abusing them (not back biting). Yes, it was like 85% different from raising a non-deaf child. Able children are usually very easy to control but you need to explain again and again especially if you don’t understand the sign language.

How Akeem became deaf? He was not born deaf. Armed robbers attacked us on our way home from the hospital, the day he was born.They made away with the car and shot me severally. Akeem fell off and broke his ‘head’ while my sister-in-law who had him was trying to escape for safety from the scene of the robbery. The result was a ‘brain’ injury and had to be sutured in several parts of his head (7 times actually) at the hospitals (Military hospital and LUTH, Lagos) where he was on admission for a while. The rest is history but that was how he became deaf.
What gave you the impetus to continue to support his education? I realized that one must not neglect any child. As a child Akeem loved art and used to draw a lot. I took him to Wesley Schools reluctantly with tears but as soon as he resumed, there was a transformation. His technical ability/talents were discovered as soon as he got to secondary school. His name was number three (3rd) on the admission list of Federal Technical College, Yaba.

What advice do you have for other parents of deaf children? They should not neglect any child. What able children can do, handicapped or disabled children do even much more.
What is one thing you desire to see or witness in Akeem’s life or wished he achieved? His marriage and I am glad God did it! In his job, I desire that he promotes the name of the family and business and have a good auto mechanic business.
Did you at any point in life, face stigma raising him? Yes we faced all sorts but we disregarded them all.

*To book an appointment with Akeem please send an email to earnpreneurs@desirehealthinclusive.com

OR

info@desirehealthinclusive.com

For Deaf Entrepreneurs, its-a Rocky Road

By Joke Ogungbire,

For many deaf persons, the road to entrepreneurship is a must since most paid employment would not even consider them. It is also one of lonely adventure and many uncertainties.

Talk about getting the skills required to start the entrepreneurship journey, how do you communicate with your mentor or colleagues? Why are you often misunderstood? Why can’t they simply accept your ability and forget your disability or hearing loss? They might as well learn the art of sign language, you wonder.

Well, after achieving that milestone and you’ve managed to acquire some skills, you are even determined to be the best.

However, just when you thought the struggle is over, then you are faced with the reality of marketing your skills and services, selling your ideas but they don’t seem to notice or are they also deaf in some ways or perhaps hostile? You wish you knew.

This poses an even greater challenge, the need to convince people that your hearing loss has nothing to do with your ability!

This is our story at DESIRE Health Inclusive Organization (DHIO), the story of many deaf persons, the deaf entrepreneurs and aspiring deaf entrepreneurs, that brought about the birth of EARnpreneurs: Empowered Advocates and Resourceful deaf entrepreneurs!

We are set to promote deaf brands and celebrate deaf entrepreneurs across Nigeria. Nigeria’s deaf population is estimated to be well over 7 million while there are between 110-190 million adults with significant disability, globally.
Empowering only a fraction of this huge population means that the world’s Gross Domestic Product (*GDP) would increase by 7%.

Patronize deaf entrepreneurs, buy deaf brands.
Now, this is what it takes to increase the world’s GDP by 7%: IF you and I employ people with disabilities and patronize deaf entrepreneurs! Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (*SDGs) would be even a lot easier.

EARnpreneurs are Entrepreneurs with hearing loss otherwise known as deaf.

EARnpreneurs project provides a platform to showcase their services and products while interacting with broader audiences and also build the capacity of other aspiring deaf entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

EARnpreneur is an initiative of DESIRE Health which aims to bridge the economic divide between the hearing (persons with functional hearing) and those hearing loss or deafness through Empowerment, Advocacy and Resource-linking of persons with hearing impairment/disability.

Ogungbire, an activist and public health expert, writes in from Lagos. Her organisation can be reached via www.facebook.com/EARnpreneurs 


First published, February 3, 2018 on http://posteritymediang.com/for-deaf-entrepreneurs-its-a-rocky-road/

Earnpreneurs Marketing eSeminar

Module 4: Customer Satisfaction

Guest lecturer: *Mr Opeyemi Ogungbire (B.Pharm, M.Sc)





The Customer is king. This is a common saying with a lot of truth to it. The customer is surely our focus as entrepreneurs because without customers we won't be in business. Customer Satisfaction refers to the measure of how theproducts and services supplied to a customer meets or       exceeds expectations.







Why customer satisfaction is important. 
1. It is the chief indicator of customers' loyalty and intention to repurchase. 
2. It differentiates your business from others.
3. It is easier and cheaper to retain customers than source for new ones.
4. It increases customer life time value.
5. It reduces negative word of mouth.
6. It reduces the rate at which customers are lost to competitors.


How To Improve Customer Perception and Satisfaction

• Get to know your customers
• Develop a warm relationship with your customers. Effective selling is rests on relationships.
• Be conscious your customers have choices and that you are not the only one.
• You need to understand your market very well. 
• Always look for opportunities to create new value propositions for your customers. 
• Communicate the value you have to offer to customers in a way they will understand. 
• Listen, listen and listen again and again to your customers. What do they think about your  products and services? Make corrections and changes based on the feedback you receive.

This brings us to the close of our eSeminar series on marketing and driving sales. 
Please keep your questions coming even after the close of this seminar. 
Thank you 😊

Wishing you the very best in your business for the rest of the year and in the new year.


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*Mr Opeyemi Ogungbire has extensive work experience in sales and marketing and has worked in couple of international organizations in that capacity.

Reference

Marketing Techniques for New Products and Services. DLES, Aug. 2017

Excerpts from DHIO's eSeminar series, EARnpreneurs project.

The EARnpreneurs or Project EARn is DHIO's project that addresses Empowerment, Acquisition of skills and Resource linking for deaf entrepreneurs. 

To join DHIO's EARnpreneurs, you must be deaf  and already an entrepreneur or aspiring to be one;

Must NOT be younger than 18 years old. Please send your CV or a short biography (note) about yourself to: earnpreneurs@gmail.com

Marketing eSeminar 

Guest lecturer: *Mr Opeyemi Ogungbire (B.Pharm, M.Sc)

Module 3:  Packaging Your Products & Services  

'Image they say, is everything'.
After turning your ideas into products/services. An important aspect to consider as you strive to get your products into the market is packaging. 
We shall be taking a brief look at packaging. 

A number of new products often fail, all because much thought and care was not put into the final packaging of such products. 

As you prepare to package your products, put the following into consideration:
- The nature of the product.
- Your target customers.
- How will your product be different from those already in the market?
- What can you learn from your competitors? Their success and failures.
- What improvement can be made on your present packaging. 

Take note of these 4 rules of packaging:

1. Cost effective.
It should be low in cost but not at the expense of quality. Look for the best quality at an affordable price. Never compromise on quality. 

2. Protective.
There must be adequate protection and preservation of your product in the chosen pack. It must keep moisture (wetness), dust, insects, etc. out of the product. There must be no leaks, gaps or holes.

3. Attractive. 
Don't forget 'Image is everything'. The best product that is poorly packaged, won't do well. You don't have a second chance to make a first impression. Your first impression is your packaging, make the best use of it. Use attractive colour combinations depending on your target customers, children respond to very colourful packaging, some colours appeal strongly to females more than to males etc. 

4. Comply with regulations.
There are laws that spell out how certain products should be packaged. If your products fall into these category, it is important that you keep to these laws and regulations. 

Other tips on Packaging.
* Where possible, get a designer to help in creating the package concept you want. However you must give your designer a clear idea of what you want. 

* Branding is key.
This is your umbrella under which your various product line will come. Keep it simple and easy to remember. Get a brand colour for which you will be known. We see this example with our GSM telecom operators, each have a colour it is known for.

* Select a printer.
Get a printer that specializes in printing on your chosen type of packaging. Prints must be clear, easy to read.

Wishing you, the very best as you package your products for EXCELLENCE.  

THANK YOU.


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*Mr Opeyemi Ogungbire has extensive work experience in sales and marketing and has worked in couple of international organizations in that capacity.

Reference

Marketing Techniques for New Products and Services. DLES, Aug. 2017

Excerpts from DHIO's eSeminar series, EARnpreneurs project.

The EARnpreneurs or Project EARn is DHIO's project that addresses Empowerment, Acquisition of skills and Resource linking for deaf entrepreneurs. 

To join DHIO's EARnpreneurs, you must be deaf  and already an entrepreneur or aspiring to be one;

Must NOT be younger than 18 years old. 

To apply, please send your CV or a short biography (note) about yourself to: earnpreneurs@gmail.com