The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has urged new students at University of Ibadan School of Business (UISB) to embrace practical entrepreneurial tips before starting their businesses.
The Oyo State Coordinator of SMEDAN, Mrs Iyabo Ojongbede, said this in Ibadan on Wednesday at the orientation programme of UISB newly admitted students for the 2024/2025 academic session.
She urged the students to solve problems in their immediate environment as a gateway to entrepreneurial ventures.
Ojongbede identified self-assessment and motivation as very important before venturing into business.
“Choosing the right business includes identifying untapped opportunities, doing things differently, and having a specific gap the business is filling.
“It is better that you don’t stay on one business; have like two or three businesses so that if one fails you can fall back on the other one.
“It is equally important that you don’t borrow money from commercial banks or microfinance banks as start-ups so that you don’t incur debts that you cannot pay,” Ojongbede said.
She urged them to register their businesses so they could enjoy grants and support from the government and other agencies in the entrepreneurship space.
The Guest Lecturer and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Oyo State Governor, Folajimi Oyekunle, charged the students not to allow family interference in their businesses.
He underscored the need for entrepreneurs to be involved in the day-to-day running of their businesses.
“When you want to start a business, let your capital be your personal money; this is because loans come with high interest rates that would make it difficult to repay. This can lead to the crash of your business.
“You must also ensure that you are available, don’t start your business and put another person in charge, never trust anyone,” Oyekunle said.
In her address, Dr Siyanbola Omitoyin, the Head of Department, Business Entrepreneurship and Executive Education, University of Ibadan said the orientation programme was to initiate and induct the students.
He said it would also help the students to understand the school and serve as an eye opener into the different aspects of the school.
“We discovered that a number of students that come in don’t really have a focus. By the time they are stimulated during the orientation programme, they will have a focus, and their mindsets redirected.
“We expect that people that will finish from Ibadan Business School will launch out as entrepreneurs and managers with a difference because they would have learnt a lot of things from the different aspects.
“They would be taken through strategic management, entrepreneurship, business and accounting among others,” Omitoyin said.
