By 
HoBee Initiative, a platform that allows individuals to share unwanted items with others to improve savings and reduce waste, has won the grand prize of an investment opportunity of between $20,000 and $2 million at the 3rd #LBSMBA Entrepreneurship Expo & Contest held on 16th May, with the theme: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Competitiveness.
The HoBee initiative platform which is hinged on the key value propositions: Share unwanted items with others, Improve savings and Reduce wastes; is inspired by the desire to solve the following three key problems:
- Poor savings – According to NDIC, 98% of Nigerians have less than N500,000 ($1.250) in their accounts while the poorest Nigerians are unbanked.
- Hoarding – People are hoarding or wrongly disposing of items they no longer need, that others are struggling to afford.
- Environmental disruption – Nigeria generates more than 32 million tons of solid waste annually, out of which only 20 – 30% is collected.
Six MBA finalists had five minutes to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges including Kristin Wilson (Vice-President, West Africa Double Feather Partners & Co-Founder, Spurt!) and Glory Enyinnaya who represented Faster Capital. The virtual event which was moderated by Dr Henrietta Onwuegbuzie also had seasoned panellists that comprised of Stephanie Obi (Founder, TrainQuarters), Paul Orajiaka (CEO, Auldon Ltd), and Richmond Okafor (Chairman, CleanMax Industries Ltd).
During her opening remarks, Dr Henrietta Onwuegbuzie provided lots of insights on the impact of the pandemic on the global and local economies, the new opportunities and threats presented by the changing times and survival strategies for entrepreneurs during and beyond Covid-19.
While sharing from their personal experiences, the panellists provided deep insights on strategies for building and sustaining successful businesses during the pandemic and afterwards.
In his keynote address, Interswitch Group CEO, Mitchell Elegbe who spoke on the topic “Business Innovation in Entrepreneurship”, explained the importance of offerings, value proposition and satisfying the changing needs of customers.
While emphasizing that money is necessary, but not sufficient alone to guaranty the survival and growth of a business, he challenged the MBA finalists to focus on innovation-driven sustainable business models with a clear purpose of making an impact that will positively change the world.
In a brief but concise presentation, he highlighted a model with key components for business survival and sustainability to address the following rhetoric questions:
- What problem are you solving? – Purpose-driven with a burning desire to solve a problem and make a change.
- How are you going about solving them? – The problem-solving approach matters a great deal, depending on the Entre-’preneur’ hat you are wearing.
- What is your business model? – The secret for competitive advantage: Key partners, Key activities, Key resources, Cost structure, Value proposition, Customer relations, Distribution channels, Revenue streams or Customer segments
- How will you create sustainable value? – Typically focus at the early stage may tilt towards Cheapest product, Best solution and Fastest delivery. However, at the late stage, focus naturally changes to Operational Excellence, Product leadership and Customer intimacy.
He also admonished the finalists to beware of what he described as ‘Activity Trap’ by working so hard to climb to the top of a ladder only to discover that it’s resting on the wrong wall.
In conclusion, he urged them to always adopt a sustainable approach to business by designing for the seasons, while discerning enough to recognize times; as seasons are recurring constants while times will always throw up traps and triggers.
Comments