Want To Start A Business?, Have A Business Plan – BOI MD Says

Female entrepreneurs have been advised to always design a plan before venturing into any business.

Speaking at a forum tagged: “A Moment with a V.I.P,” organised by the Society of Women Accountants of Nigeria in Lagos at the weekend, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Industry (BOI), Ms. Evelyn Oputu, said women to also weigh the risks embedded in any sector they want to invest in.

“The other thing you must think about in terms of the business is the risk attached in the business you are going into. You must be able to identify all the risks. For example, if you say you want to produce orange juice, where will the oranges come from? If you don’t have a farm of your own you are going to rely on people who produce it.

“So, you list all the risks and determine the worse thing that can happen to you in the business. You must subject whatever business you want to go into to the worse situation and when you have determined the worse that can happen in the business, if you decide to go into it, then you know that you like that business,” Oputu explained.

If entrepreneurs do not have a business plan, they have been advised to approached the BOI.“If you come to BOI with a business that is into processing agric products or mining something, you are likely to get support from us before some who is in the oil and gas. In terms of interest rates, I will say that our interest rates don’t exceed 10 per cent for long-term loans,” Oputu said.