SMEDAN advises entrepreneurs to write business plans

Young and upcoming entrepreneurs should learn how to write business development plans, Dr Friday Okpala, Director of Strategic Partnership, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), said.

Okpala gave the piece of advice at the opening of a three-day workshop in Awka on Tuesday.

He said when business plans were the true brain-child of entrepreneurs with their full involvement in the development process, their effective implementation would be guaranteed.

Okpala said most entrepreneurs were in the habit of hiring consultants and mercenaries who wrote and imposed business ideas on
them.

He said such business plans which were not initiated by entrepreneurs usually faced problems of implementation and failure.

“It is important that young entrepreneurs own their business plans from idea to writing stages, this will lead to more practical execution of such plans.

“It is not in their best interest to engage consultants who develop ideas that they cannot implement, the experts can help but the entrepreneurs should own their business plans,’’ Okpala added.

He called on small business owners to take advantage of low interest-rate funding, provided by the Federal Government.

According to him, the Small and Micro Scale Enterprise funds, Cottage and Allied Product funds and Textile Industry funds are still available for entrepreneurs.

The SMEDAN Anambra State Officer, Ms Chito Onuzuluike, said the three-day skill development workshop was aimed at improving the skills of business owners in the state.

Onuzuluike said the participants were drawn from cooperatives across the state which SMEDAN had been mentoring and monitoring.

She urged other small business owners to avail themselves of the skills and expertise which SMEDAN had been imparting in entrepreneurs.

A participant, Miss Adaora Ezike, an undergraduate fish farmer, described the workshop as enlightening and worthwhile.

Ezike said funding remained the bane of expansion for small businesses as cost of funds was high.

She urged government to ease access to low-cost funds to enable the youth to participate in employment generation.

The workshop, which started on Tuesday, will end on Thursday.