Bethan Integrated Services

11/09/2018

I have both observed and experienced that opportunities do not come to those who WAIT but to those who ACT!

To wait for whatever reason to pursue your entrepreneurial, or whatever, dreams you might have is to WASTE

No matter your situations or your obvious limitations, there are certain things you can do at that level and time that will contribute toward realisation of aspirations. My counsel therefore is for you to always seek and find that "little something" you can do per time that will contribute towards the realisation of that dream.

Another danger of waiting is that is waiting, you are blinded to the resources that are at your reach.

I had an experience recently. I needed to set up a distribution system and was very willing to pay a consultant to do so, and in my quest I was asked to get in touch with an old friend who we attended university together, and he has become a distributor with Vita Foam. Meeting and talking with was both enlightening and rewarding indeed. The funny part is that he ended buying me a take away pack at the meeting; where I should be paying consultation fees.

Success is not a function of quantum achievements, but anaggregate of incremental attainment of tiny or little set goals. So quit waiting and find something to do daily towards the realisation of your entrepreneurial aspirations; no matter little that thing might be

04/09/2018

Bethan Industries Limited urgently seeks to engage the services of Sales Representatives both to gain market pe*******on and increase the sales of its Betta Fufu Flour.

Interested candidates should follow the link provided below to apply and thereafter check their email addresses for further information on how to complete their application process.

31/08/2018

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=730907217249939&id=668825840124744

Bethan Industries Limited, a cassava pricessing enterprised based in Edo State, urgently seeks to engage the services of Sales Representatives in Benin City both to gain market pe*******on and increase the sales of its Betta Fufu Flour.

Interested candidates should follow the link provided below to apply and thereafter check their email addresses for further information on how to complete their application process.

18/08/2018

Surely, Betta Fufu Flour has come to take away the stress preparing and enjoying truly hygienic and safe fufu. Customer are already loving it...

10/08/2018

Friday, August 10, 2018

Class Title: The Entrepreneur, The Enterprise and The Economy

Lesson: Targeting Your Customer (Part 2)

We saw in our last class that targeting the right customers to serve with your enterprise's products and/or services is a multi stage process. This involved breaking the Economy or the Population in broad segments, then sub segments, further dividing these sub segment into yet smaller categories by using a number of characteristics to define them further. We also saw the broad categorization of customers as individual, business, government and export market. In today class I will be focusing on the individual market segment.

When choosing to serve individual market segment, you could be looking at serving Adults, Teenagers or Children. This could also be stated as male female and children. But this level of categorization is incomplete, as it could be confusing at some point, hence further definitions are required. This gives rise to the need to define your sub segment by a number of characteristics.

There are quite a number of characteristics to use to make your definition, such as demographic, socio-economic, geographical, psychological and behavioural variables or characteristics.

Assuming as an individual who probably has observed people complain about not finding quality and long lasting underwears at affordable prices, and have decided to set up a enterprise to meet this need. Assuming also you have successfully worked a few important aspects like getting quality products at cheap prices, you have worked out logistics on procurement and in freight amongst others, then you need to decide whose need you with meet with these products. Will they be men, women, teenagers or children? But very importantly, you can serve all men, women or children. Hence you need to distil further who these individuals real are or will be.

The idea is not to define your target market along all five variables but to pick 2 or at most 3 variables that will enable you pinpoint your most appropriate customer segment, as much as possible. Remember, we defined appropriate in this context as those who willing and able to pay for the solut

08/08/2018

Wednesday, August 08, 2018

Class Title: The Entrepreneur, The Enterprise and the Economy

Topic: Targeting Your Customer Segments

In our last class we worked at understanding the difference between the customer and the consumer, and how we can use this understanding to increase sales and grow our businesses. One thing that is worthy of remembrance and application is that we should be clear who our target or ideal customers are.

Targeting a customer segment to serve with our enterprises’ products and/or services is critical to their success. Enterprises and their businesses grow and succeed when enterprises are able to deliver the right products or services to the right people, at the right price through the right channels.

Targeting your customer segment can be approached in two ways: the products centric approach and the customer centric approach. In the former, the entrepreneur or through the enterprise develops the product or service and then figure out whose needs it best meets. While in the latter, the customers’ need is identified and a product or service is developed to meet that need. In any case, targeting customer segment is identifying which category of people your product or service best served.

This is also known as market segmentation where you break the entire population into categories or segments and then pick that which most appropriate for your products or services. Appropriate in this context talks about those who are willing to use your solutions, able to pay and are legally allowed to use such products and services.

This can be done using a number of stages. First the economy is broken into broad segments like individual, business, government and export market. These are then broken into sub segments like male, female and children for individual customers; micro, small, medium and large for business customers; local, state and federal for government customers. And further more each of these sub segments can be broken down by a number of characteristic.

I will be taking it up from this point in our next class.

16/07/2018

Understanding the Customer the Consumer

In our last lesson, we stated a few questions to find answers to, understand and utilise in making quality market decisions for our enterprises One of such questions is: Who are your customers and consumers?

These terms are similar but essentially are different. In relation to the enterprise’s products and services, the customer is the one who makes the buying decision of which product or service to purchase, while the consumer is the user of the product or service.

In some instances both are one and the same. And some other instances, the consumer influences the buying decision. Like a mother may prefer a particular brand of diaper for whatever reason, but if the child reacts to the use of that diaper, the mother automatically changes brand, and the producer loses a customer.

In targeting customer segment, many SMEs make the mistake of targeting the consumer instead of the customer, and you wonder why you are not getting patronage?
Another example to distinguishes between the customer and consumer is an IT company that uses application to deliver services. The of department or the MD or the Procurement Manager could be the customer, as he or she makes the buying decision, while the staff that uses the app will be the consumer. In this case, unlike that if the baby who uses the diaper, the consumer can be lobbied to recommend the app, but he or she still will not make the buying decision.

To put this to work, examine you business model, who have you been targeting or intends to target the user of your products or services or the one who actually makes the decision to buy your product or service?

25/06/2018

Wednesday, June 25, 2018

Class Title: The Entrepreneur, The Enterprise and The Economy

Lesson: Factors Influencing the Entrepreneur’s Decisions and Actions (Part 3b)*

We are still finding answers to the questions, “ What kind of information should the entrepreneur seek, understand and appropriate in his or her decision making process?” We started last week by saying *seeking, undersranding and correctly applying market knowledge in decision-making makes a significant duffetence between the entrepreneur’s success or failure.

This week, we are looking at the simplifying the market research process, which is the process if seeking, undetstandung and using market information correctly for small enterprise entrepreneurs.

There is a saying that “Only those who ask questions are entitled to answers, and only those who ask the right questions receive the right answers.” The process I will be sharing here is by no means prescriptive, as the businesses of our enterprises and the industries within which we operate vary and are diverse. Therefore in seeking, undersranding and utilising market information, below are questions I consider critical, they include:
• For whom are we producing or will produce for?
• Who are our customers and consumers?
• How many are they, and how much do they all spend annually?
• What are their common characteristics?
• Where are they located? And where do they buy from?
• How do they buy? And how often do they buy?
• How do they want to be reached, in terms of communication and products/Services delivery?
• Do they have any complaints on use of existing products and services?
• Can we fill any of the existing gaps? Why should they buy from us?

This list are by no means exhaustive, and all questions may or may not apply to your enterprise’s business. But it is meant to get us started in seeking, undersranding and correctly applying market knowledge in our decision-making process, so as the increase the chances of success for our enterprises.
More are yet to come, look out for them!

19/06/2018

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Class Title: The Entrepreneur, The Enterprise and The Economy

Lesson: Factors Influencing the Entrepreneur’s Decisions and Actions (Part 3)

We began looking at KNOWLEDGE as the second factor in our series of factors influencing the decision-making process of the individual entrepreneur, as a way of achieving sustainable growth for small enterprises, and a means of achieving sustainable economic growth and development in Africa. We saw last week that adequate and applicable knowledge is crucial to the entrepreneur’s decisions and actions, which impact on the enterprise and by extension our economy. But the question then is; “what type of knowledge should the entrepreneur seek?” Finding answers to this question will be our focus in the weeks to come.

The number one knowledge the entrepreneur should seek, understand and appropriate is MARKET KNOWLEDGE! Yes, market knowledge is of utmost importance to the success of our enterprises. The Enterprise no doubt starts with an idea, whether borne out of passion, research or inspiration, but idea alone will not make for successful small enterprise.

You no doubt, would have heard and used the old cliché “Ideas rule the world.” While they may be sense in this, building your enterprise’s business around your idea, is putting the nail on the coffin that will be used to bury your enterprise! How? you may wonder. Customers or clients will that pay for your idea but the value they either get or expect to get from your products or services. So businesses should not be built on ideas only, but on finding people who are both willing and able to pay for the solution the idea offers and are legally allowed to use such product and services. Finding such people is no longer just an idea but an opportunity, and successful businesses are built on opportunities and not just ideas.

How do you find people who are willing and able to pay for the solution your idea offers? Simply through market research, and in market research, you bassically seeking market information, making sense of it and seeking ways to appropriate same.

To be continued....

14/06/2018

Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Class Title:The Entrepreneur, The Enterprise and The Economy
Lesson: Factors Influencing the Entrepreneur's Decisions and Actions (Part 2)

We have stated in previous a lesson that the entrepreneur’s success or failure in business is a product of the decisions made and actions taken. Thus making an understanding of the factors that influences the entrepreneurs decisions and actions crucially important to realization of sustainable economic growth and development. We have looked at motivation as the primary influencer of the entrepreneur’s decisions and actions.

The number two factors in thus series of factors influencing the decision-making process of the individual entrepreneur is KNOWLEDGE! In my engagement with small enterprise owners-managers, I am usually alarmed by how many of these go about planning and executing their businesses with little or no knowledge of either their businesses or the projects they embarked upon. What I am surprised to see are baseless assumptions, and sometimes very ridiculous too.

Like a wise man said, “To be informed is to be transformed, and to be uninformed is to be deformed.” Many a failed small enterprise, or deformed small enterprises, is a direct product of a uninformed entrepreneur or small business owner-manager. In other words the "deformity" expressed in small enterprises is a direct reflection if the lack of knowledge on the part of the entrepreneur.

Knowledge in this context could either be lacking or inadequate. Simply put, if you know better, you will do better!” Otherwise, it amounts to plain foolishness. There is yet a third angle to this, in that it is not just adequate knowledge that matters in making better decisions and embarking on better actions for the success of our enterprises, but engaging adequate working knowledge. That is to say , it is drawing understanding from knowledge, knowing how to apply or use knowledge gathered correctly that improves our decision and actions which in turn impacts on our enterprises and by extension our economy at large ; else we are no different from the uninformed.

It is getting lengthy, so I have to stop here for

27/04/2018

Articulating the Economic Impact Dream of Your Enterprise (Part 2)

We are continuing in our series and I mentioned in my last post that “your enterprise vision and enterprise economic impact dream are not the same.”

For Instance, the vision of my cassava processing enterprise is "to become a leading zero waste ultra modern cassava processing group", but my economic impact dream for this enterprise is "to contribute $1 trillion from cassava processing to Africa’s annual GDP latest by 2050"

If you have read my post titled, "3Ps of Economic Growth and Development" carefully, you will find the following statements in the first paragraph, “If our economy must grow and develop, then of much needed basic infrastructures and social amenities possible, must all be created.”
Therein lie critical indicators of economic growth and development, which entrepreneurs seeking to make a mark in their generation must work at bring to being. They include:
(1) provision of goods and services that contribute to GDP growth
(2) poverty reduction and eradication by means of salaries and wages
(3) provision of fund first infrastructural development, etc.
With this in mind, you are beginning to dream economic impact dreams

25/04/2018

Articulating the Economic Impact Dream of Your Enterprise (Part 1)

If you have been following my posts, you will be familiar with what I call, “Entrepreneurial Big Picture Mentality.” And this concept is all about seeing your seemingly insignificant enterprise as part of the economy and one that has the potential to make significant contributions to the economic growth and development of our nation and continent.

This concept when understood and embraced by small enterprises entrepreneurs, will go a long way to improve their chances of survival of their enterprises. It entails 7 phases, and we have seen phase 1 as having dreams of significant and sustainable economic impact for your enterprise. And now in phase 2 you need to articulate and write out this dream.

Ability to articulate your thoughts is a major step to living your dream or pursuing your cause. I want to say early enough that “your enterprise vision and enterprise's economic impact dream are not the same.”Making this distinction is very crucial so that you are pursuing your enterprise’s vision and mistaking same for entrepreneurial impact for your enterprise.

Want to know the difference, look out for part 2 of this post by Friday, April 27, 2018!