Dr. Lukman Raimi of the School of Business & Entrepreneurship (SBE) says his school's program, Entrepreneurial Field Experience (ENT 201), is expanding its portfolio to include agribusiness.
Students of ENT 201, in two groups, presented two business plans to the AUN learning community on February 17 when the Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship & Corporate Social Responsibility said SBE decided to make students choose their businesses within the Agribusiness thematic area in the spring 2020 semester.
The event was attended by a varied audience including the senior management.
Entrepreneurial Field Experience is a practical business learning opportunity for every student that is on offer every semester.
Each group will receive the usual $5,000 startup capital to launch and operate its own business. The program instructor said the students had intensive knowledge-sharing interaction with experts in poultry and fish farming, which gave them sound grounding for writing their business plans before pitching. After rigorous rounds of screening and pitching in class, two businesses finally emerged.
"We normally have three to four weeks of brainstorming, idea generation, development of the idea into a full-fledged business model, idea screening, even voting for the best idea before informing management on the next line of action."
The professor added that as there is a need for remedial action to forestall risk and safeguard the investment, a reputable organization was approached to provide part of the funding and the technical expertise required.
"The AUN Community Cooperative Society has signified interest in partnering with the two businesses. During the holidays, the Society will take over the running of the businesses."
The SBE management also hopes that the businesses will survive the spring 2020 semester, where another students' group, in a subsequent semester, would develop a plan for the scaling up of the businesses.
Dean, School of Graduate Studies, Professor Chris Mbah, Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost, Professor Muhammadou Kah, Assistant Professor in the School of Business, Dr. Hassan Yusuf, (who represented the Dean of SBE), are among the attendees. Also, the SGA had representatives at the session.
The Poultry House is a business that focuses on the production of quality broilers for sale as organic chickens to AUN Hotel, AUN Cafeteria, AUN Community Cooperative Society, Chicken Cottage, faculty and staff members, and other buyers.
Presenting the business plan to the stakeholders and guests, a final-year Computer Science major and Vice CEO, Inagbo Tamuno, said their vision is to be 'the most sought-after poultry company of the 21st century'.
Among the company's objectives, he said, are customer satisfaction, a safe workplace as well as a friendly environment.
Poultry House's counterpart, Pescado Farm, is a fish farm that focuses on the production of premium quality catfish for different segments of the University. The primary target market is the same as that of the Poultry House.
A final-year Software Engineering major and CEO of the start-up, Nsikak Imoh, said the market research his team carried out in AUN and around Yola showed that from a sample of 200 students, about 70 percent consume catfish.
"Having done detailed market research and feasibility studies, we came up with a viable aquaculture business. We want to leverage the vast opportunities available in the agricultural industry."
VP Finance & Administration, Olanipekun Olanrewaju, lauded the idea of the continuity of the business after the end of the students' project.
"We have had a lot of startups through this program which would have translated into a better business organization had it been we had that business incubation center that can take them off students and scale up the ventures."
He advised members of both businesses to have a draft legal document/framework that defines rules of engagement with their potential business partners stating the nature of business collaboration and exit.
"You have the advantage of having the School of Law here. You can approach it to help you draft an agreement that includes profit-sharing, and other things. And as part of the learning process, there can be a provision for arbitration in case of a dispute."
Reported by Omorogbe Omorogiuwa