Welcome to the first week of the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme!
We are excited to have you participating in this exciting endeavour and hope you enjoy exploring the curriculum, learning from your mentor, and interacting with the other participants. At the beginning of each week, you will receive a message like this one, providing you information about what the Programme has in store for you in the week ahead.
This week, you will begin developing your business efforts by zeroing in on the specific problem you are trying to solve. You will be exploring problem-focused companies, considering their value in approaching customers. Finally, you will be considering your own business, focusing on your customer's problems and how you might be able to solve them better than the competition. During this week, please speak with your mentor about what you are learning. We also invite you to interact with other participants through the Activity tab.
Read this week Glossary to understand the terminologies!
Project To-Dos
Complete Initial Survey
Read the article on Problem-centric Entrepreneurship
Problem-centric Entrepreneurship
Write down your idea by describing the problem you are trying to solve. What is the cause of the problem? What are the symptoms? How does the problem typically manifest itself in the lives of your potential clients?
Complete the first Problem Worksheet
Complete the second Problem Worksheet
Describing the Stereotypical User
Describe the stereotypical person who has this problem, being as specific as possible. Indicate the pieces you know to be true, and the sections which hinge on assumptions.
Describe Existing Solutions
Describe existing solutions, and how they are insufficient to address the problem. In what ways are these problems insufficient? What facets of the problem do these other solutions ignore? Are any of the facets that other problems ignore essential for you to focus on while you attempt to solve this problem? Are any of the facets that other problems ignore also things that you will choose to not address?
Complete Solution Worksheet one
Complete Solution Worksheet two
Analyze existing solutions
Consider the strengths of existing solutions, and think about how these may inspire your own solution development.
Distill your solution
Write down your solution in no more than three sentences, referencing the problem statement you made earlier. Work to distill your solution to the simplest, most direct statement you can make.
Describing Solution Innovation
Describe what is new about your solution, and how it is different from other products or services
Sketch out a visual representation of your idea. Note any interesting ideas that arise while you are developing this visual model.
You can either: 1) use the software on your phone or computer 2) sketch it by hand, take a picture, and send it to your mentor
Engage other entrepreneurs
Go to the forum that is specific to your industry. Post a one-sentence summary of your value proposition. Give feedback on at least three other people's value propositions.
Talk to at least three friends
Using the materials you have accumulated over the first week, discuss your idea, the customer, and the customer's problem.
Discuss the Problem
Using all materials as references, discuss your idea, your customer, and the problem with your Mentor. Seek to address specific questions that you've encountered during the problem development process. Seek specific advice where possible.
Review Feedback from Friends and Mentor
Think about the things that you heard from your Mentor, and from friends. Where there are trends or common themes? What important questions did they ask that you could answer easily? What did you have trouble answering? What sort of additional research do you need to conduct?
Additional Research
Conduct additional research and fact-finding to answer difficult questions from the feedback cycle or new thoughts that have come to mind. What additional information do you need to discover?
Product Development by Feedback
Develop this feedback and additional information into your product development effort
Complete the first Business Model Canvas
Fill out the Value Proposition, Key Activities, & Customer Segments sections of the Business Model Canvas
Project To-Dos
Complete Initial Survey
Read the article on Problem-centric Entrepreneurship
Problem-centric Entrepreneurship
Write down your idea by describing the problem you are trying to solve. What is the cause of the problem? What are the symptoms? How does the problem typically manifest itself in the lives of your potential clients?
Complete the first Problem Worksheet
Complete the second Problem Worksheet
Describing the Stereotypical User
Describe the stereotypical person who has this problem, being as specific as possible. Indicate the pieces you know to be true, and the sections which hinge on assumptions.
Describe Existing Solutions
Describe existing solutions, and how they are insufficient to address the problem. In what ways are these problems insufficient? What facets of the problem do these other solutions ignore? Are any of the facets that other problems ignore essential for you to focus on while you attempt to solve this problem? Are any of the facets that other problems ignore also things that you will choose to not address?
Complete Solution Worksheet one
Complete Solution Worksheet two
Analyze existing solutions
Consider the strengths of existing solutions, and think about how these may inspire your own solution development.
Distill your solution
Write down your solution in no more than three sentences, referencing the problem statement you made earlier. Work to distill your solution to the simplest, most direct statement you can make.
Describing Solution Innovation
Describe what is new about your solution, and how it is different from other products or services
Sketch out a visual representation of your idea. Note any interesting ideas that arise while you are developing this visual model.
You can either: 1) use the software on your phone or computer 2) sketch it by hand, take a picture, and send it to your mentor
Engage other entrepreneurs
Go to the forum that is specific to your industry. Post a one-sentence summary of your value proposition. Give feedback on at least three other people's value propositions.
Talk to at least three friends
Using the materials you have accumulated over the first week, discuss your idea, the customer, and the customer's problem.
Discuss the Problem
Using all materials as references, discuss your idea, your customer, and the problem with your Mentor. Seek to address specific questions that you've encountered during the problem development process. Seek specific advice where possible.
Review Feedback from Friends and Mentor
Think about the things that you heard from your Mentor, and from friends. Where there are trends or common themes? What important questions did they ask that you could answer easily? What did you have trouble answering? What sort of additional research do you need to conduct?
Additional Research
Conduct additional research and fact-finding to answer difficult questions from the feedback cycle or new thoughts that have come to mind. What additional information do you need to discover?
Product Development by Feedback
Develop this feedback and additional information into your product development effort
Complete the first Business Model Canvas
Fill out the Value Proposition, Key Activities, & Customer Segments sections of the Business Model Canvas
Glossary of Terms
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is someone who finds new ways to create and capture value in the world around them, creating a company in the process. Entrepreneurship is the process of starting businesses by identifying problems, figuring out solutions, acquiring resources to build the solutions, and managing the required activities.
Problem
A problem is some issue that matters so much to a customer that they will spend money to deal with it.
Solution
A solution is anything that solves a customer’s problem.
The Market
The market refers to customers in one of two ways. It could mean the total amount of money that customers spend on similar products or services. It could also mean the total number of customers for a product or service. Either way, a market represents a problem that needs to be solved.
Value Proposition
A value proposition answers the question “Why does your customer give you money, and not someone else?” It is a simple description of the unique solution that you are providing, based on a customer with a problem.
Key Activities
Key activities are the most critical elements of your business’s operation that allow you to offer a compelling solution to your customer’s problem. They are the things the company absolutely must do for it to be successful.
Customer Segments
Customers are people who buy your product or service. Segments of customers are specific groups of people who share a problem, and who tend to value your product or service in roughly the same way. Desirable customer segments are answers to the question “Who are the first people that will purchase my company’s product or service?”
Problem symptoms
Problem symptoms are things that you look for that will support an assumption you are making about a customer and their problem. You should be able to draft a list of problem symptoms before researching customers, then pay attention to see if these things actually show up during your interaction.
Problem statements
A problem statement is a simple sentence that clearly lays out a customer and the issue they are having that offers a business opportunity. It usually follows the sentence form “[A customer] needs a better way to [description of customer’s problem] because of [insights about that customer].
Technological trends
Technological trends are long-term, predictable changes related to a technology or group of technologies. Examples would be the falling cost of microprocessors or solar panels.
Demographic trends
Demographic trends are long-term, predictable changes related to people. Examples would be falling birth rates in urban areas or the shift from agricultural to industrial and service sector employment.
Economic trends
Economic trends are long-term, predictable changes related to an economy. Examples would be lower inflation rates or increased deficit spending in developed countries.
Political trends
Political trends are long-term, predictable changes related to governance. Examples would be increased voter participation rates or rising female representation in legislative bodies in developing countries.
Competitors
A competitor is anything that addresses the problem that your customer has. Many entrepreneurs assume that competitors have to be other companies, but this is not always the case. If you are selling a juice drink, your main competitor may be a soda company or just water.
Assumptions
Smart entrepreneurs build their business models on assumptions. An assumption is anything you think about your business, your customers, and your solution that can be tested. The point of the experimenting is to figure out when your assumptions need to be changed so you can improve your solution.
Problem-Centric Entrepreneurship
“Problem versus Solution” article
Today we are going to learn one of the most important concepts in entrepreneurship: focus on the problem. It is natural to begin building a business by talking about your solution. You have a great idea and want to turn it into a profitable company, so of course, this is what you want to focus on.
Unfortunately, that rarely leads to a successful business. Thinking mostly about solutions means that you are focusing on a product or service. But to build a business you need to be thinking a lot about the customer, and the problem they have. That means going outside and talking a lot about your ideas to people who you think have the problem you want to solve.
Problem-first entrepreneurship has many benefits. Here are just a few:
It lets you narrow down your efforts by using early customers to determine the best features you should be building. For example, an idea for a new type of energy storage device may need four types of plugs for different consumer items, but early testing reveals that 90% of people use the same plug. The company could then focus on that one rather than build all four options at greater expense.
It lets you find your true competitors, not just companies that do something similar. For instance, an entrepreneur who wants to start a grain storage company may be looking at the other storage products on the market, when most farmers are just laying out their crops on the ground. The actual competition is the ground, not a fancy storage device, especially for cheaper products.
It lets you understand more about the solution that you will build. Someone may be trying to start a company that delivers clothing material to a tailor or seamstress. As they study the problem, they will learn more about the cost of transportation, the time it takes to move material from one place to another and the types of vehicles that are used. These are all important considerations that tell you how to build a better solution, and they will continue to be important in the future as the company expands.
It lets you find new customers. As you start to learn more about your customers and the problem they have, you may find many other groups that share that problem. They may be local, or national, or international. It could be an extra 1,000 people or another 1,000,000 people. In any case you will now have new markets where you can eventually sell your solution.
Quite naturally, entrepreneurs want to focus on their solution. That is the exciting part of the business, after all. Customers, on the other hand, think first about their problem. They want to know how you will solve it for them, and your solution has to be better, faster, or cheaper than the one they currently use.
Clearly, there are many benefits to a problem-first approach. As you go through this 12-week programme and the rest of this year, try to always ask yourself first “What problem am I trying to solve?” and “Who has this problem?” before you start thinking about all the ways you can build an impressive solution.
Problem Worksheet, 1 of 2
In this worksheet you will consider some of the basic elements that are critical to forming a successful business. As you read in the article “Problem versus Solution”, it is critical to understand a specific problem that is experienced by a specific set of customers.
You may have the perfect solution already, but it’s unlikely. Most new companies fail because they commit to a particular product or service too early, before the founders really understand their customers, or the size of the market.
Now we need to get a sense of the problem you are trying to solve. We will focus on your solution later. Please answer the following questions as clearly and simply as possible.
What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Skills and knowledge gap in Public Relations
When does the problem arise?
Every time customers interact with brands
Where does the problem arise?
At every point where customers interact with brands
What causes the problem?
Ignorance and Lack of Public Relations training
List some of the symptoms of the problem:
1. Poor Professional Relationship,
2. Aggrieved Customers and Stakeholders,
3. Low Profits,
4. Low Turnover,
5. Poor Communication,
6. High Labour Turnover.
7. Low Productivity.
8. Dissatisfied Employees.
Manifestations of Problem
1. Frequent interpersonal clashes,
2. Frequent arguments,
3. Lateness to work,
4. Delayed or Outstanding Staff Salaries,
5. Generally Sad countenance,
6. Poor performance on the job.
Problem Worksheet 2 of 2
In this worksheet, you will consider some of the basics about the people you would like to be your customers. As you read in the article “Problem versus Solution”, it is critical to understand a specific problem, but it is also important to understand a specific set of customers.
You will speak with your mentor, and also potential customers, after the next worksheet when you have considered all aspects of the solution. For now, the important thing is to lay out all the information you currently have about the customer. This will help you refine your target market, and help get your idea in front of the right customers more quickly.
Describe your stereotypical customer:
Are they a man, a woman, or does it not matter?
Young Women, Young Men, Teenage Boys and Girls
How old are they?
Between 18 and 35
Are they part of a small family or a large family?
This is practically inconsequential.
What do they do for a living?
Students and Young Adults including Professionals and Freelancers
Do they live in a large city, a town, or a small village?
Spread across these locations.
How long have they had the problem?
Public Relations is emerging. The problems that I seek to solve are as old as the existence of human beings.
Now you should be able to draft a list of problem statements, which look like this:
[A Customer] has a [Problem] because [Your assumption]
Try to make as many as you can, at least five. You will go over these later with your mentor.
1. Several teenagers have poor public conduct because they feel unimportant.
2. Many Freelancers have small clientele because they do not know how to communicate.
3. Quite a number of companies incur losses due to huge investment into Advertising without considering Public Relations and its vast advantages.
4. Several families are broken because the husband and wife are not knowledgeable and skilled in the use of Public Relations techniques
5. Governments become unpopular because their agencies are not aware that Public Relations can improve public perception in their favour.
Solution Worksheet, 1 of 2
In this worksheet, we will move from problems to solutions. You will learn more about a problem as you speak with customers, mentors, and advisors. It is important to understand that your solution will probably change as your knowledge increases. That is a normal part of entrepreneurship.
Almost all ideas eventually need to be modified in some way before they correctly describe a set of customers and a problem that can support the development of a new business. This process will help you avoid mistakes later on when they cost more money and can even sabotage the whole company.
The world is full of competitors. Your customer sees their problem and then looks for the most convenient solution. Your competitors solve the same problem as you, but they may look different. Do not assume that it is only similar companies that can compete for your customers. The customer only cares about getting the problem solved.
Answering these questions will help you think through the exact benefits that your solution will provide, and how the solution can grow into a successful business. You may not know everything, and that’s okay; fill in what you can.
Describe the existing solutions to the problem you are trying to solve:
What do these solutions do?
Contents, Delivery, Strong Partnerships, Structure, Manpower, Finance
Who are the major organizations providing these solutions, if any?
NIPR, BEEC, PR Academy
How much do the solutions cost?
Between N100,000 to N200,000
What do you think these solutions do well?
Content, Delivery, Structure, Technology
What do they do poorly?
Support, Awareness Programme
What will you do better?
Content, Delivery, Support, Awareness Programme, Technology
What will you do that these solutions do not?
Democratic Revenue Regime, Intentional and Continuous support.
Solution Worksheet, 2 of 2
Now that you have looked into the types of solutions that already exist, we can start to learn more about the solution that you will provide. At this point the most important thing to remember is connecting your solution to the problem you described before. You need to make sure the solution actually addresses the specific problems of the customer that you identified.
Describe your solution in no more than three sentences. Keep revising these sentences until they are as simple and direct as possible.
What are the trends influencing your solution?
Technological:
Internet, Internet Access
Demographic:
Clientele focus is on people within the ages of 15 and 45,
A huge number of this population use the internet
Residents of Southern Nigeria are good targets
Education requirement is O’ Level
Economic:
Inflation, Poor finance, Internet Data is expensive
Political:
Government Policies, Annual Budget, Minimum Wage, Outstanding Salaries
Social:
Social Media is an advantage
Outreach to schools is a strong social tool for effective campaigns
Cultural:
Video tutorials and music shall be used to mitigate the effects of poor reading culture
We will leverage religious platforms
Now you should be able to draft a list of solution statements, which look like this:
[A Customer] needs [your Solution] because [the Problem]
Try to make as many as you can, at least three. You will go over these later with your mentor.
1. Several teenagers need Confidence Booster training to remove feelings that they are not important.
2. Many Freelancers need Corporate Communication Services and Training to help them solve the problem and results of poor communication.
3. Corporate bodies need Public Relations Training and Services to create effective campaigns that will generate more sales, reduce losses and increase profits.
4. Families need Relationship Management training to avoid broken homes and relationship frictions.
5. Governments need Public Relations training and services to gain public trust and have better public image and more favourable public perception.
Describe Existing Solutions
Describe existing solutions, and how they are insufficient to address the problem. In what ways are these solutions insufficient? What facets of the problem do these other solutions ignore?
The awareness level of potential clients for Public Relations education is low.
A considerable number of prospective clients do not know about the opportunities in Public Relations.
Client support is poor
Once the exams are over, existing PR education providers cared less about the next step for making things happen for the clients.
Career support and guidance is absent
Many times, essential ongoing career guidance and support for clients is not provided.
Focus on revenue generation is high
Tuition fees, exam fees and membership fees are top priorities of existing PR education providers.
Low/Poor emphasis on entrepreneurship and freelance opportunities
There is a high rate of unemployment due to significant cuts in jobs and employment opportunities. Entrepreneurship is a viable alternative to this problem. Unfortunately, entrepreneurship is not a part of the contents and coaching provided by existing PR education providers.
Clients follow up and community impact is poor/absent
The benefits of community impact cannot be overemphasized. Individuals perform better within communities where weak or less privileged members can get leverage and help from strong members of the same community. Clients follow up is a community relationship component that is missing in what existing PR education providers offer.
Are any of the facets that other problems ignore essential for you to focus on while you attempt to solve this problem?
Yes. As a matter of fact, what they ignore is the core business for us.
Are any of the facets that other problems ignore also things that you will choose to not address?
No! For us they represent opportunities for easy market entry and domination.
Analyze existing solutions
Consider the strengths of existing solutions, and think about how these may inspire your own solution development.
Contents, Strong Partnerships, Structure, Manpower, Finance.
Distill your solution
Write down your solution in no more than three sentences, referencing the problem statement you made earlier. Work to distill your solution to the simplest, most direct statement you can make.
1.PREP provides Confidence Booster training for teenagers, and Relationship Management for married couples to keep their families bound together in love.
2. PREP provides Professional Communication Services and Training for Freelancers to increase their clientele.
3. PREP provides training for corporate bodies and government agencies to increase the results of their campaigns by making it more effective through Public Relations skills, tools and techniques.
Describing Solution Innovation
Describe what is new about your solution, and how it is different from other products or services
Strong and targeted campaigns for creating high impact awareness for Public Relations Education and its vast opportunities among prospective clients,
Strong client support programme that goes beyond the immediate exam preps to long-term results for clients,
Ongoing career support career guidance programmes for clients to help them channel and apply their skills for better results in professional practice,
Democratic revenue model through multilevel marketing where clients can earn income through client referrals,
Strong emphasis on entrepreneurship and freelance opportunities with relevant support for clients to tackle unemployment, create more jobs and more wealth,
Professional Community model for clients follow up and empowerment, Individuals perform better within communities where weak or less privileged members can get leverage and help from strong members of the same community.
Talk to at least three friends
Using the materials you have accumulated over the first week, discuss your idea, the customer, and the customer's problem.
Discuss the Problem
Using all materials as references, discuss your idea, your customer, and the problem with your Mentor. Seek to address specific questions that you've encountered during the problem development process. Seek specific advice where possible.
Review Feedback from Friends and Mentor
Think about the things that you heard from your Mentor, and from friends. Where there are trends or common themes? What important questions did they ask that you could answer easily? What did you have trouble answering? What sort of additional research do you need to conduct?
Additional Research
Conduct additional research and fact-finding to answer difficult questions from feedback cycle, or new thoughts that have come to mind. What additional information do you need to discover?
Product Development by Feedback
Develop this feedback and additional information into your product development effort.
