HOW TO BOOST AGRIBUSINESS IN NIGERIA.

 

Financial model template for startup.

Financial model template for startup. This is designed to be a simple end-to-end financial model for an early-stage startup. The model outputs standard financial statements and key operating metrics based on a wide range of user inputs, and is highly customizable and entirely transparent. Unfortunately, most financial models are built for established businesses, and therefore force assumptions (like terminal growth) and calculations (EBITDA multiples come to mind) that a startup has no need for. The model seeks to serve as a robust option for entrepreneurs that wish to analyze the operating side of their business, but does not constrict against pivots and technological disruptions. The Income Statement sheet allows you to model expenses and revenues as they occur. Unlike the Cash Flow Statement, which records movement of actual cash, the Income Statement records and projects items like depreciation, which see no physical cash flowing each year, but are accounted for over multiple years.more

Ten Experiments To Test Your New Business Hypothesis.

Ten Experiments To Test Your New Business Hypothesis. You know that a new idea has gained dominance when it becomes practically a cliché. That is what I’ve seen happen with the “Lean Startup” philosophy of viewing your startup as a scientific experiment in search of a business model. This started as a new idea, then became popularized, and now people view it as common sense and practically a cliché. And I definitely am one of those people who regularly advises our portfolio companies to think creatively about how to experiment on their operating assumptions. The challenge is: what experiments can you run to test your hypotheses? I’ve looked all over, but to my surprise, I have not been able to find a good collection of appropriate experiments online. So, I’ve gathered below some of the experiments that our portfolio companies and other startups we know have found most informative. If you have further ideas, please add them in the comments. To structure your experiments, I suggest use the Javelin Experiment Board. Step I: Explore the problem and the market. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Blog publicly about what you’re doing. This helps you to get qualitative, personal feedback first, which you need to inform quantitative feedback you gather later. Also, include face-to-face interviews with customers; read these quick tips for effective customer interviews. I’ve been writing for years about investing best practices as a way of learning about the investors who are the clients base for several of my past companies.more

Echbee Foods : How a working mum turned her problem to a business. #entrepreneur.

Echbee Foods : How a working mum turned her problem to a business.
 
   Life they say is a teacher,others say its what you make of it and many more believe it full of opportunities. I personally believe all these sayings but the last best describes my story.

 I am in the working class popularly called the working mum's club with my office on the island and home on the mainland i had to look for ways to simplify my life and also raise my kids properly.

              

 My days starts very early, prepare my kids for school,make lunch,pack it and drop kids off then head-off to the island where my practice is domiciled.

 The running of the home was not easy, i had to think fast because i was stretched on all sides, take a look; My office duties/deadlines, meetings ,surgery,consulting e.t.c.,then mum duties,again lesson duties and my own personal development courses .

Each day was stressful and cooking like everything had to be scheduled,i had to make time to shop in bulk and stock up my freezer,so i can cook at 2.00 am while i am doing other chores.

 This not only made my life easy,but also exposed me to the world of packs,sachets,paste and powders.

AGRIBUSINESS :Drying vegetables increases shelf life to over eight months.

AGRIBUSINESS :Drying vegetables increases shelf life to over eight months. Drying vegetables increases shelf life to over eight months. 

Dried vegetables can last for more than eight months without expiring/spoiling.The inclusion of a solar dryer. into production has increased the shelf-life of vegetables from two days to more than eight months, allowing Kisii County farmer,

 Jared Otundo, sell his vegetables for longer and in  faraway places.  

 Otundo says drying the black night shade and spider flower vegetables has helped him reduce rotting losses to zero.

Unlike fresh vegetables that require disposal within two days, he can hold on until when the market fetches more. 

During rainy seasons, the oversupply of the vegetables lead to low prices. This is his time of accumulating and drying the two varieties and stocking.

 The solar equipment has a special chamber for blowing away moisture. The vegetables lose the moisture, but the colour remains the same. After packaging and sealing in labeled polythene bags, the cargo is less bulky for transporting. source

Startup: Empowering a community with improved dairy value chain.

Startup: Empowering a community with improved dairy value chain.This is the story of a woman that is improving her community with an improved dairy value chain.When Hirut Yohannes Darare opened her dairy processing company, she aimed not only to provide for her family, but also to improve the lives of dairy farmers in her community and across Ethiopia. 

 Hirut Yohannes Darare, founder and general manager of Rut & Hirut Milk Cows Breeding & Dairy Production & Processing PLC, a dairy processing company located in Chacha, Ethiopia. Hirut’s company sources from over 450 local dairy farmers, 95 percent of whom are women. She delved into the industry when she discovered there was a shortage of milk in Ethiopia. She started with 2 cows in addition to her own farm,

Hirut began sourcing milk from a handful of her neighbors and distributing it in local markets. When she realized that her cost of production outweighed her revenue, Hirut sought out training opportunities to increase the productivity of her cows and the quality of the milk they produced. After receiving training in cattle and feed management from Land O’Lakes and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Hirut began sharing her new knowledge with the farmers who supplied her with raw milk, helping them to improve their production. As Hirut conducted trainings at farmers’ homes, she couldn’t help but notice that the burden of labor fell almost entirely on women. She said, “The woman cleans the cow, she milks it, she carries the milk to sell and she takes the cow for grazing. All of the work is done by the woman,” she said. Today, Rut & Hirut produces a wide variety of dairy products, including pasteurized milk, 16 types of cheeses, three flavors of yogurt, and three types of butter and cream. source

Farmer in Burundi discovers an innovative method of storing tomatoes and preventing spoilage.

Farmer in Burundi discovers an innovative method of storing tomatoes and preventing spoilage.Vital Nduwimana hated how many tomatoes he lost every season. 

For years, his tomatoes started rotting just three or four days after harvest. He felt frustrated. Mr. Nduwimana explains: “I was not able to sell all my tomatoes; I lost almost half of my production. Worse still, I would sell at a low price in the market. So in 2015, I thought that maybe I should find a tomato conservation technique.” Mr. Nduwimana grows tomatoes in eastern Burundi, on Kabuyenge hill, five kilometres from the Tanzanian border. 

 In eastern Burundi, tomatoes are abundant during the harvest months of August and September. But growers find it difficult to keep tomatoes for later sale, which leads to a large number of tomatoes rotting. Mr. Nduwimana tried several techniques to solve his problem. 

He tried storing his tomatoes in water, in clay, underground, in cartons, and even in sand. He tried everything that came to his mind—but without success. Then one day, he noticed that the tomatoes he had kept next to his banana trees were not rotten. Then he noticed the ash at the foot of the banana trees.He decided to try keeping his tomatoes in ash and found that this was more effective than any of the other techniques he had tried.

He uses ash from a chimney, and sifts it three or four times to remove large residues, debris, and other foreign materials. Then, he dumps the ash into a paper carton and places the tomatoes in the carton. With this technique, Mr. Nduwimana manages to safely store his tomatoes for many months. He explains: “I keep my tomatoes in the ash for a period of five to six months, so I can sell them in December, January, or February when the price has risen—since tomatoes are rare and become expensive during this period.“ Jean Nivyabandi is an agronomist. 

He says using ash has no negative effect on the tomatoes, which can be consumed safely. He explains, “There is no risk of tomato toxicity after storage in ash.” Nevertheless, the agronomist wants the Institute of Agronomic Sciences of Burundi to conduct tests to scientifically validate Mr. Nduwimana’s technique. 

 Meanwhile, other tomato growers in Cibitoke—the main tomato-producing region of Burundi— have been inspired to try the techniques themselves. Judith Bizmana also grows tomatoes in Cibitoke. She says: “I can normally harvest between 550 and 600 kilograms of tomatoes per season. But … I would lose nearly half of my production. Today, I rub my hands and smile all the time. 

Thanks to Mr. Nduwimana’s technique, I can keep my tomatoes [and] wait for the price to rise in the market, knowing that very few of them will rot.” Meanwhile, the innovative farmer has changed his life. 

Mr. Nduwimana says: “With the income from the sale of tomatoes, I opened a small restaurant and I am a permanent supplier of tomatoes to restaurants in the provincial capital. I supply the whole market, and I have created jobs, too. My whole life has changed.

 In the future, I plan to buy a truck to transport my tomatoes.” Mr. Nduwimana has become an ambitious entrepreneur. In July 2016, he even won an innovation competition organized by an NGO called Agakura. more

Value addition to tomatoes.

Tomatoes are healthy fruits with massive health benefits as they are rich in lycopene, a carotenoid with antioxidant properties, which is responsible for the deep red color of tomatoes. Food rich in lycopene will give antioxidant and is often associated with boosting our immune system by removing free radicals from our bodies thus decreasing the risk of stroke, lowering our bad cholesterol levels and preventing artery hardening. Tomatoes contain Zeaxanthin,a flavonoid that helps eyes stay healthy and with vitamin A that is found in tomatoes as well will take a good care of eyes if this fruit is eaten regularly. Fresh raw tomatoes are an excellent source of potassium, vitamin C, and some B-complex vitamins, tomatoes are also low in calories as 100 grams of tomatoes have around 18 calories. Tomatoes can be processed to paste,puree and ketchup alongside other products. The tomato market is large and a lot needs to be done to prevent the losses currently experienced from farm to market. Investors in the chain can actually tap into value addition in the form of processing the fruit into other products that are also equally beneficial in terms of health and wealth. Tomato value addition; 1) Tomato juice: I remember this product in my school days, it was always available especially during parties,but it gradually disappeared thanks to sugar flavored drinks. The juice is actually a healthy beverage with a good taste and aroma and a high vitamin content not forgetting the antioxidant effect on our cell. A high quality tomato juice contains 0.4 percent citric acid, 0.5 percent salt and 0.1 percent sugar. 2)Tomato ketchup : this is by far the most common form of processing,with various brands adding specific ingredients to make their products unique.Ketchup is commonly used with snacks and ready-to-eat foods,the chicken and chips delicacy is not complete without it. 3)Tomato paste: this is easy and most convenient for working mums, the tomatoes are cut up and processed into ready to use paste. There is another value addition with the tomato paste,it could actually be blended with pepper and some salt to produce a tomapep product. This is a handy ingredient for homes,eateries,school cafeterias and definitely a travel companion when camping out. 4)Tomato powder: tomatoes can also be dehydrated and grounded into fine powders that can be packaged in cans and sachets. 5)Tomatoes :can also be preserved and processed as dehydrated tomatoes. Tomatoes can be dehydrated and stored for further processing into powder or stored and used as dried tomato slices. Value addition to the tomato fruit cannot be fully explored as so many products can be derived from the tomato,what is required is the plan to cut the losses from site of production to market and then fresh produce to consumers. Investors in this value addition can actually site factories within the cluster of production,or better still farmers could even engage in this value addition by using dehydrators to save the excess tomatoes ,which will now be ready raw material for tomato processing plants. The funny side of tomatoes; see

HOW TO MAKE GOOGLE CARDBOARD VR HEADSET.

Google has released an app that lets you slot your Android phone into some cardboard to make a virtual-reality headset. The app, titled Cardboard, is a clever way of making virtual reality accessible to a large number of people at relatively little cost. Virtual reality has made exciting progress over the past several years. However, developing for VR still requires expensive, specialized hardware. Thinking about how to make VR accessible to more people, a group of VR enthusiasts at Google experimented with using a smartphone to drive VR experiences. The outcome was Cardboard, which Google describes as "a no-frills enclosure that transforms a phone into a basic VR headset, and the accompanying open software toolkit that makes writing VR software as simple as building a web or mobile app". To build it yourself, you'll need a load of corrugated cardboard (Google suggests using an extra-large pizza box). A pair of lenses with a 40mm focal distance to keep the screen in focus, two magnets to act as hardware buttons, some velcro strips and an eight cm rubber band to hold the phone in place. An NFC tag to launch the app by tapping the headset. The construction is done with these tools, a ruler, glue, scissors and a Stanley knife., Once you've gathered all that together, then use the design card below.. If you get it right ,it will look like this, happy construction. read more wired.co.uk