Our Risk Management session would be handled by a Risk Management expert. He worked in Risk Analytics in Ecobank, and served Fidelity Bank as a Risk Analyst and Strategist. Then, he moved to Sterling Bank where he was a Market & Liquidity Analyst before becoming Head Of Risk Management at Chapel Hill Denham. Akeem Rasaq, BSc, MRM, a Tekedia Institute Faculty, holds BSc (Actuarial Science) and Master of Risk Management from University of Lagos. He also holds a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering from WorldQuant University. Attend his class at Tekedia Mini-MBA.
Facebook Goes After Zoom Via India’s JioMeet!
India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is a legend of technology. He runs the most awesome telecom business in the world through the Reliance Jio brand. The news at the moment is that he is going into the video conferencing business, and in extension, will challenge the dominance of Zoom. JioMeet has most things Zoom has in addition to no “short time limit on a call’s duration”: ‘Jio Platforms says a free call can be uninterrupted for “up to 24 hours” long’.
India’s Reliance Jio Platforms, which recently concluded a $15.2 billion fundraise run, is ready to enter a new business: Video conferencing.
On Thursday evening, the firm — backed by Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man — formally launched JioMeet, its video-conference service that looks uncannily like Zoom.
Like Zoom and Google Meet, JioMeet offers unlimited number of free calls in high definition (720p) to users and supports as many as 100 participants on a call. But interestingly, it appears to not impose a short time limit on a call’s duration. Jio Platforms says a free call can be uninterrupted for “up to 24 hours” long. The service currently has no paid plans and it’s unclear if Jio Platforms, which has a reputation of giving away services for free for years, plans to change that.
Reliance Jio has raised an excess of $15 billion. It has more than 400 million users. One of its main investors is Facebook. I do think that JioMeet platform may not have a payment plan (it currently does not) and could be free in perpetuity. It will make money through a partnership for Facebook to sell adverts in the video conference platform. Because Facebook cannot build a Zoom clone due to antitrust issues, Jio can make that happen by providing a platform of the future in the age of WFH, and Facebook will have access to the users it needs. In the coming months, expect a more integrated fusion for Facebook users to use JioMeet! That is one way of getting around regulators.
Zoom should not see this as a competition from Jio; it needs to see this as a Facebook flank attack.
Ndubuisi Ekekwe Will Be Live on EKO 89.7FM on Monday, July 6 at 1.10pm Lagos
I will be live on EKO 89.7FM on Monday, July 6 at 1.10pm Lagos.
I will take my message of innovation and growth to Lagosians. The program is Mindscope where big ideas are discussed. Oluwatoyin Segilola Awolesi will anchor the air during the conversation. The greatest moments in nations are when pioneering entrepreneurs rise.
Tune in to EKO 89.7FM on Monday, July 6 at 1.10pm Lagos, and let us talk Back to Growth After Lockdown on radio.
You can connect online at Ekofm.net
The Core Basis of Business Modelling
This is how to tell if a business model will work or not. He never knew he would become one of the famous entrepreneurs in his time. He was just passionate and smart in business.
He happened to visit the United States of America one day, they introduced him to a browser called the mosaic browser. He happily used the browser to surf some information about products that are online.
Well, he searched for drinks brands in the United States and he found many online. He was excited about that development. The next thing was that he searched for the same product in his country, China. Surprisingly, there was no information about products from China online.
This was the experience that gave birth to Alibaba Group. This was the experience that birthed the star Jack Ma, the pioneer of the e-commerce industry in China and Asia.
In the book, 3S Rules‘ ‘ it was stated that if we have Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc as Asian Tigers, then China will be the Asian lion, because China is the king of Asian continent.
This is the story of how Business models are developed and designed. In this piece, I shall be analyzing the fundamentals of a business model. What are the key elements of a business model? When you observe a business opportunity, what do you do?
Key Fundamentals of A Business Model.
The business model is simply the designs of how your business idea will solve the intended problems and how it will make money.
Here is what an article from Harvard Business Review says about the business model. According to Joan Magretta, a business model, she says, has two parts: “Part one includes all the activities associated with making something and Part two includes all the activities associated with selling something.
So here are the fundamentals to consider in designing business models that will be sustainable.
- Market Friction/Problem
The first step in developing a business model is the problem or the opportunity that you have observed in the market. Business is simply solving a problem by way of offering products to those that have such problems.
What is the opportunity you identified? What is the problem you identified in the market? What are the lapses in the existing market you identified? What are the trends that you want to explore?
This is very crucial as it forms the base of your business modelling. Without it, then forget it…you don’t have a basis for business modelling.
This is in line with the jack ma story above. He identified a market gap and an opportunity in the China market. then, this is the next thing to do.
- Business Ideas.
This is expected of every entrepreneur or business owner. When you see a market opportunity, what comes to mind is a business idea to maximize such opportunity. Business ideas are imaginations you have in your mind about the possible solution to the problem you identified in the market.
Jack ma had the business idea to provide an online platform where business people could sell. But business ideas have one common feature which is they are always raw and formless. That is why business modeling is key. Then, the next thing to consider is this;
- Value Proposition.
As an entrepreneur, you should have known that people don’t buy Panadol but they buy health. People don’t buy flight tickets, they buy luxury in flying.
People don’t buy don’t buy food but they buy satisfaction or refreshment. In a nutshell, people buy solutions or antidotes to their problems and not the product itself.
But, product is the means to that solution.
At this stage you should have a clear value that the market target will obtain from this your business idea. One of the value propositions of e-commerce is to make it convenient for people to shop.
That is why in this time of lock down, you can shop at home and it will be delivered conveniently. So, state the value proposition of the business idea you have.Do you have a new business you want to launch? Do you have a new product you want to launch? Do you have an idea due to the current trends?
Do you want to innovate your already existing business? If yes, this series of articles on business models is what you need for a successful innovation. Part2, part3 and part4 of this series are on the way.
The FIRS Extends Adhesive Stamp Duty Charge to Rent and Lease
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has applied the newly introduced stamp duty to house rent and Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) in line with its new adhesive duty.
The new development was announced on Thursday in Abuja by the FIRS Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Mr. Abdullahi Ahmad.
He said Nigerians should ensure that documents pertaining to rent or lease agreements for their home, offices, C of O and other transactions related to the subject matter should be subjected to authentication with new FIRS Adhesive Stamp Duty.
According to him, the new FIRS Adhesive Stamp Duty came into being at the official inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Audit and Recovery of Back Years Stamp Duties recently in Abuja. Therefore, the recent decision of the tax body is necessary to give the instruments of business the force of law and make them legally binding on all parties.
The statement issued earlier by the FIRS Executive Chairman, Mr. Muhammad Nami and was quoted by Mr. Ahmad described the functions of the stamp duty in relations to transactions carried out in housing related businesses.
“Chargeable transactions under the Stamp Duties Act as amended in the Finance Act 2019 are in two categories – Fixed Duty Instruments and Ad-Valorem Instruments.
“The following are the chargeable transactions in the Fixed Duty Instruments category, Power of Attorney (PoA), Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), proxy form; Appointment of Receiver, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Joint Ventures Agreements (JVA), Guarantor’s form and Ordinary Agreement Receipts.
“While ad-Valorem Instruments chargeable under the Stamp Duties Act are Deed of Assignment, Sales Agreement, Legal Mortgage or Debentures, Tenancy or Lease Agreement, Insurance policies, Contract Agreements, Vending Agreement, Promissory Notes, Charter-Party and Contract Notes.
“Stamp duty is basically charged in two forms, either ad valorem where duty payable is a percentage of the consideration on an instrument or a fixed sum irrespective of the consideration on a dutiable instrument or document.”
Mr. Ahmad said it has become imperative that transactions related to the instruments contained in the statement bear Stamp Duty. He implored members of the public, on behalf of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, to ensure that any of the Instruments they give or receive in the course of their business or official transactions have the new FIRS Adhesive Stamp Duty affixed or stamped on them as sign of authentication.
This development is following some other moves made by the tax body since the outbreak of coronavirus to increase tax revenue for the federal government.
The FIRS said that the Stamp Duty has generated N66 billion in five months (January to May), which has been remitted into the federation account. N20 billion was generated from Money Deposit Banks (MDBs) while N7.90 billion came from stamping of instruments. The rest of the fund came from businesses across other sectors.
Mr. Nami had on Wednesday attributed the success of the tax revenue to the amended Financial Act 2019, and deployment of technology in administering the stamp duty obligations.
But all these are taking place when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is warning Nigeria against imposing new tax measures, and urging her to relax her tax policies to reflect the current realities of COVID-19.
The IMF said Nigeria’s economy is expected to shrink to -5.4 percent and would need supportive fiscal policies right now to sustain the downturns induced by the pandemic.
“Our projection of -5.4 percent is contingent on inbuilt policy response and avoiding some of the challenges that were experienced when oil prices declined in 2016 causing GDP to be depressed for an extended period. Subject to a flexible and nimble policy response; we expect that there would be some recovery but this year would be a difficult one for the country,” the IMF said.
Many other countries have been waiving taxes for businesses as a measure to help them stay afloat. The new tax regime introduced by the FIRS would without doubt, increase the burden on businesses and households.
The FIRS Adhesive Stamp Duty is chargeable from payments made, which seems to exempt payers when it comes to rents and lease’s agreement. But it only offers payees the opportunity to increase cost in order to recover the money they would pay for stamp duty charge.
Consequently, there will be a surge in office-space and housing cost, additional burden on businesses and householders who are already striving through the strains of the pandemic.
