The Idea BirthPlace

Digital Broadcasting Migration in Africa - Options, Alternative and Pitfalls

2015-01-09T05:06:00.000-08:00

As a solution provider and tech pundit -I make it my business to survey the economic landscape and determine the potential technologies that will radically change the future. Particularly in Africa - we have a tendency to be late comers to the technology party BUT we make up for it in adoption and other other value added avenues.

The digital broadcasting and migration guide indicates a subtle shift from analogue broadcasting technologies to digital infrastructure powered by IT systems that are becoming pervasive and more common place in our everyday lives.

It is safe to say that the availability of various technologies in the broadcasting arena provides various alternatives and avenues of exploration for this migration.

On a personal note and form my professional standpoint - the INTERNET provides one of the lowest barriers of entry and a cost effective means to migration. As an infrastructure, it already exists and supports the display of almost all types of media. The major/ONLY constraint is bandwidth which will have to be managed on a user by user basis based on capacity.

In this regard there has been a steady expansion by most internet companies operating in Africa to grow their capacity to provide bandwidth to a growing subscriber base - whose preferences for video continues to grow.

Various companies have invested in technologies that brings the internet into the broadcasting realm - Hulu, Chromecast and other contenders.

It is ONLY a matter of time (i dare say within a five year limit) that broadcasting will have gone full bore on the internet.

We currently have internet radio stations and from surveys and polls form the last five years to date - there has been a steady decline of viewership on traditional media stations as more attention is shifting to user preferences which can be found more readily on the web.

The cost of setting up a digital broadcast hub that will rely sole on the internet as a major propagation channel is already in the works by some companies and i have started doing the due diligence required to investigate the take off of such in Nigeria and by extension - Africa.

Setup boxes that connect directly to the TV set either via video/HDMI or other available channels are already present. Their cost point ranges from 20$ - 250$ depending on the capabilities and requirements of the subscriber.

If these setup boxes are paired with paid subscription plans that already factor in Data Subscription from various internet providers - we can begin to see the traction and viability of using Internet ONLY as a primary broadcast medium.

There are even SMART-TVs that have built in web capability and access and these ill continue to proliferate.

Even the market for content generation, distribution and transmission will be a separate income segment with several stakeholders in different kinds of partnerships.

I am looking for partners and stakeholders willing and able to envision a future that is already in the works and who have the required commitment and vision to create this new business model and future together.

INCUBATION HUBS AND THEIR ROLE IN BUSINESS IDEAS AND INNOVATION

2012-10-28T01:20:00.000-07:00

Creativity is the spark that powers innovation, drives growth and development. It sets us free to express the full gamut of our inductive powers of reasoning, logic and passionate longing for something that was not once there or something that addresses a problem.

We all know the tough call of becoming a person of independence and deciding to go through with that crazy scheme of ours - we all know too well the sleepless nights and the inherent doubts that haunt us daily - the tiny voices of dissidence in our heads that scream out to antagonize this spark of creativity that seeks to live in our world.

It is sometimes and most times a hard road to travel; especially if you are traveling alone and so you do need all the help you can get.
That is why the advent of incubation hubs is so vital.

They are a concentration and support structure of people, skills and infrastructure that can often be the kiss of life needed to lift an idea off the ground. They can be the entrepreneur best friend in a time of chaos and difficulty. Where the inherent bliss of structure, support and routine create a safe haven for new ideas and entrepreneurs to thrive.

Incubation hubs as the name implies act as incubators of ideas - like an artificial womb - they cater to and sustain an idea with merit until it is fully formed and able to take a life of its own - they provide an environment for such ideas to thrive and develop at a pace that is not smothered with real world issues.

They are often a mix of people with different talents - business managers, marketers, analysts, technical personnel, creatives and they provide a haven and equipment, time, support either in personnel and infrastructure to the would be entrepreneur.

These days as the engine room of growth that pushes for self independence - they are a means to jump start an economy that is mostly dependent on white collar jobs. The traditional mindset insists that people finish from college or the university and immediately start looking for jobs. In an flourishing economy with many jobs available - this would be no problem at all but in an economy marked by high unemployment numbers and shrinking job markets - it becomes a keenly contested battle where rights are sacrificed and employers become overlords.

Incubation hubs help to alleviate this by encouraging independence, viable business plans and ideas that can create and open up opportunities that were sorely lacking. Most tech companies of today have very humble beginnings and started out in incubator hubs.

They received mentor-ship, financing, space, resources etc and in return they went ahead to create employment as employers of labour and eventually profit.

The sheer creative energy that resides in these hubs are a testament of the power of surrounding yourself with like minded people who seek to create something new and viable.

These hubs create and promote a mindset and attitude of never say never - they create a pool of talented persons that can be called upon for different projects and assignments within the hub.

At the juncture when that business idea is deemed viable and has been proofed - venture capitalists and partners step forward to offer support and other incentives to take it to the next level - this creates employment opportunities and re-creates the cycle all over again when one of the founding members goes out to start another venture.

We need mush more of such hubs and we need people who are not afraid to be partners an stakeholders in the creative process.

In Lagos - the cchub: http://cchubnigeria.com is one of such innovation hubs and has received support from major industry players like Google, Microsoft, RIM, MainOne, Samsung etc

We need more innovation hubs like these both for the service they provide and the outlet for creativeness and other productive enterprises.

The Role of IT Business Services in today's business economy

2012-10-27T05:45:00.004-07:00

The business opportunities relating to the IT sector are quite encouraging.

Recent figures indicate that more than 60% of business processes are automated and the list continues to grow. Of course the benefits are very plain to see. Think:

Time and cost savings to the business
Personnel reduction
Efficiency of processes

These are of course more benefits than those highlighted above but these represent the major benefits.

There is thus a need to identify areas that can benefit from the use and impact of IT.

Whole service industries have been built around IT business services and these include but are not limited to:

Process automation
Data capturing
Data processing and validation
Consultancy
Design and specification
Implementation

Most businesses are so integrated with IT services that they look and act more like IT companies and repositories than traditional businesses.

Business Ideas - How to Create an Maintain a Business or Business Idea

2012-10-26T14:24:00.002-07:00

Let's face it - business ideas and opportunities are a dime-a-dozen.
There are many would be entrepreneurs with the next big "THING" only to end up disillusioned and bitter because they didn't plan.
It isn't because success is impossible - far from it. The issue is rather the combination of traits that sets the pathway to success rather than failure and believe me - failure is very easy.
Just look around, statistics indicate that new businesses are likely to fail within their first year - due in part to the pressures and other internal and external influences. As the years proceed - the risk of failure is still high but it tapers down - it is never altogether eliminated.

For businesses or business ideas to thrive they need to understand certain dynamics.
But to at least stand a chance to compete - here are some of the considerations that you need to put in place and to watch out for.

GET A BUSINESS IDEA or IDEAS as the case may be(this is the classic "which comes first problem" - the chicken or the egg)
GET A BUSINESS PLAN TO COVER AS MUCH SCOPE ON THE BUSINESS IDEA(s) as possible - do this in tandem with point number three (3) below.
DO YOUR RESEARCH CONTINIOUSLY- in my estimation it is better to have a good grasp of the dynamics of demand and supply or to be able to anticipate the general direction or trend of the market at any given time. This often calls for one being a gambler of sorts but only based on GOOD INFORMATION.
BUILD A GOOD TEAM with diverse skills and inherently complimentary abilities to make up for each other's short comings.
DESIGN YOUR BUSINESS FOR MULTIPLE INCOME STREAMS FROM THE GET GO -don't wait to rewrite your map - it often gives the business a sense of direction for the short, mid and long term.
ESTABLISH THE CASH FLOW - nothing keeps businesses afloat like money - keep expenses down and income up - that is the surest way to stay solvent.
CONSULT SUCCESSFUL AS WELL AS UNSUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES - learn from both good and bad decisions as the yard stick to gaining experience but nothing can replace good old fashioned mistakes (just make sure the mistakes are not too expensive or frequent)
EXPAND ACCORDINGLY - don't start spreading thin too early or too soon.
INNOVATE FREQUENTLY - Be as nimble as APPLE inc - don't follow standards too frequently; create them.
Patent processes - find and service needs of clients, customers or business where ever you can find such needs - that is the only way.

Evolution of the Internet: Reborn as Cloud based Infastructure

2012-08-30T01:33:00.002-07:00

Who would have guessed?
Definitely not you or me (okay - I confess; you would probably have guessed) but in the last twenty two years - we have seen a leap in scope and scale of the Internet/web and by all accounts this evolution continues. This leap is a result of advancements and contributions made to the baseline by people like you (Yes; you - so stop looking behind you) building on the foundation laid by others.

The various buzz words out there - web 2.0, web services, cloud storage, SAS, PAAS, IoT - Infrastructure-On-Demand and so many others has created a head spin with the promise of more to come.

While it would be just swell to dwell in that sweet spot and focus on the "wonder" of these innovations (probably in another post) - I cannot help but look at the application of these technology because that is the REAL bottom line.

The question is: What and how does this help businesses, companies and organizations out there?

While these "Ohhh's and Ahhh's" moments are truly wonderful - the bottom line still remains:
How do we techprenuers (I love the sound of that) generate value and by extension income opportunities from the deployment of these new technologies?

My focus for this post is the on advent of the cloud - what it is and what it represents for the technology lovers out there?

What is the Cloud?
(Please -I beg of thee; whatever you do, don't go quoting the process of cloud formation and references to white fluffy stuff made of angel dust)

The cloud in a word of summary is: Infrastructure.
It is a representation of hardware and software components that have been abstracted - we no longer refer to the components - we refer rather to the grouping of components to deliver a service or achieve a task.

The cloud is the modern representation of service or infrastructure on demand. It means that companies no longer have to waste precious resources buying and managing server hardware, software components, power, space and rentals and other logistics to run or host their services or IT processes.

It means that a separate business entity has taken up the responsibility and dare i say calling for purchasing and managing the required hardware and/or software components. They also take away the various dependencies that would sometimes detract from the core business competencies of businesses out there.

At the heart of the matter - IT is a tool meant to address service requirements of clients and customers the world over - these clients are wholly interested in the services that they receive and not necessarily the technology behind them or associated complexities.
To customers and clients the world over - technology is often viewed as a black-box. They know it works but they would rather not be drawn into the under-the-hood details.
I know of banks and financial institutions that look like full fledged IT companies - in fact they own more technology than the IT firms that support them.

A lot of these resources are often under utilized and wasted.
Servers and mainframes waste CPU cycles, memory and hardware storage with burst based performance that might throttle down for long periods. Sometimes - these machines are largely under preforming and not running up to 25% of their full capacity. If a new service is to be launched - we just think: Gee - why don't we just buy more hardware. We don't need more hardware - we just need better utilized hardware.

It's no body's fault - we're all collectively guilty. Call it whatever you may - the attitude of simply sticking with what one has always known and not adapting until change is virtually crammed down our throats. We tend to force the smart ones who have already known the answers to shut up, to conform with that ignorant attitude of silence. Even if we're not interested in the core technology underpinnings - we still should look for ways of improving efficiency - the benefits are numerous - chief among them is cost savings and a quicker and less long term ROI (Return on Investment).

The carbon emission foot print of most firms is truly staggering. Power generation requirements to sustain such businesses to run 24/7 with 99.9% up-time is sometimes impossible to achieve under unforeseen circumstances that are often predicted but nobody seems to pay attention.

In comes technology to the rescue (hopefully under the guise of common sense).
Someone simply took stock of the waste and inefficiency and said:

There must be a better way to utilize these computing resources.

They were of course right!
The pre-cursor was always there - right under our noses.
The old time-slice based mainframes had it right all along; technology often borrows heavily from itself.

First was optimizations in hardware - single or multiple chip micro-processors (or brains) with multiple cores within each chip or chips (basically a brain with multiple mini brains all inter-linked) allowing certain cores (or brains) to be turned on or off as needed. Hardware made more power-efficient; better utilized CPU cycles - to do more in less time. Power requirements where monitored and brought under a lower thermal envelope.

Software wasn't left out either - codes were rewritten to take advantage of the optimizations and improvements in hardware. Utilize less CPU cycles and resources and therefore less power. In fact design principles dictate that often software should be designed for baseline hardware - this means that when placed on high end hardware - there is a significant improvement in processing speed - keeping resource allocation and utilization to a bare minimum.

On top of these foundations - virtualization came as the white knight.
It allowed us to abstract or "clone" multiple hardware stacks on the same or single hardware BUT as a software abstraction. Suddenly one server became two or three housed or "hosted" in one box. Suddenly efficiency and utilization was way up.
We could now utilize the same hardware used for typically one function for several functions.

Cluster computing also brought its own bag of tricks - allowing resources to be added or removed without having to bring the whole hardware down - meant always on hardware that was dynamically expandable. Storage, computing cores and memory were added as needed.
Management software to allocate resources to tasks, shut down sections that are not used and efficiently use sections that were running.

The last element was the commercial aspect. If big organizations found that after building these infrastructure stacks and apart from peak periods which are often not sustained indefinitely - the infrastructure was still largely under utilized - what happens?

Putting all these elements together: Virtualization, Cluster computing, Software as glue and suddenly the cloud is born.

Smaller organizations can now outsource their infrastructure - can buy what they need and expand accordingly. They can now focus on the core of their business and leave the technology and IT requirements to these cloud hosting organizations.
Data, information & systems can all be dynamically created, allocated and when done - decommissioned without the attendant technical hassle.

No more hardware management nightmare, system upgrades and maintenance, no more installation headaches or patches or fixes.

The cloud is NOT one single technology - it is an amalgamation of many technologies working together.
The cloud is not only about hardware or software - its is also about services.

It becomes a black box that is managed at a central location and availability is closer to the 99.9% target.
Clients simply handover their hardware and software worries and the "experts" take over.

Its capacity with convenience - IT management abstracted. The future - an IT department of one.

Stay tuned!

E-Payment Space in Nigeria [Emerging Trends: PART 1]

2012-02-09T08:59:00.000-08:00

Recent edicts by the Central Bank of Nigeria; has positioned Nigeria to embrace E-payment as a payment alternative in place of cash. Coined the "cashless" initiative; pundits and other observers later convinced the apex body to re-christen it to "cash-lite" to more adequately reflect the true nature of E-payment systems as systems to enhance payments and purchases while reducing cash handling.

There is still a need to sensitise the populace on the many benefits and at the same time set-up the required frameworks and infrastructure to handle seamlessly payments. Fears and slow adoption are normally as a result of dis-information or misunderstanding of the overall objectives.

However the rate of adoption is still largely stalled by the infrastructure limitations and the requirement of a cheaper and more efficient means to implement such systems without incurring un-necessary costs.

Hence the positioning of mobile payments as the best possible channel and avenue to facilitate E-payment in Nigeria. By sheer statistics; mobile phones are more prevalent than payment cards. There are an estimated seventy million active mobile lines - it is thus perceived as the easiest mechanism to entry and equally cheaper.

Recent collaborations and partnership based on the frameworks promulgated by CBN have specified three models for the implementation of mobile payment systems.

Bank driven model
Telecom operator driven
Third party driven

Each of these models has potential advantages and disadvantages - telecom driven models would favour the unbanked populace but would need to create collection or payment points which handle cash based transactions. The bank driven would favour banked clients but would need means to break away from bank tailored solutions that would mainly favour ONLY banked customers and this would largely be within the same bank and would be largely restricted to the number of bank branches or the branch strength. The third party driven model depends on independent solution providers who can create strategic partnerships among the various stakeholders.

However today, there are various solutions and business concerns that have been licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (part of the requirements for operating in the mobile payment space to keep it regulated) and each goes about its solution using any of the above listed models.

The major model that has not been fully exploited is a collaboration between telecom operators and payment processors - the idea is that a payment processor has connections to many/multiple banks. The telecom operators also have both banked and unbanked users distributed in various geographical areas. hence this provides the best value proposition among the stakeholders.

There are also the direct and immediate advantages such as individual to individual payments; individual to business payments and other variations. These can facilitate direct payments without the physical medium of money. By relying on mobile phones as the payment medium there are limited costs restricted to infrastructure already available and in use; it can provide additional revenue for telecom operators and payment processors or third parties involved in the process, commissions can be earned by agents and can thus create employment opportunities.

Additional value added services can equally be built into the mobile payment structure.

Service Apartments with a Twist (Income generation model turned on its head)

2011-09-03T06:18:00.000-07:00

Most business ideas suffer from an income generation perspecvtive. The idea might be sound but the issue of income genration always seems to dodge the idea and this is why a majority of ideas are tossed out of the window from the onset.

The ideas found on this pages always appraoch from an income generation prespective and seek to create MULTIPLE income streams.

For instance - if you would consider the property market in Nigeria and you will agree on two major premises:

Properties costs are normally exorbitant because owners are trying to earn back the capital and return on investment at the same time in the shortest time possible.
The earning power of most persons and cost of living are fairly high in lagos and this impacts the choice of location.

Typically the avreage worker may live distances that are far removed from his working environment.
It may require that he wakes up at very odd hours (4 am - 5 am) and start the rigors of preparation. They would have to make seperate arrangements for such things as laundry services, feeding etc while paying a significant portion of his income as rent proceeds.

In comes my model of service apartments.

My model calls for a slightly different approach from the traditional estate model - without the large number of houses. Instead High rise apartments (maximum of three to four of such) -all to a maximum of five/six floors.
Each consists of a service flat (which may come in on or two bedroom configurations) with a dinning area, sitting room and toilet and bathroom.

The real ploy is not actually the property but the services that can be sold to the occupants.
The aim is to ensure that every service requirements of the occupants is met WITHIN the service complex - they will spend a good portion of their income WITHIN the service complex and thereby generate a significant amount of income for the service complex owners.

Services include but are not limited to:
Salons (men and women)
Social hangouts within the service complex
Gymnasium
Drycleaning services
Car rental services and pickup services
Kitchens (for breakfast, lunch and dinner)
Fastfood joints etc
Cinema
etc.

Thus a significant service will generate consistent income streams outside the typical rent bracket.
Services are metered out and occupants pay for only the services they require.

Based on the pace of life - it would be a welcome convinience to have all the chores taken away from your hands, while you focus on the immediate comforts andd requirements that make life easier for you. If you so wish - you can join a drop-off service (another extra amenity) to a location that is close to your office or working place.

The mass transportation option in Nigeria and what it means...

2010-12-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

The recent edict of the Lagos state government to invest in rails as a form of viable mass transportation must be regarded as a potential business boom that it represents for many sectors of the economy. The typical ratio of the size of Lagos compared to the population it supports means that the traffic situation will only compound as more people move to Lagos in search of the proverbial golden fleece.

With a population that falls between seven million people to fourteen million people - there is always a constant movement of cars and people from one end of the city to another. Due to the pressure in the city centre there is a perceived movement to the suburbs to manage the crowding and noise - however since most people still work in the city, they require to get into the heart of the city and this can take anywhere between thirty minutes to three hours depending on where your reside.

The rail project will provide the ability to transport people and goods across the length and breath within estimated times without the attendant traffic while conserving fuel and time.

The estimate is for a rail system that will ferry and estimated 1.5 million people across the city scape while generating significant revenue for the state government.

The potential benefit of such a project especially in the arena of toll collection or fare collection would be a business that would see constant revenue flowing in to any potential operator. A typical fare would be between 50 to 200 naira depending on where the passenger's destination. If tolls/fares where collected electronically - there would be savings on printing costs for tickets as well as income derived for the toll/revenue collector on a daily basis that would easily surpass 50,000 naira daily.

The use of prepaid transport cards that could be bought with a fixed value that is reloadable or probably can be used and disposed. At each use - depending on the location - the deduction via a terminal would be made from the card automatically when the card is placed against a receptor plate.

The company that brings this technology and platform in-place would undoubtedly position itself for the lucrative toll collection market.

The Role of system integration as a business strategy

2010-08-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

System Integration - the word already sounds tech related.
That isn't quite the point but it probably helped you appreciate the choice of this topic.

What is system integration?
If we opted to break down the definition on a word by word basis - System would probably refer to diverse parts working together to achieve a task(s), function(s), goal(s), objective(s) or aim(s) - which may equally be part of a larger system in itself.

We have biological systems, mechanical systems, electrical systems, electronic systems etc
This list is positively endless but at this juncture i believe you get the point I am trying to make. Each system is normally a sum of its parts working to deliver a solution via a set of components coupled together.

Integration refers to the "coupling" - the glue that binds one system to another.
Think Computer controlled intruder alert systems, sprinkler systems etc

In business - this is the means by which income can be generated.
It would be so easy to take a computer and say: hey, look this computer has quad core processors, 16Gb of RAM, 1TB of hard disk space (has Hybrid technology bundled with the hard disk), 256 MB of dedicated memory for its Display adapter and integrated cooling system.

All that's good and fine but the question is: What good is all this if I am NOT using this as a part of a larger system to achieve Does it integrate into a home network and carry out computations used to optimize grain feed in large scale robot controlled farms?

Does it monitor the temperature in 320 hotel rooms of the Hotel Raj and activate the air ventilation system when temperature levels become too high?

Even after such systems have been created - how does one monetize this vast creation and leverage it to earn income in today's business centric economy - where great ideas compete against the scale of economy and a good business plan?

Technology is a business tool and it depends on the creation of a good business proposition to leverage technology and utilize its vast potentials. Technology is not often for the mere beauty of creation but for practical and monetary terms

Innovation is first finding a means to solve a problem (sometimes technology wise and other times through processes - which are equally part of systems) and thus providing a means to generate income.

I am a strong advocate in system integration - I have a fundamental belief that integration is the heart of technology and a major driver of business - without it we would be content to sell one tool for every problem on the face of the earth - that might not be bad for business but it won't be good for other business considerations such as the scale of economy and efficient use of resources and materials.

We will continue this discourse with practical examples.

The DISCOUNT marketing strategy

2010-08-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

We all know business is tough these days.
Consumers are on the prowl like hunger jackals looking for the dead or "out of business" to make a quick feast out of. Not to mention that mantra that says: the customer is king.

This means that competition has gotten really fierce and they who manage to convince the customer to part with hard earned cash need to do a pretty darn good job during the sales pitch otherwise - no sale translates to no income or simply another potential: OUT OF BUSINESS sign in the making!

Enter the solution: DISCOUNTS!
Yes! I know you've heard the term and probably used this tool - a time or two.
But did you use it properly? That's the real question.

That's why I'm here to suggest a trick or two.
Discounts are very lovely devices that serve one purpose - to get the customer to set foot into your shop or business and more than likely make purchases. However - that is not our real objective (No sir!)

Our real objective is to impress it upon our customer to make more than one purchase while in our store by offering items that compliment the initial sale at a better bargain than the original item he/she solely intended to buy. This is the secret of a cross sell - a sell that does not interfere with the initial purchase but compliments it.
And what better way to do that than to offer a better bargain if two complimenting items are purchased as opposed to one! Better yet why not offer higher discounts when more purchases are made?

Thus as a seller or business person - it has become my new job to "assist" my customer to make better buying choices or decisions while in my store. I will also offer the best service that will assist this choice and will help the customer save his/her hard earned cash in this time of want. So far this is done in my store.

The discounts are designed to encourage volume purchases across all brands not just a particular brand.
I am also expected to get the customer details and to keep them informed of special offers - especially offers that will provide more gains when utilized.

In this age of the shrinking margin - the speed and volume of sale is considered far better that hefty profits that might take forever to arrive or that depend on one specific type of customer that comes in once in six months. Bad business is when a bulk of your stock is still hanging on the shelf two months after purchase with no sales in sight while your competitor across the street has sold his stock twice in this time span.

There are other variations to discounts that can equally assist sales and provide incentive for improved customer loyalty and brand awareness.

Recently group buying web platforms have come into the fray and have become the new Mecca of merchants and customers alike - sites like Groupon and its hundreds of variants all over the globe.

They basically harness the power of group buying and leverage a volume strategy directed at merchants that guarantee a definite purchase for the merchant while offering customers a discount incentive.

To this end various companies have joined the fray of creating derivatives of the same group buying software towards offering alternatives with addons and other business and service specific enhancements.

For instance - I have evaluated and recently purchased scripts from UniProgy Limited, which is a Groupon Clone development company. They offer Groupon Clone Software tools and Group Buying software for daily deal websites.
Their web site is located at: http://www.uniprogy.com (perhaps you can review the website and see if it meets your business and service requirements)

Their prices are fairly affordable when compared to the alternatives and they have a good customer service interaction as I have had reasonable responses when I had engaged them with some additional requirements.

However it would be pertinent to ensure that a consistent service track record and the ability to customize the scripts is equally available - if you have those additional requirements that the basic script does not immediately meet.

If you want to learn more please feel free to drop a comment - we can offer more than just advice!

Mobile money - a gold mine waiting to be tapped.

2010-07-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

I work in the card payment industry and for a fact can acknowledge openly that card issuance has gone a long way. My company primarily processes VISA cards in Nigeria and currently enjoys a sole acquiring status on Point Of Sale terminals. These devices are fairly lucrative and depending on the total number deployed could earn substantial income - considering the fact that we had the sole POS acquiring license in Nigeria.

The downside to this business model was the return on investment required to justify a profit which was almost impossible considering the number of such terminals deployed and the other inherited costs such as communications and manpower required to deploy and maintain such terminals.

At best the numbers did not justify the spending especially as the merchant in question rarely bore the cost for either the deployment or the cost of purchase. The only beneficial thing with regards to such terminals was the potential to use them in such places like hotels (a main income stream for such terminals) and now government related spending - as part of the e-Government initiative to track spending patterns.

However the deployment and use of such terminals operate on the premise that card holders would be of sufficient numbers to justify costs and eventually provide a profit center for such devices.

The card issuance market is picking up steam and even with the limited number of cards readily available (an estimated ratio of about 1 card to Fifty people) - the spending patterns have drastically changed because of the availability and ease of use of cards.

If the ratio was to improve to the point where there was one card for every ten people - we see a electronic cash fueled economy operating on steroids.

The truth however is that we are at the brink of that point - the fact that mobile phone owners far outstrip card owners is an indication of trends. Communication and spending are key components of a population center.The premise of technology is a major driver and these two sectors: E-Payment and Telecommunications have various over lapping and interdependent areas.

There is talk of standardization but that will require several interfaces to facilitate between the disparate systems inspite of their high reliance of technology.
If the mobile phone became an additional tool fro making and receiving payments - then almost immediately one would see a high uptake in spending and therefore more goods and services. Just imagine the current 30 million plus mobile telephone density being able to make payments, receive funds, send funds from the comfort of their cellphones - that would literally jump start a new wave of commerce.

The issue is how to define parameters to ensure safety and completion of such transactions.
No matter what we are well on the way.

Mobile Money - the new payment method

2010-04-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

I'm sure we've heard about it and read alot on it and I can say with a definiteness of conviction that it is here - the principle behind mobile payment is basically the mobile phone.
We now have above an estimated 1 million cards doing transactions on multiple channels and yet the physical challenges of issuing cards or producing cards is rather complicated. Compare this to the over 30 million subscriber base and the already established platform of mobile telephony. equally compare the integrated services that are currently leveraging this vast platform and the possibilities are endless.

To be continued...

Idea One: Amazon

2010-04-05T05:41:00.001-07:00

I was looking at the Amazon site for some business inspiration:

Here are a few facts for your consideration:

They are into the web retail service sector.

They warehouse a wide variety of goods from diverse places and categories.

They do not currently cater to the Nigeria market due to fears of payment fraud and Nigeria's reputation with card and web related payments.

Alot of Nigerian banks currently issue VISA cards which can be used for direct online payments but these cards are not accepted by many web merchants (Amazon for one) due to the potential for charge-backs or fraud.

My Idea is relatively simple:

Amazon currently has among its services:

The Bulk purchase of gift coupons.

These can be customized and sold with or without the Amazon brand.

A Minimum order is for 5000 dollars worth of coupons.

These bulk coupons can be obtained via the following ways:

directly as access codes (via CD or download) or

via web service that provides coupon directly (programming expertise required)

I believe that if Amazon is approached directly and a direct business relationship is established - we can obtain the bulk gift coupon and act as their sole representative in Nigeria - we can then bypass their restriction of the payment via debit or credit cards from Nigeria as the payment would already have been made for the coupons by our proposed establishment.

Therefore:

Individuals or organizations can then use our services directly and thus facilitate their customers to shop directly on Amazon but this time making payment via the gift coupons, which will in turn be purchased directly from us or our proposed business establishment.
There is no risk to Amazon and we assume direct risk as the purchases of such coupons will be done directly through our site - or better yet, a gateway payment service can be built that will facilitate payment by debit card and then purchase the gift coupons by the card holder which will then be used to complete a payment to amazon.
We may then again chose to only sell to wholesalers or big organisations directly.

This model can of course be modified to cater to more business opportunities.

If we obtain the franchise for Nigeria - we can in essence corner a very lucrative market.

Banks intend to start customer loyalty programs (using debit or credit cards) to encourage card usage or bank patronage.

This gift coupon can be tiered and applied to each bank individually - we can thus handle fulfillment and other services that are direct tied in. It can also be sold as a service concept to banks and we can thus setup the required infrastructure.

What do you think?

Can we talk about this -is there any potential pitfall that has NOT been explored?
Please indicate where necessary.