NYSC is a great opportunity to add value to your life for those 12 months.
If you are yet to serve your fatherland (as they will say), and you are already developing your own business idea as an entrepreneur, you are ready to witness the most profitable 12 months of your life!
Here is how you can employ Youth service to turn your dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur into reality.
Gather important contacts
Starting from camp, you will meet people, some of these people you meet, both fellow corp members and other camp officials may be relevant to your line of business to open up, tell them about your business and let them see that you are damn serious about your business as you claim.
You don’t want to make the mistake of underestimating any contact; you never can tell who will be the most valuable client in the nearest future.
So, widen out, meet people and garner contacts.
Once you have those contacts, retain them and make sure you retain an amicable relationship with them too.
Boost your social media base
Since you will meet people from different places and backgrounds during service, you should make it your aim to hook them up on social media.
Having them as your friends on social media platforms will provide you with the medium to promote your business through social media, that is, you will be able to increase your social following on i.e., Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
This will in turn, drastically help promote your new business. So don’t just make friends for the whole 12 months, make friends who will remain your friends and help you make money.l in the nearest future.
Meet skilled potential partners
You may not only meet your future spouse during your service year; you may also meet future business partners.
When you eventually hit the ground running with your business, you may not have the luxury of time and money to be looking for skilled hands that would help you handle various parts of your business to be on the lookout for them now.
If you are going into publishing, for example, you’ll need an adept editor, skilled graphic designer, you might also need a web designer, a seasoned marketer, etc.
If you already know a few guys during NYSC who are good in these aspects, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and energy later on.
Maximize your place of primary assignment
Wherever you may be posted, make it your aim to maximize the opportunity to publicize your brand.
If it is a school, make sure you stand out as a teacher, even if you are not a trained one, then you can decide to make your alias your brand name.
For example, if you are into makeup/beauty business and your business name is “spotless” you may decide to make people call you “spotless” instead of your real name just to promote your brand and make the brand familiar to people in that setting.
Use any opportunity of events or gatherings in your PPA to exhibit your stuff; it often will not likely have a financial implication for you.
Meet potential investors
It is not as simple as it sounds but it is very possible to find people willing to support your business financially during your service year but you would have done lots of homework on your own to make your idea marketable and appealing to prospective investors.
There are potential angel investors lurking everywhere corps members serve; from wealthy parents of corp members to financially buoyant clients of organizations working with NYSC, the list goes on so.
Do your homework and be ready to grab opportunities that will surely come your way.
Save some money
Your colleagues might save their allowances (alawi) while they go on hunger strike but you just save a reasonable amount of your allowance constantly and don’t overburden yourself.
By the time they have spent their last kobo looking for jobs, you are there boosting your business with your savings, though token.
So, endeavour to save a little for your business during your NYSC even if it will only buy you a good sewing machine or a makeup box that is the tool you need to carry out your makeup business.
In conclusion, NYSC year can be a blessing or a total waste of 365 days, the choice, as they say, is always yours.
