Sequel to the just concluded Diamond Bank Building Entrepreneurs Today (BET) programme season-7, some of the emerging benefactors of the cash price grant of 3 million naira each shared how the programme has helped and encourage their businesses, taking it to the next level.
BAYO OJELABI, one of the winners of the grant and Founder, Highrise Orthopaedics, shared his experience about the programme and according to him, he never believed in such programmes that give grants but was encouraged by a friend to apply for it and was not just amongst the 50 that were selected to participate in the 6 months training, but emerged as one of the 5 winners of the 3 million naira grant.
According to Bayo, “as a startup, you don’t really know how things should go, you have the ideas but you don’t know how to execute them. But with the BET programme, I now understand how to convert my idea to a business and make it come to live. I was connected with people in my industries and other NGOs, which have aid my business operations.”
OSAGIE AZETA, founder of CropSafe Agro Services who was having serious issues with access to market has been able to get commendable links in diaspora through the BET programme, which has aid his business.
CropSafe Agro Services is currently involved with beans preservation using various techniques and technology other than the present way beans is been preserved with the use of chemicals which has brought a ban in the export of Nigerian beans for 3 years.
Osagie who happened to apply to the BET-7 programme through his friend also commended the programme and the role EDC – Enterprise Development Centre (training partner of the BET) has played in the course of the programme.
The BET programme is aimed at capacity building for budding entrepreneurs/startups, helping them to build a process and setup good structures.
In-view of the next season and to be part of BET, the organisers are looking out for Businesses that have ripple effect on the community, contributing to social development, and businesses that are scale-able.
The BET programme, which is the Bank’s flagship Corporate Sustainability project, is run in partnership with the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University and has catered to over 350 entrepreneurs since inception in 2011 and given out grants of over One hundred and Five million naira (N105,000,000).