ACADEMICS

HOW TO REGISTER FOR SAFETOKEN

OPTION 1:

Go to your nearest bank branch and request for your card to be enrolled for the Safe token

OPTION 2:

Go to the nearest ATM, and insert your ATM card Input your 4-digit PIN and press Enter Select your bank account type eg Savings or Current Select the ‘Quickteller’ option from the ATM menu screen Select ‘Pay Bills’ from the Quickteller menu list on the ATM screen Select ‘Others’ for the bill payment menu option list Enter ‘322222”as the Payment Code Enter your Phone Number as the Customer Reference Number and select ‘Proceed’ You will get a display“Do you want to make this payment?” Amount Due:N1 DO NOT edit the amount to be paid Click on “Pay amount due” You will then get a confirmation page indicating the registration was successful *Note that a surcharge of N100 may be applicable to a successful registration.

 

 

 

 

6  VIABLE STEPS IN WRITING GOOD BUSINESS PROPOSAL

 

Writing and submitting a viable business proposal is the most important step to securing any business contract with an organization. This document (business proposal)  when prepared right, can either promote your business or keep it in its position. And as such, just as knowing how to write a business plan is important for every entrepreneur, learning how to write a business proposal is equally one of the most crucial business writing skills you will have to learn.
If you have ever wondered what it takes to write a winning business proposal that will hardly get rejected by any organization, here is how to write a business proposal in Nigeria or anywhere else around the world:

Step 1: Carefully Study The Requirements Of The Request For Proposal

Sometimes you may be required to submit a proposal because of a contract bid that is ongoing. Other times, you may be requested to submit a business proposal because you’re trying to seek some form of sponsorship or the likes from an institution.

Whichever is the case, the first step is to carefully study the Request For Proposal (RFP) to ensure you completely understand what is requested of you, before you proceed to write your business proposal.
If for example, you don’t meet the minimum requirements or can’t deliver under a certain budget stipulated, you’re better off not submitting a proposal, as you most certainly will not get picked.

Step 2: Ask All The Questions You Need:

After meeting the requirements, get as much information as possible about the nature of the business proposal. Ask former companies that may have executed contracts or competed for a similar contract in the organisation. Check with an insider to know the best way to outline your business proposal for readership, and ensure you’re not going to be entirely off and unrealistic when stipulating what you intend to achieve for the organization.
Some questions you should ask are:

• Why are they outsourcing the service?
• Is there a fixed budget for this project?
• What do they want to achieve with the project?
• How have they previously tried to execute this themselves and what results did they get?
• When do they want this project to be completed?
• What will be the criteria for evaluating the business proposals?
• Do they have any concerns?

Then ask yourself:

• Can I really solve this problem?
• How can my company execute this?
• How can I present my company as the real solution to their problems?

Step 3: Outline the Scope Of The Project:

Next, outline every step the project will take. Carefully study every angle it is going to come in from and what how you intend to execute it. At this stage, strong project management skills will come in handy. Some things you need to cover are the “who, what, where, how, when, and why.”

• Who: Who will manage the project? Who will do the required work? Who will answer to the customer if a problem arises?
• What:  What is required to execute the project? What must be delivered? What are the customer’s expectations? How much will it cost? What will be needed to do it all?
• Where: Where should the job be done? Where should the completed projected be delivered?
• When: When do we start? When will key metrics be made known? When will the job be complete? When should the payment(s) be made?
• How: How will the project be executed? How will it be properly managed? How will the customer be satisfied? How will risks be controlled? How long will the project take? How does the customer benefit from the project?
• Why: Why are we using the approaches we’ve chosen? Why is the customer going with us?

Step 4: Prepare To Deliver The Most Value

After answering every valid question and mapping out the project outline, the next step is to prepare yourself, organisation, and team, to deliver the best value, and also show how it will be done. This stage is very important as the value added will determine if the client will go with you or choose the next party.

Step 5: Write Your Business Proposal

Now that you’ve understood the clients needs and are prepared to deliver more value that anyone else, you can now proceed to write your winning business proposal.
Here are the categories detailing how to write a business proposal:

1). Introduction:

Here you introduce your company in details. You should highlight your mission statement and what sets your company apart from the rest. You should also determine the length of this section based on the nature of the proposed contract. If it’s a very short-term contract of say, one day, the introduction could be short and precise, but if it’s a business relationship that is to last for many years, you should then put in your all and show how your brand will stand out from the competition.

2). Executive Summary

This highly important part of your business proposal must be treated with top importance. In this section, you should show why your business is the right one for the job and highlight key takeaway points that will not only show how valuable your brand is for their organization, but also drives a message that will make them think twice about skipping your company.

3). Insert Table Of Contents

If your business proposal is going to be long and contain a lot of contents, creating a table of contents for it is a go. But it is generally advisable to always prepare short business proposals that hit the nail on the head by driving the points directly.

4). Write The body

After introducing your business and getting the readers hooked on your business proposal, the next step is to write the body of the proposal. Here, you’ll answer all the questions that were well answered earlier on in the scope of the project. You’ll also talk about deliverables, pricing, your clients, previously executed projects, and a lot more to show how the job can be carried out and delivered on time.
In this section, you should also state exactly what you can deliver based on the project specifications and what you will not. Ensure to highlight that some form of modifications or complete changes may incur extra charges for the client.

5). Conclusion

Here is the point you make your final sales pitch. You have to make the reader remember how much value your business is bringing to the table and why they must go with you. You should re-highlight the outstanding projects that you have previously executed and have a call-to-action that would make the client want to either learn more about your business or act immediately.

6). Appendix

Although optional, in this section you can include certifications and awards your company has received, your resumés, customer testimonials, some graph projections, and other things that could not directly fit into the body of the business proposal.

Step 6: Submit Your Business Proposal And Follow Up

Your job never ends after submitting your business proposal. Rather, it is only just getting started. To get your proposal approved, you’d need to follow up with calls and also make yourself available to answer questions. You can also try to reach out to key employees in the organisations to know the status of your business proposal, so they may help you do follow ups, which could invariably increase your chances of being successful.

THE BASIC GUIDES TO BUSINESS PROPOSAL 

Your business proposal needs to be written in such a way that makes it worthy of your client's attention. To do so, the plan should indicate how it will solve your client's most vexing problems. You need to clearly understand the issues your clients are facing and why they should do business with you.
Accordingly, there are 3 basic sections you should always address when writing a business proposal:

1. Your client's need
2. Your solution
3. Administration

.
Your Client's Need
The most common mistake business proposal writers make is failing to understand the client’s business, industry or challenges in the industry. Given this, you should include the following questions in the first section of your business proposal:

• What is the greatest challenge this industry is facing?
• What is the current challenge this business is facing?

By this point, you should have also gathered answers from your client to the following key questions:

• When did they first determine this business problem existed?
• What have they done in the past to address this issue, and what was the outcome?
• What areas of their company are affected, and are they able to quantify the need?
• What is the best outcome they wish to achieve with this project?
• When do they want this project completed?

• Do they have a set budget for this project?

Your Solution
Carefully, clearly and compellingly, your business proposal must address:

• Your depth of understanding of the need. Relevant industry research and benchmarks may be included. Do you have a case study or comparable experience with similar companies? If so, what were the results?
• How you will go about addressing the need. Be detailed. Include the steps in the process and the value of each step.
• The potential results you will be able to deliver and their impact on the needs outlined in section one.
• Why you can do the best job, which may include the benefits of doing business with you.

Administration
​To wrap up your business proposal, you'll need to address the administrative aspects of your proposed plan, including:

• Preliminary timeline and milestones
• Budget
• Terms and Conditions

Hints for Writing a Killer Business Proposal

In addition to addressing each of the three basic sections, be sure also to do the following:

• Think about how your client expresses their need and use the words or phrases they use.
• Consider any cultural or emotional issues that may be in the way of comprehension.
• Short, simple sentences are best understood. No long, complex paragraphs and no jargon.

• Use visuals, including charts and graphs, to help the client understand your point.

• Get it proofread. Grammatical errors, misspellings, etc. undermine your seriousness.

Before you hand this business proposal to your client, take a few deep breaths and remember they are seriously interested in what your business can offer. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to submit this business proposal. so, take into consideration every vital information needed,