So you are a fresh graduate from a prestigious university, with a nice degree for that dream course. You proceed to serve your fatherland feeling very enthusiastic about the future. Now you are done with NYSC, and you are asking yourself that million dollar question “What can i do now?”

We all have that family member or friend that promised to provide a nice job with a big paycheck immediately you conclude NYSC but not everyone keeps that promise. The feeling that comes with being unemployed after NYSC can be somewhat frustrating but the emergence of franchising in Nigeria has proven  to create more employment opportunities in the country. Below is a dairy of a young Nigerian graduate and we hope this inspires more Nigerians to tackle and reduce the unemployment rate in the country.

DIARY OF A NIGERIAN GRADUATE THAT CREATED AN INCOME STREAM FOR HERSELF

“My name is Evelyn, a graduate of Business Administration from a prestigious University. I proceeded to serve my fatherland in Oyo State. While I was in the state, I heard about a very popular Amala Spot. I have heard a lot of amazing things about the taste of the food and I just knew I had to try it out. I decided to visit the Amala Buka to see if its worth the hype. When I got there, I met a really long queue of hungry and anxious customers waiting to buy their food. I got a little discouraged but decided to stay a while, after a long wait I finally bought the food and believe me it was worth way more than the hype. Then i realized why people really love this Amala Spot, asides the amazing food,the ambiance and setting of the Amala Buka is not the regular local Buka. It was like a standard restaurant, the services and hospitality there will make you feel like you are eating in Eko Hotel, on a lesser bill of course.

Then it dawned on me that what makes the Buka so successful is way more than the food. The place became a regular eating spot for my friends and I throughout our service year. On one of my visits, I had the opportunity to meet the owner of the business, from our conversations I found out she has 3 successful outlets and always get people asking her when she’s coming to Lagos State, Ogun State, especially Abuja,etc.

My service year ended and I moved back Abuja but kept in contact with the owner. I started applying to companies for a job but all my effort proved futile. I reached out to my friends and they told me they are in the same predicament. At this point, it dawned on me that I had to look for alternative means to get gainfully employed. Therefore, thoughts about how I could venture into entrepreneurship.

However, I had a number of questions that worried me on how I could succeed like Do I have sufficient funds?, Can I succeed with no experience at all in running a business from scratch, Can I succeed with no guidance, Will I be able to cope tough economy that surrounds starting a new business?,and ultimately, what if i fail?.