Nigeria - Business creation project

Describe your project or startup in a few words

CalitasByte is an ecommerce platform that gives small and medium scale businesses the opportunity to manage their inventories, delivery and market their products using convertible AI marketing tools and a comprehensive Ecommerce admin dashboard

01.01 Describe your project in more detail

CalitasByte, a web application made to address the needs of SME businesses in Nigeria seeking to establish an online presence without the financial burden or complexity associated with ecommerce platforms. CalitasByte offers a comprehensive features designed to streamline operations and enhance the customer experience, including inventory management, pricing control, order processing, and sales reporting. One of the standout features of CalitasByte is its integrated self-advertising AI-driven ads, empowering businesses to reach their target audience effectively. The platform includes a built-in chat application, facilitating seamless communication between vendors and customers, logistics handling services, ensuring cost-effective and reliable delivery solutions, a robust payment gateway, guaranteeing secure and hassle-free transaction, content services, enhancing customer engagement and brand perception, driving sales through automated SEO, email and text marketing strategies

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

In recent years, there has been a significant decrease in the availability of affordable websites for SME businesses in Nigeria, particularly for online vendors. This decline is largely due to the high exchange rate. As someone who has experienced this firsthand, I've noticed the cost of hosting a website has increased over time. For example, when I first hosted a website in 2018, it costed around 15,000 naira. Fast forward to 2024, the cost had risen to about 65,000 naira or more. Additionally, building a website can be costly, with developers charging around 250,000 naira for a fully functional website, including SEO. Some may even omit essential components like digital marketing, branding, and registration, further discouraging SMEs from establishing a strong online presence. Majority of vendors doesn’t know how ads work on platforms like Meta and Google. Some might even pay hefty amount to SMMs to manage ads for them. This hereby discourages them from Social Media Marketing.

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your project intends to provide (at least 3).

CalitasByte, a multifunctional ecommerce dashboard designed to address the challenges faced by SMEs in Nigeria: Simplifies Inventory management Order processing Offering logistics handling services, ensuring cost-effective and reliable delivery solutions. Leveraging AI-powered marketing tools, businesses can optimize their online presence and drive sales through automated SEO, text, and email marketing strategies. Pricing control, and sales reporting for businesses. Our integrated AI technology will assist businesses in creating effective advert copies for marketing their products, eliminating the need for them to understand complex advertising strategies. We'll facilitate seamless communication between businesses and their customers through a chat feature. SMEs will also have the option to customize their store's URL to reflect their brand.

01.04 Please describe who exactly your project is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

Our target beneficiaries encompass a wide range of e-commerce businesses in Nigeria and also Ecommerce shoppers. 1. Instagram Vendors Approximately 12.4 million users in Nigeria. Growth. Significant increase of 74.6% from January 2023 to January 2024. 2. WhatsApp Business Vendors WhatsApp is a popular choice for small businesses due to its direct communication and ease of use. Its users rose by 20 percent to 10.6 million in Nigeria in January compared to 8.82 million users reported in the same period in 2023. 3. Facebook Marketplace Vendors Ad Reach: Equivalent to 35.7% of the local internet user base, indicating millions of potential users. 4. Local Vendors According to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), there are approximately 3.1 million registered companies in Nigeria, encompassing a variety of local vendors across different sectors. 5. Ecommerce Shoppers Nigeria is expected to reach 122.5 million online shoppers by 2025 according to Statista, reflecting the sector’s growth

01.05 When did you start working on your project?

2024-01-01

01.06 How many other partners are associated with your business venture?

0

01.07 Among the other partners, how many are female?

0

01.08 Please describe the profile of each of the other partners (skills, experience, etc.)

Aarinola Oluwatobiloba Kelvin, a distinguished graduate of Olabisi Onabanjo University. With a background in front-end web development and a passion for entrepreneurship, Kelvin is the driving force behind the company's mission to revolutionize online presence solutions, particularly for businesses across Africa.

01.09 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/calitasbyte/

01.10 Which industry best describes your project?

c) Industry (equipment, commercial, logistical and professional services, transport)

02.01.01 My project contributes to the No poverty goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification

CalitasByte will make sure that vendors are given everything it takes to make sales online. This will help reduce poverty

02.02.01 My project contributes to the Zero hunger goal

4

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification

02.03.01 My project contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

4

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification

02.04.01 My project contributes to the Quality education goal

3

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification

02.05.01 My project contributes to the Gender equality goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification

02.06.01 My project contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

2

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification

02.07.01 My project contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

2

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification

02.08.01 My project contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

7 - Strongly Agree

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification

CalitasByte through empowering of small and medium scale businesses with online presence solution contributes to fostering economic growth and creating employment opportunities in line with SDGs 8.

02.09.01 My project contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

4

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification

02.10.01 My project contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification

By providing affordable online services, CalitasByte will help reduce inequalities by enabling female led businesses to compete effectively in the digital economy in line with SDGs 10.

02.11.01 My project contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

4

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification

02.12.01 My project contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

4

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification

02.13.01 My project contributes to the Climate action goal

2

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification

02.14.01 My project contributes to the Life below water goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification

02.15.01 My project contributes to the Life on land goal

2

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification

02.16.01 My project contributes to the Peace justice and strong institutions goal

3

02.16.02 Peace justice and strong institutions - Justification

02.17.01 My project contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification

CalitasByte will partner with reputable companies, which will help achieve shared goals related to sustainable development and economic empowerment (SDGs 17).

05.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

4

05.02 The product/service we envision creating represents an entirely new type of product/service.

4

05.03 The product/service we envision creating could be described as a new technology.

5

05.04 The product/service we envision creating is an improvement on an existing product or service.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.05 The product/service we envision creating could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.06 The product/service we envision creating responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

6

05.07 The product/service we envision creating is a new version of an old product/service.

6

05.08 Justification

One of the main competitors of CalitasByte is TrackBudi. Trackbudi is a new product that just emerged earlier this year. Even though they offer up to 40% of our proposed services, we are sure that we will be a better and an upgraded version of their product

05.09 Who are your main potential competitors and what makes you stand out from them?

All vendor marketplace e-commerce platforms are our competitors. However, we consider Jumia and Trackbudi as our main competitors. Jumia, as a leading player in the e-commerce world in Nigeria, sees vendors competing fiercely to make sales when uploading their products. Additionally, vendors face high charges for sponsored ads, which sometimes compete with other ads. They also encounter challenges in communicating with their customers and lack a customizable store URL, making it difficult for customers to visit their favorite vendors' stores online. CalitasByte aims to resolve these issues. Trackbudi, on the other hand, offers vendors an e-commerce dashboard with customizable URL functions and integrated chat options but does not provide marketing strategies to its vendors. Vendors must manage their own ad campaigns, often without guidance. CalitasByte plans to address these issues.

10.06 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?

Yes. WhatsApp and instagrams are filled with online vendors and majority of them are female. From my end, I have been able to help my female friends set up their business