Nigeria - Startup under 3 years old

Décrivez votre projet en quelques mots

VA-Africa specializes in helping busy business people reclaim 4 - 8 hours of their time daily so they can focus on core business tasks, devote more time to family, hobbies and other interests.

01.01 Décrivez votre startup en détail

VA-Africa specializes in helping busy business people reclaim 4 - 8 hours of their time daily so they can focus on core business tasks, devote more time to family, hobbies and other interests. We take over tasks such as data entry, research, customer service, email management, calendar scheduling, social media, and more, all customized to our client needs. Currently, we have over 500 vetted VAs on our waitlist waiting to be paired with clients. We're eager to expand our reach and help more businesses thrive. By leveraging our services, our clients not only streamline their operations but also contribute to alleviating unemployment challenges in Africa.

01.02 Quel est le problème principal que vous essayez de résoudre ?

My solution addresses two pressing issues: high unemployment rates in Africa and the challenges faced by professionals in the US, UK, and Canada. Africa struggles with alarmingly high unemployment, particularly in Nigeria, South Africa, and Morocco, ranking among the top five globally (Nwachukwu, 2023). With the projected doubling of the young African population by 2050 (Ogunleye, 2023), there's a critical need to create employment opportunities beyond traditional workplaces. In the US, UK, and Canada, businesses grapple with rising energy costs, inflation, labor shortages, and high interest rates, exacerbated by global events like the Russia-Ukraine conflict. They are increasingly adopting remote work and outsourcing to reduce costs (US Chamber of Commerce, 2023; Office of National Statistics, 2023; Statistics Canada, 2023). Due to word count restraints, find the reference list here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WPP-XRXxnLNW-q3S5amcbCZNGK6AbrYk3on17keC4sg/edit?usp=sharing

01.03 Dites-nous quels sont les principaux avantages et/ou bénéfices de l'utilisation du produit/service fourni par votre startup (au moins 3).

Ease: No sifting through countless applications. We match you with pre-vetted and ready to work virtual assistants (VAs). Cost Savings: No cost of recruiting staff. You avoid overhead costs of providing basic work infrastructure and other operations expenses. Flexibility: Our VAs work at the hours you choose. We provide personalized services tailoring VA teams to meet your needs. More Value: You get 2 VAs but pay for only 1. Our team-based model ensures quality and timely completion of projects. Comprehensive Services: We take over basically anything and everything that you want to take off your daily to-do list. Quality Assurance: No time wasted monitoring your VA. We do the monitoring. Seamless Working: No service disruptions. We offer quick replacements should your VA call in sick. Reduced Workload, Improved Productivity and Work-life Balance: Delegating tasks to your VA gives you a lighter work schedule. The reclaimed time can be used for core work and other non-work interests.

01.04 Veuillez décrire précisément à qui s'adresse le produit/service de votre startup. Quels sont les bénéficiaires visés ?

My targeted beneficiaries are busy business owners or professionals seeking to outsource portions of their daily to-dos, operations or delegate their admin tasks. Those that fit this description include: solopreneurs, startup founders, ecommerce business owners, podcasters, writers, executive coaches, speakers etc.

01.05 Quand votre entreprise a-t-elle été créée ?

08/06/2023

01.06 Vendez-vous déjà votre produit/service ?

Oui

01.07 Combien y a-t-il de propriétaires de votre entreprise en plus de vous ?

0

01.08 Parmi les autres propriétaires, combien sont des femmes ?

0

01.09 Veuillez décrire le profil des autres propriétaires de votre startup (compétences, expérience, etc.).

Not Applicable

01.10 Si vous avez un site web, une page sur les médias sociaux (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin...) ou une application, veuillez fournir le(s) lien(s) ici :

https://va-africa.com

01.11 Quel est le secteur d'activité qui décrit le mieux votre entreprise ?

Autre : Virtual Assistance and Administrative Support Services

02.01.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Pas de pauvreté'

7 - tout à fait d'accord

02.01.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

Poverty is not only about not having enough money to cater for basic necessities. It could be poverty of time - not having enough time for core work, family events and leisurely activities. My startup contributes to solving all of these kinds of poverty. By providing remote sources of employment, VA-Africa would enable her virtual assistants to cater for themselves and their households. By taking over the time-consuming administrative tasks of business owners and professionals, the same enjoy a lighter work load and are afforded the opportunity to focus their core energies on core business tasks and other non-work interests.

02.02.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Faim Zéro'

7 - tout à fait d'accord

02.02.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

VA-Africa would contribute to zero hunger in this guise. By providing remote sources of work to people in underprivileged places, those people are empowered with funds to provide food for themselves and their dependants.

02.03.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Bonne Santé et Bien Être'

5

02.03.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

There can't be good health and well-being without good food. There can't be good food without money. There can't be money without a good and stable means of employment. In the same vein, there can't be good health and well-being when one is overloaded with work, stressed and burnt out. VA-Africa contributes to solving both by providing employment to those who would lighten the work load of busy business people so both can enjoy the different forms of good health and well being.

02.04.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Éducation de Qualité'

7 - tout à fait d'accord

02.04.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

I strongly believe in lifelong learning. No one is an epitome of knowledge. Things keep changing and one needs to continually stay abreast. It is for this reason that VA-Africa is invested in providing opportunities for learning, upskilling and personal development to all virtual assistants.

02.05.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Égalité entre les Sexes'

7 - tout à fait d'accord

02.05.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

I strongly believe in the equality of genders. At VA-Africa, there is no discrimination of any kind, be it demographic or socioeconomic.

02.06.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Eau Propre et Assainissement'

4

02.06.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

02.07.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Énergie Propre et Abordable'

5

02.07.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

Though, not compulsorily, we encourage our virtual assistant to utilize solar power generators as against the use of fossil fuel engines which not only cause noise pollution but emit global warming-causing green house gases.

02.08.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Travail Décent et Croissance Économique'

7 - tout à fait d'accord

02.08.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

VA-Africa provides remote jobs to Africans and other peoples by design. Our virtual assistants are employed as contractors so they get to individually file their taxes with their respective governments and to some extent increase economic growth.

02.09.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Industrie, Innovation et Infrastructure'

7 - tout à fait d'accord

02.09.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

Our services allow service businesses to discard traditional office fronts with it's costly overhead set up costs and attributed operations expenses. They can have a virtual team serve as office support.

02.10.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Réduction des Inégalités'

7 - tout à fait d'accord

02.10.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

Africans do not have to flee overseas in search for greener pastures. They can gain access to decent remote work opportunities provided by VA-Africa. This way the inequality in income distribution is to some extent abated.

02.11.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Villes et Communautés Durables'

5

02.11.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

For cities and communities to be sustainable, it means that environmental resources are to be carefully used without negating the ability of future generations to use them. VA-Africa's services being virtual in nature saves duplicity in costs which in turn reduces consumption of environmental resources and brings about sustainability.

02.12.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Consommation et Production Responsables'

5

02.12.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

For consumption and production to be responsible, it means there is no wastage and the carbon footprint is minimized to a large extent. As earlier mentioned, at VA-Africa, we would advise our virtual assistants to preferentially utilize solar generators or energy efficient fossil-fuel generators which ensure zero or lower carbon emissions as electricity source.

02.13.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Lutte contre les Changements Climatiques'

5

02.13.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

Virtual assistants work remotely at home. Since there would be no commuting to and fro a traditional workplace, environmental resources would be saved that way and the amount of CO2 emitted by such an individual is reduced.

02.14.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Vie Sous-Marine'

4

02.14.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

02.15.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Vie Terrestre'

4

02.15.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

02.16.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Paix, Justice et Institutions Efficaces'

5

02.16.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

By providing decent remote job opportunities, the quest to travel overseas in search of greener pastures would be reduced to some extent.

02.17.01 Ma startup contribue à l'objectif 'Parteneriats pour la Réalisation des Objectifs'

5

02.17.02 Justification de la contribution de ma startup

The provision of decent work opportunities would allow for sustainable development of developing economies.

06.01 Un grand nombre de clients utilisent déjà un produit/service très similaire au nôtre.

7 = Tout à fait d'accord

06.02 Notre produit/service représente un type de produit/service entièrement nouveau

1 - Pas du tout d'accord

06.03 Notre produit/service pourrait être décrit comme une nouvelle technologie

3

06.04 Notre produit/service est une amélioration d'un produit ou d'un service existant

5

06.05 Notre produit/service pourrait être décrit comme une extension d'une gamme de produits ou de services

5

06.06 Notre produit/service répond à une demande ou à un besoin qui n'a pas été satisfait par d'autres produits/services.

5

06.07 Notre produit/service est une nouvelle version d'un ancien produit/service

4

06.08 Justification

The work of a virtual assistant is not entirely new. Virtual Assistants fill the role of a secretary, receptionist and frontdesk executive in a traditional office workplace setting. The only difference is that virtual assistants perform their duties remotely. They work as contractors and not as employees. In terms of innovation, our work is not novel. There are very similar existing solutions. However, for the African continent, we are one of the first to play in the international space and seek overseas companies to outsource work to Africans.

06.09 Analyse compétitive

VA-Africa competes with various entities in the virtual assistant space: Our competitors include: 1. Freelancing platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, Truelancer, Freelancer etc. on whose platforms clients could hire virtual assistants. 2. Traditional admin staff such as Executive Assistants, Office Support etc. whose mode of work is either physical or hybrid. Recruitment platforms where one could get traditional admin staff include: Glassdoor, Onlinejobs.ph, Indeed etc. 3. Independent single-person Virtual Assistants who have a website or leverage social media platforms to market themselves. 4. Agency-type Virtual Assistants such as Time Etc, VA-UK, Belay, Fancy Hands, Zirtual, FAVA, Remote Latinos, Cyber Backers etc. who offer similar solutions as VA-Africa. We stand out from our competitors by our team-based model, quality assurance processes and the feedback mechanisms we employ with which we learn how to best serve our clients and exceed their expectations.

11.05 Menez-vous des actions au sein de votre communauté pour promouvoir le rôle des femmes entrepreneurs ?

Yes. I often share training opportunities, calls for grant funding and accelerator programs to female entrepreneurs within my network.