This document discusses mentoring and the requirements for a successful aquaculture startup business. It defines mentoring as a supportive learning relationship where a caring individual shares knowledge and experience. It also defines a startup business as a new venture with no past and initially fully funded by owners. The document outlines that startups will require mentoring from established businesses or individuals to succeed. It identifies the three key requirements for a successful aquaculture startup as knowledge, passion, and financial literacy. Specific aspects of aquaculture that require knowledge are also detailed.

1. 2017
Joseph Babatunde
Agriculture, Aquaculture

2. #tks17
Introduction - Mentoring
A Mentor = Provider of
mentorship
A Mentee = The person
being mentored
Mentoring is a supportive
learning relationship
between a caring individual
who shares knowledge,
experience and wisdom with
another individual who is
ready and willing to benefit
from this exchange, to
enrich their professional
journey.
- Suzanne Faure

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Introduction – Start-ups
• A Start-Up business is essentially a new business with
no apparent past and in many cases initially funded
100% by its owners.
• Most start-ups are conceived through the entrepreneurial
spirit of their promoters and are mostly based on
passion.
• These forms of business at some point will require
mentoring from already established businesses or
individuals if they are to go far.

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Mentoring Support Systems for
Start-ups

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Start-ups in Agriculture-Aquaculture
• Agricultural start-up business generally include
businesses involved in the cultivation of crops and
rearing of animals as well as all processes involved in
the agricultural value chain.
• Aquaculture or farming in water is the aquatic equivalent
of farming on land (FAO 1988).
• Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms such as
fish, molluscs (e.g. snails), crustaceans (e.g. crabs) etc.

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Key Requirements for a
Successful Aquaculture Start-up
• There are three (3) basic requirements needed to run a
successful start-up business involved in aquaculture
namely:
– Knowledge
– Passion
– Financial Literacy

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Knowledge
• Hosea 4:6 and Isaiah 5:13
• An entrepreneur must know:
• What method? i.e. earthen or block
ponds, tanks etc.
• What type? i.e. fish, snails, crabs
etc.
• What stage? i.e. fingerlings, table
size etc.
• Feeds? Will it be purchased or
produced in-house? How do I get
the best quality? Cost?
• Market? Who will I be selling to?
What is the demand for my
product? Is it a profitable venture?

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Passion
• Ecclesiastes 7:19
• Passion is one of the critical
ingredient required by every start-
up entrepreneur.
• Passion continues where others
are discouraged.
• Agriculture (Aquaculture) requires
a lot of patience and passion.
Once it is not there, such a
business can hardly succeed.

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Financial Literacy
• Any start up business that lacks
financial literacy has failed right from
the start.
• The ability to plan and determine how
much a business will cost?, Where will
the money come from? Will it be
profitable if it is a loan, a grant or
equity? All these are financial planning
and literacy issues to be sorted out
before starting a business.
• This is corroborated in Luke 14:28-30.
• Financial Literacy in business is one of
the key pillars of a successful start up.

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Video on Fish Farming

11. 2017
Joseph Babatunde
Agriculture, Aquaculture