The Executive Director of Financial Services Innovations, Dr. Aituaz Kola-Oladejo, has urged that small-scale and medium-sized business owners to join business associations to enhance their knowledge skills, and access to various government grants and benefits.
She stated this during her address at the Entrepreneural Brand Recognition Summit held in Lagos recently.
At the event, meant to recognise and reward the economic contributions of entrepreneurs to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, Kola-Oladejo identified lack of mentorship, funding, mismanagement, product failure and inability to identify with business associations as some of the reasons businesses fail.
She said, “If there is no need for the products that entrepreneurs parade, nobody will patronise them and eventually, they go moribund. Another reason is the lack of mentorship. It’s one thing to have an idea as a business owner, another thing is to be able to run that business successfully.
“Many businesses are not properly managed or run. For instance, if you don’t know how to separate your personal finance from your business finance, you get all that juggled up. The reason for a mentor is not only to guide, it is for you to be accountable to people.
“The third reason businesses fail is when they run out of cash. Cash is the lifeblood of a business. That is why we talk about requisite support structure. If you have mentors, and partnerships, they can support you during the stormy period of the business. If a business owner does not join an industry association, they may deprive themselves of some benefits as we witnessed recently where Sterling Bank partnered with SMEDAN.”
She commended government efforts at providing an enabling business environment, urging young business owners to belong to an industry association.
The convener, EBRS, Akanni Oyepeju, while speaking said that the summit said, “The young business owners were gathered for them to know they are appreciated in the society. For them to know that what they are contributing to Nigeria’s economy matters. If we have people to encourage entrepreneurs, they will do more. When young minds are actively engaged, we reduce societal vices such as fraud, violence and such likes.”
The Chairman of the event, Dr Alexander Faranpojo, said Nigerian youth do not have to leave the country as there are enormous opportunities to succeed in the borderless business world.
