According to a PWC report, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) account for 84% of total employment in Nigeria. This is no mean feat! Nigeria has arguably the largest startup ecosystem in Africa, yet, 80% of small businesses fail within the first 3 years of operation. From subpar products and services to poor cash flow maintenance, there are many reasons businesses are unable to withstand many of Nigeria’s wahala. In other words, to be a boss no be beans o! To help businesses beat these odds in a digital-driven world, ICT giant, MTN Nigeria supported the first edition of Techpoint Africa’s SME Clinic held at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. Experts across various sectors showed participants the intricacies of running successful businesses in Nigeria.
Here are five business tips that have been proven to improve business processes
Know Your Market: Learn how your audience operate and find out what they love. Do not force what you think is right down your target’s neck. According to Peter ‘PeteSocial’ Nwabuoku, Head of Business Development & Digital at Luzo DN & Media Ltd, it is important to establish communication channels with your audience and social media is the marketplace that many entrepreneurs do not realize they need.
Let Your Customers Feel Appreciated: A happy and satisfied customer is more likely to return than an indifferent customer. Collect your customers’ details, contact, and other information. Send emails thanking them for patronage, send updates on products that they have shown interest.
Debbie Akwara, Founder/Principal Customer Experience Consultant, Niche X, one of the speakers, shared guidelines on communicating with clients via social media, highlighting deleting negative comments as a major blunder. In her words, “don’t delete a ‘bad’ comment by a client on your site, instead, address it swiftly, because God help you if someone gets a screenshot and uses it against you later.”
Don’t Compromise on Quality: “Do not be selfish with quality when it comes to your customers and your service,” said Damilola Runsewe, Senior Manager, SME Management, Enterprise Business Unit, MTN Nigeria. He shared various MTN products that were tailor-made for Nigerian businesses such as Call Assist, a solution that gives business owners the freedom to manage incoming calls. It provides automated call handling solutions enabling entrepreneurs to improve productivity.
Participants got to hear about Hynetflex, a broadband internet solution that offers customers unmatched browsing and download speeds accessible via a high-speed internet router compatible with both 3G and 4G LTE networks.
Marketing And Advertising Speak Volumes: Digital media platforms have made it possible for entrepreneurs to target and find millions of potential customers from the comfort of their location. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have proven to be the most popular platforms for businesses to reach millions of people with most of them offering specialized services to help entrepreneurs promote their business.
Document Everything: Entrepreneurs can save a lot of money by simply storing all business documents digitally. Cloud storage services allow for this to happen, eliminating the cost of premium file cabinets and paper storage. One can access the documents from any location in the world reducing the need for personnel to scan and send such documents when required.
Do you have more tips for entrepreneurs that can transform their business and save it from becoming another statistic in the database of failed startups? Please share…
