It is no longer a secret that many small businesses in Nigeria do not survive beyond their first year of operation.
The reason for this abysmal performance, stakeholders say, is not really that difficult to understand. Definitely, there are some serious underlying secrets that most of the operators fail to know or imbibe. However, apart from such ‘secrets of success’, operators believe that the challenges in the operating environment are often too daunting for them to surmount.
According to the President, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Dr. Ike Abugu, an average Nigerian entrepreneur has a lot of challenges to contend with.
”The most obvious, which is a major infrastructural deficiency, that we have been crying over for over a decade now, is power. Since the beginning of the civil administration in 1999, there has been this illusion that we will have power soon. However, it is has not been forthcoming. If we get power right, it will lead to a 50 per cent jump in the survival rate of SMEs,” he states.
Abugu also points out the lack of access to affordable finance and the low quality of human capital in the country as other major issues many small business owners grapple with.
However, despite these challenges, quite a number of business start-ups have not only survived, but have also recorded a considerable level of profitability.
Obviously, these successes do not come by happenstance. Experts agree that entrepreneurs, who desire growth in their businesses, must accept that there are indeed guidelines to be followed.
The Chief Executive Officer and Lead Consultant, DeAIM Innovative Resources Limited, a management consulting firm, based in Lagos, Mrs. Bridget Olotu, says that it is very important that prospective and practising entrepreneurs realise that there are secrets to growing small businesses.
Read More:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art2010110922151
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