The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Business Success

  • Role of luck in business success

    Tony Elumelu, Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation and promoter of Africapitalism, a brand of African centered entrepreneurship, shares his experience, saying beside hardword which is key, luck, which some might explain away as favour, plays a role in ones success in life.

    In business, the role luck plays in success and personal achievement is rarely discussed. If luck is mentioned, it is done with slight condescension, and usually dismissed as a product of hard work, not deserving significant attention. While hard work is paramount – and I have written extensively about the importance of working hard – history and my own experiences show that there is often a large element of success that hard work alone can not explain. It is simply not true that “you make your own luck.”

    I started my career as a salesman, a copier salesman to be specific, young, hungry, and hardworking, but the reality was that I was just one of the thousands of young Nigerian graduates, all eager to succeed. How did I get from there to where I am now? Of course, hard work, resilience, a long-term vision – but also luck.

    A year after earning a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Lagos, I applied to join a new generation bank, Allstates Trust Bank. The bank’s one-page newspaper advertisement demanded a minimum of a Second Class Upper result, but I applied regardless, submitting a cover letter and filled out application with my Second Class Lower Economics result.

    By a stroke of luck, my application was reviewed by the Chairman/CEO, a painstaking man who carefully read my cover letter and was drawn to the confidence in my words. “I know I may not have met the qualifying criteria for the advertised roles, but I am intelligent, driven, ambitious and I will make the bank proud. My Second Class Lower result does not demonstrate the full extent of my intelligence and ability, and I know I can do so much more.” He read those words and took a chance on me. Though “unqualified”, he decided to throw me a lifeline, an opportunity.

    I was invited to join the shortlist, followed by a long series of interviews and even more tests. At the end of a very rigorous process, I received good news – I had a place as an entry-level analyst. Even now, I wonder: What if the founder had not personally gone through my application? What if my application was rejected at the very beginning? What if I never got the opportunity to work at Allstates Trust Bank?

    The story continues: Within 12 months at the bank, aged 27, I went from analyst to branch manager – the youngest ever bank branch manager at the time. I was hard working, energetic, creative and prioritised getting things done, but it was also good fortune that my bosses Toyin Akin-Johnson and Ebitimi Banigo took notice, and then, believed in me. They took a chance on me by appointing me as branch manager after an incredibly short time in the bank. They recognised in me the raw materials needed to make a good leader and were prepared to invest in me and my ability. My rise to branch manager within a short period is a great story but I know in my heart, I was lucky, as well as deserving.

    This position of branch manager was a solid platform which launched me into several top leadership roles. When we, a small group of hungry, determined, young outsiders, took over struggling Crystal Bank, it was as a direct result of the preparedness and exposure that we received early from our superiors and mentors. Without the intervention and goodwill of these people in my career, I would not have been prepared to take on far greater roles. These learning opportunities laid the pathway to future achievements. To put simply, I was lucky enough to be identified and trusted so early  in my career, and this put me on a unique road to success. I keep this in mind – it is humbling and also drives much of what I do today.

    When I left UBA as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in 2010 to pursue other interests, I made a vow that through the Tony Elumelu Foundation, I would “institutionalise” luck and democratise access to opportunities for young Africans.  I promised to leverage the success I have enjoyed, to spread luck and hope, provide opportunities and to empower the next generation of African entrepreneurs to succeed. Without luck in my early career, I would not be the man that I am today. I am a leader and philanthropist today because I encountered people who gave me a chance early in my career. It has been a lifetime goal to pay this forward in a transformative and impactful way.

    Over the past three decades I have spent as a banker, investor, and turnaround expert, I have had the opportunity to meet thousands of entrepreneurs, like me.  Many of them are young people with incredible dreams and business ideas but without the experience or access to mentoring and support required to build successful businesses. But most importantly, they have not yet been exposed to the right opportunity.

    Our entrepreneurs are hard at work across the continent, identifying gaps in the market for specific products and services, and bridging these gaps with their innovation and ingenuity. Yet, many of these budding entrepreneurs often lack the capital, the networks, the training, the support to take their small business to national or regional scale. All they need is a helping hand, some luck, someone to believe in them and take a chance on them.

    This is what the Tony Elumelu Foundation offers: a platform that empowers African entrepreneurs with opportunities ranging from business management training to mentoring, to funding to networking – championing their cause and giving them a global voice to actualise their ambitions. This is precisely why I launched the USD$100 million Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme to empower the next generation of African entrepreneurs. Indeed, their businesses may become the next UBAs (United Bank for Africa).

    So, when I am asked, “Tony, why are you and your family doing this? What is in it for you?” I smile and recount my own story of luck. Luck is real, it is powerful, and I am committed to spreading it as far as I can. I am a beneficiary of luck, and I am passionate about sharing it across the continent, to all 54 countries.

    I want our young aspiring entrepreneurs to apply for the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme.  I want you to be a part of this global movement for good. I encourage you to be bold enough to let luck find you.

     

    Tony Elumelu is the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation

  • Tips on business success, by experts

    BUSINESS success requires some strategies, the Phoenix Learning and Development Academy (TPLDA) Lead Consultant, Olarenwaju Aduloju, has said.

    He said one of them is for entrepreneurs to make their business plans simple.

    Speaking at a seminar for entrepreneurs in Victoria Island, Lagos, Aduloju explained that simplifying their business plans would enable entrepreneurs to widen their clients base, record huge profits, create new businesses and improve on the old ones and expand their frontiers.

    The seminar titled: “Demystifying the concept of business structuring”, was attended by Information Technology(IT) specialists and farmers, among others.

    He urged intending entrepreneurs to create an identity for themselves, by coming out with unique business names, logos and other means of stamping their feet in the market.

    Aduloju, also the firm’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), urged business owners to first create  business names and plans, before going into the field.

    He said: ”Creating a business name is the most important part of starting a business. Thereafter, a would-be entrepreneur should go on line to choose from a variety of business plans that would suit his own plans.

    ‘’This is followed by company registration, opening of business account and putting in place a partnership/management structure.

    He added: ”Why is apple firm called Apple? It is the uniqueness of the name that made people to go for what they see or perceive as Apple brand.”

    According to him, social media tools, such as Facebook, and Whatapps should be employed by business owners to penetrate into their markets, if they want their products or services to be stricken.

    Also, the Big Start Up Chief Executive officer, Mrs Wonu Okoye, urged participants to develop a brand, nurture it and build it to an enviable height, adding that by so doing, they have registered their presence in the markets to achieve huge profitability.

    In her paper titled: “The making of a brand, she said every business manager has the capacity to make himself or his product a brand, adding that brand is what a man make people to think or assume about him.

    She said firms have branded themselves in develop economies, such as United Kingdom, and United States, France, as well as contributing to the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) of their states or countries.

  • Business success habits for SMEs (Part 4)

    1. Good Internal Control System:

    Every business that wants to succeed must institute a good internal control system.

    Some of the areas that must be covered include:

    • Good inventory management system. There must be proper stock records, regular stock taking and re-order level.
    • Division of labour and segregation of duties.
    • Financial control as it relates to banking of transactions, expenses policy and approval principle.
    • Operational policy as per hours of business, production policy, employment policy etc.
    1. Human Resource Management:

    All SMEs in respective of size must have a good Human Resource Policy in place.

    This will cover all staffing issues such as:

    • Key staff and their roles
    • Necessary skills and experience for each position.
    • Staff handbook
    • Job description and job analysis
    • Succession planning etc.
    1. Staff Meeting:

    Regular staff meeting preferably weekly must be in place for every organization. This forum will enable staff to formally contribute to the growth of the business. It also gives staff sense of belonging and help management to resolve issues early enough.

    The above habits are very important for SMEs to enhance their growth and also to build lasting businesses.

     

    Mr Tomi Omojuwa

    Managing Consultant

    Pathlead Consulting

    tomiomojuwa@gmail.com

  • Four best kept secrets for business success

    Four best kept secrets for business success

    Business success typically requires hard-work, commitment and dedication. However, there are a couple of secrets, the knowledge of which can help significantly drive business success. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 4 best-kept secrets of business success.

    HAVE A WORST-TO-BEST SCALE

    The best way to avoid bad business decisions is to first recognize them, and one of the best ways to do this is by evaluating your business on a worst-to-best scale. Once you are able to recognize bad business decisions, it will be easier to eschew them, then identify the best options for your business and pursue them, which can significantly help to drive business success.

    CREATE VISUAL REMINDERS OF LONG-TERM GOALS

    When trying to achieve business success, it’s easy to get ‘caught up in the daily grind’ and do things that are familiar, rather than things required for growth and profitability. Having visual reminders of your long-term goals can really help to create ‘tangible reminders’ that can help to keep your business focused on growth and profitability. It will help to serve as a constant reminder of your goals and help to
    keep you on track to achieving them.

    WELCOME HONEST FEEDBACK AND CRITICISM

    Over time, this has become less of a secret to most people, however, it is still a vital factor for business success. Feedback and criticism are good because they both help you realize the faults or failures in your business or business offerings. It important to learn how to effectively process criticism by receiving, assessing and letting go of hateful or negative criticism, and evaluating and acting upon constructive criticism. In addition, you should ensure that you solicit feedback from your target audience, open all channels of communication to receive this feedback and be gracious when receiving feedback. This way, people, especially your target audience, are more likely to be supportive of your business venture.

    PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR INTUITION

    A number of successful business people, Warren Buffet for example, have credited their intuition for helping them make some of their toughest business decisions. Intuition is in fact real, and it is not very wise to ignore it as a business person. If something about a business decision doesn’t sit well with you, then it is probably defective. Intuition comes from deep within your subconscious and is derived from previous life experiences; it’s more or less your true self speaking, which is why it is usually not wise to ignore it.

  • Handling critical 5Ps of export business success -Part 5: Payment

    Not all exporters are eligible for export financing and that is why the next question is, who are those that are eligible to access export finance products? Before an exporter can be considered to be eligible for export financing, the exporter will need to provide the following information with documentary evidence.

    History of performance – from the Bill of lading records. Export volume per year- from the Commercial Invoice and the Bill of lading records. Frequency of shipment- from the Bill of lading records. Payment Methods- from the Sales Contract. Terms of Payment- from the Sales Contract. Product sourcing strategy and risk mitigants- from the business plan/ Proposal. Availability of the products-from the business plan Proposal and investigation. Product destination- from the Sales Contract.

    Transaction cycle- from the date of Sales contract to the date of receipt of export proceeds for previous shipments. Buyer’s payment History- from the exporter’s Statement of Account. Making these information and documents available to able gives the credibility that will make them to consider your loan application for export business.

    The next and the fifth question states, why are some payment methods not attractive to banks and is there a way to make them acceptable? The two payment methods that can make a bank to decline funding an export transaction include Open Account (Cash against documents) and Bill for Collection.

    However, if an open account transaction can be backed by either a standby letter of credit or payment guarantee, it still retains its simplicity but also becomes attractive for banks to fund. On the other hand, if a buyer’s bank under a Bill for collection transaction availises (guarantees) the accepted Bill of Exchange, this makes the transaction to become attractive to banks for funding.

    The second to the last question states that, which instruments can give banks comfort when financing local supply? In Nigeria, where most of the exportable items are hard and soft commodities, in an environment that is largely unstructured, banks need comfort in order to be involve in pre-export financing.

    This, therefore, means that any exporter that wants the bank to finance the procurement of the commodities from their local supplier must be ready to work with people that will secure the bank’s funds through Advance Payment Guarantee (if they need the bank to advance funds ahead of delivery).

    On the other hand, if the supplier have the goods but needs assurance of payment, a payment guarantee from the bank will ensure that he only gets paid after the goods have delivered and the quality and quantity ascertained.

    The last question that is also most important for an exporter is: how can an exporter mitigate the risk of non-payment? This is a major risk for all exporters around the world. The first mitigant that comes to mind is the use of letter of credit and confirmed letter of credit.

    However, where this is not possible, standby letter of credit and availisation can help to secure payment under Open account and Bill for collection. If these mitigants cannot be obtained, then a representative in form of an export agent or export management company at the destination country will be necessary to secure payment. The representative can follow up on payment, monitor delivery and inspection and source for another buyer if the initial one fails to pay.

    In conclusion, I will like to say that if anyone intending to go into export business can take time to research and get more information about the questions addressed in these series of articles, he would have successfully created a viable business plan that will make the export business a success.

     

     

  • Leveraging divine grace in business

    Leveraging divine grace in business

    Iyke Kanu is an ardent believer is the wonder-working grace of the divine.

    For him, along with salvation, a Christian is presented with the grace to succeed in all things, such as in business and career.

    He is not one to take the grace of God for granted: he emphasises on the need for the Christian to put his/her purpose-driven faith in action. He posits that believers can succeed in any from business to career if they leverage on the grace of the divine.

    In his book, Harnessing God’s Grace For Business Success, Kanu focus is on how business-oriented folks can draw from the power of success embedded in God’s grace.

    “You can harness God’s grace only through personal development. Unlike in the real world where you are asked to concentrate on your areas of strength, in the spiritual world it is the opposite. Apart from being born-again, you have to identify your personal strengths and weaknesses. You have to work on your areas of weaknesses to improve yourself spiritually…to achieve great success in business you have to be very close to God,” he says.

    The 116-page book contains nuggets on how to utilise God’s grace and put faith in action to bring about success in business. Although his nuggets are not new, using biblical and real-to-life examples, Kanu creatively elaborates his points in an engaging manner that the reader is able to understand and follow. Alongside a healthy spiritual relationship with God, Harnessing God’s Grace For Business Success is also canvassing proactive business principles.

    The book is divided into two parts with each side having four chapters each. The first deals with all that is needed to start and sustain a successful business, while the second touches on the spiritual side of the matter.

    However, the author has classified his nuggets to a success business through God’s grace into under seven chapters, with an additional chapter that bears a conclusion of his postulations.

    Kanu begins with a background on his voyage into writing the book. According to him, the idea first came up in 2012 when he was asked to deliver a speech at the Men’s Convention of The Christ Royal Family Church. “After the convention, I was overwhelmed by the burden to share my experience as a businessman…The reason for the topic was because ordinarily, I consider myself to be a product of God’s grace,” he says.

    After defining the concept of each word in book’s title, Kanu, in Chapter One, begins with the need for one to “Overcome initial fears of starting a business”, saying “one must be strong-willed”; “identify a business one is passionate about; undergo apprenticeship and personal development”; “cultivate the habit of saving”; “start small, grow big”.

    After Overcoming initial fears of starting a business, in Chapter Two, the author canvasses on the importance of starting one’s own business; and goes on explain how one can manage ones business in Chapter Three. He says a prospective entrepreneur should start by “registering his/her business”; “choose a good location; “write a business plan”; “employ qualified and competent hands”, among others.

    And when one has started, to young entrepreneur, the author has this shocker on Page 48, Chapter Four, “Many of the successful businessmen or businesses that exist today have failed at different points in their histories but bounced back”, adding that “Statistics have shown that only 20 per cent of business is common, bouncing back from failure is also a common thing”.

    To check such phenomenon, Kanu calls for financial discipline, integrity, preparation for the unforeseen, etc.

    In the second half of the book, he touches on how managerial principles and wealth multiplication,

    He concludes thus: “Grace is not automatic; it does not just fall on people’s lap. Success is a prize with a price tag. Being a believer in business is therefore about “using the skills and God-given gifts; working hard; conducting business with honour and strong consideration with others; praying