Gender issues and challenges facing businesses run by women were highlighted at a seminar in Lagos last Friday. Organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the seminar centred on financial literacy and cash flow management for women entrepreneurs. OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE was there.
Women are regarded as good financial managers but this quality has not convinced bank managers to offer them credit facilities to run their businesses. Statistics show that there are more women-operated businesses than those managed by their male counterparts. Besides, women entrepreneurs are believed to be more resourceful, despite the odds.
Women are often known to have natural abilities that are useful in managing businesses. They tend to be great networkers, in addition to having inherent skills for negotiating, and multi-talented.
These were the observations of the Executive Director, Rely Supply Limited, Mrs. Fayo Williams and the Project Manager, Credit Awareness, a financial services company, Ms Nneka Eneli. The duo were the facilitators at the seminar on capacity building/ financial literacy of the Committee of Women Leaders of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) last Friday.
Venue was the Chamber House on Idowu Taylor, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Speaking on “How to access Finance to Grow your Business,” Mrs. Williams said access to finance meant more than borrowing fund. She said access to affordable finance was a big challenge all over the world, singling out small businesses owned by women as having serious problems convincing bank managers to give them money without collaterals.
Mrs. Williams urged women to look inward for the funding of their business, saying they should not always believe that what they entirely need to grow their business is external funding. She urged them to work on expanding their outlook and customer bases; diversify and block all avenues of leakages.
She advised them to ensure that they establish internal controls, as well as leverage on technology, stating that due to the peculiar financing challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, they should leverage on opportunities that abound in leasing, friends, families and venture capital to raise funds. She added that they should ask their customers for advance payment. She said women should be realistic in their business concept and network, in addition to seeking professional advice. They should keep good records while making their businesses scalable, Mrs. Williams said.
On ‘Cash-flow management for women entrepreneurs and common financial management issues, Ms Eneli said though women were intuitive cash managers, they are faced with several challenges. She said for women to be good entrepreneurs, there is a need for them to be cash-literate as ‘cash is king.’ She stressed that they should separate business receipts from personal cash.
Her words: “Track your cash in-and-out, put yourself on a salary, plan extensively before getting involved in any transaction. Keep records, learn how to save and borrow responsively, communicate, mind your cash flow, delay your repayment as long as you can, and aggressively pursue your debtors.”
Others are to manage your cost, be disciplined in buying unbudgeted things, such as clothes and accessories for parties. “Sell-off things about to expire in your shop, and convert them to cash and be careful not to divert your business fund into personal use, no matter the pressure.”
She said if women entrepreneurs can do this business intelligence, they would not only save enough to invest in their business, but would be able to convince the banks to lend them money if their books are clean and transparent enough.
Chairperson of the LCCI Committee of Women leaders Mrs. Agnes Shobajo said the chamber was poised to encourage more women entrepreneurs to do it right and access available finance from government and donor agencies for small scale entrepreneurs .
She said the chamber runs various workshops to train women entrepreneurs to come up with effective business plans, have regulatory requirement for the choice of business and to always work within their budget.
Earlier in his opening remarks, LCCI President Goodie Ibru said African women represent a crop of huge untapped potential as emerging business leaders, managers, corporate decision makers and excellent entrepreneurs. He said the role of women in any economy is very critical, which calls for a continuous building of their capacity in all spheres of life.
He said:“The impact of such enhancements is naturally far reaching by virtue of the various interfaces of women within the household and the economy as a whole. As a country we have made impressive progress in affirmative action. Presently, the number of women appointees in the Nigerian cabinet is about 31 per cent of the 42 member-cabinet with several others holding influential positions in the present dispensation including the Chief Justice of the Federation, Mrs. Alaoma Mukhtar the Coordinating Minister of the economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala with five Nigerian commercial banks having female CEO.”
Ibru said areas that education would be made to assist women are in education, finance, health and trade. He underscored the importance of women in the development of the nation and their roles in corporate and household management as crucial to economic development. He stressed that if they are supported to run their businesses the nation would be better for it.
