Chief Executive Officer, Solomon Hunt Ltd, Mr. Tobena Okoli, highlights the challenges of small businesses and steps to growing them into a successful venture. He spoke with Udeme Ekwere
In your opinion what is the greatest challenge facing businesses in Nigeria, especially small businesses?
The greatest challenge has to be corruption. Corruption has eaten so deep into the Nigerian cultural fabric and businesses have not been spared by the plague. Every stakeholder in business is typically corrupt. This spans government officials, regulators, business owners and customers. Businesses, especially the small and medium-scale businesses, cannot thrive properly in such an environment where integrity and trust are deficient. This, unfortunately, is the sorry state of the Nigerian business landscape.
Do you believe that government is doing enough to support the growth of business in the country?
The Federal Government is applying some efforts to directly support the growth of business through the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment as well as through unique schemes such as YOUWIN and SURE-P. These initiatives, laudable as they might appear on the surface, have achieved very little in real terms. To really jumpstart the growth of businesses in Nigeria, the government has to, first and foremost, tackle corruption; not just through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, but through a comprehensive social reorientation of Nigerians across board. If corruption persists, all other initiatives would remain grossly under-efficient. The next step is the strengthening of the judicial process, especially as it pertains to business conflict resolution. The ability of Nigerian courts to resolve business disputes in a just and timely manner would really boost the growth of business activity in the country. The last critical area is infrastructure, especially power supply and transportation systems. If the power supply and transportation systems such as rail, road, air and internal waterways are boosted, their positive multiplier effect on business growth would be unprecedented. At the state government level, consideration should be given to intensive economic specialisation by the creation of hubs within states. One state could specialise in agriculture, another in tourism, another in ICT services and so on. This has proven to be a successful model in countries like the United States. California, for example, is a hub for entertainment, Michigan for manufacturing, New York for finance and so on.
Many people complain that after businesses grow, they put little effort into customer satisfaction. How can businesses in Nigeria cope with an increasing customer base?
An unexpected rise in customer base can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how it is handled by the business owner. I believe every business owner should have a very compelling vision centered on the customer from the very start. This vision would serve as a reference point at every stage of the business’s life. The degeneration of customer satisfaction with growth in customer base can especially be forestalled by ensuring that capable lieutenants who appreciate the founder’s vision for the business are recruited. They should possess the right blend of hard skills required for core operational tasks and soft skills needed for efficiency and interpersonal relations. These lieutenants would ensure that other staff, new and old, follow through with the original vision of the business by ensuring that the customer remains king. The founder cannot and should not do it all as the business grows. If he or she has capable managers within the fold as the business grows, customer experience would infact improve rather than deteriorate.
What would you say is responsible for the high rate of failed businesses in Nigeria? Would you say it is as a result of the economy in general, or it is the lack of a good business plan?
Neither really. The Nigerian economy, for all the negativity ascribed to it, is still very attractive globally. The sheer market size as well as boundless human and material resources available make the economy very viable. As a matter of fact, I believe that the imperfections in the economy make for fine opportunities for discerning businessmen and women. As for having good business plans, a business plan is at best a crude forecasting tool. The realities of running a business always contrast sharply with even the best-scripted business plans. I would rather ascribe the mass failures of businesses in Nigeria to three factors. The first is a low level of conviction in the hearts of business owners. Any business owner, who is unwilling to keep going at the venture, for as long as it takes and until success is attained, would invariably fail. Next is a poor research culture. A businessman or woman must never relent in his or her pursuit for internal and external data about the business as well as process such data to distil business intelligence. We live in a knowledge age. Those who do not know would not survive. This leads to the third factor which is insufficient experimentation. The world of business is like one big science laboratory. The successful businessman must constantly experiment with new ideas and processes. These ideas and processes have to be iterated constantly until the best results are obtained. When these best results are obtained, experimentation and iteration are continued in to make the results better still. It should be a never-ending cycle.
What motivated you into starting up your own business?
I was born and raised in Lagos and Ogun states but my late parents hailed from Anambra State. I am in my early thirties. I hold a bachelors degree in civil engineering from the University of Lagos. My work experience spans journalism, engineering and banking. Starting a business was a thing I had always yearned for since my teenage years but at that time my motives were purely financial. With maturity and experience, my motives shifted from pure fiduciary benefits to a need to satisfy the demand for advisory services by business owners. I had built the necessary competencies for rendering such services over the years. Since I could not find a company within Nigeria that offered the exact mix of services I could render, I decided to start one. Solomon Hunt Limited became the child of that decision.
What makes your business unique, and what has been your driving force?
I believe our uniqueness lies in our commitment to research and experimentation. We started out as a purely business advisory company focused on business research, training and remediation. But we have grown to also offer brokerage services, engage in venture capital activities as well as international commerce. These additions are as a result of our commitment to carrying out research on what the future needs of the market would become, experimenting to see how we can survive in the emerging business ecosystem and iterating until the best approaches are attained. As for our driving force, it has to be the continued survival of our clients and business partners. Solomon Hunt’s services and activities are critical to the success and survival of the clients we serve and other companies with whom we have working relationships. Imagine what would happen if all telecommunication companies in Nigeria decide to suspend their services even for a day. Or what would happen if the Power Holding Company of Nigeria ceased to exist with no replacement. Such a negative effect on the general population is what would happen to our clients and partners if Solomon Hunt ceases to exist. Their dependence on us is what drives us to work hard each day.