Stakeholders in the business industry has emphasised the need for businesses in Nigeria to create the right structures, have passionate and skilled people and also strong institutions to ensure efficient succession planning.
According to the Abasiama Idaresit, executive director of Wild Fusion, businesses can outlive their owners if it is structured differently and in the right way.
“Sometimes when a business is small, you find yourself doing all the functions. But there will be a time when it will mature and you will have to invest in it. So one of the things I tell people is that they have to institutionalize their business. Try and get not only people but institutions like companies or set up a trust, because these things will outlive you,” Idaresit further said during the 2020 House of Tara Distribution conference held last week.
The House of Tara Distributors conference is a one day annual comprehensive development opportunity for 35 field sales distributors and entrepreneurs from different industries, backgrounds and expertise in the beauty industry seeking to thrive in their businesses.
Succession planning is the process for identifying and developing new leaders, who can replace old leaders when they leave, retire or die. It increases the availability of experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these roles as they become available.
Linda Ochugbua, Head of Digital Sales, BusinessDay Media, said that business owners should look for people who are skilled, passionate and interested in their businesses.
One of the biggest challenges why most businesses end is because it is all about family. “Most times, family members may not be interested in the business and it ends up failing. That is why as a business you need to teach, mentor and train passionate and skilled people to fit your business,” She further added.
A 2018 Family Business survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC ), a global network of firms delivering assurance, tax and consulting services for businesses stated that only 10 percent of family businesses in Nigeria have succession plan.
Cosmas Maduka JR, the executive director of Coscharis Group said that businesses need long and short term strategy to move forward and that the long term one is the succession planning.
“A business that does not involve the youth will not live very long. You need to see them as your stakeholders. And that is what structure is all about, recognizing the stakeholders from the board level, management, customers, suppliers and the rest,” Obinna Anyaegbu, the executive director of Chisco Motors said.
Anyaegbu further added that the lifecycle of a business starts from a one man business, and when it business starts to mature, it will have to start involving other people either in the management or board level to help structure things in place.
Apart from the panel discussions, Chris Omoijiade, the author of Get Ahead, made a presentation on the 15 ways to stay and get ahead when building a business empire and Bimple Onakoya, the artistic director for Nigeria, Maybelline New York discussed on the growing treads and innovations in the beauty space when managing a distribution or retail-led business.
Some of the distributors in attendance were Emmanuel Ajama of Blessedstephvic Cosmetics, Cosmos Nwankwo of Cosoko Cosmetics, Bridget Okpareke of Wynbriz Cosmetics, Vera Ikechukwu of La’Core Cosmetics, Oladunni Oyenuga of Oroke Beauty+, Rasheedat Lawal of Dupe Cosmetics and a host of others.
BUNMI BAILEY
