Henrietta Onwuegbuzie is the academic director for Owner-Manager Programme at Lagos Business School (LBS). An award-winning entrepreneurship author, Onwuegbuzie has mentored a number of aspiring and established entrepreneurs across the country. She spoke with JOSEPHINE OKOJIE on the upcoming LBS Entrepreneurship fair entitled, ‘Transforming Society through Profitable Businesses’
Tell us what the fair is all about?
The LBS entre- preneurship fair seeks to showcase prof- itable business start-ups and ideas by our MBAs (full-time and Ex- ecutive MBAs). The high point of these businesses is that they are all built around pressing prob- lems identified in society, which they aim to solve in a profitable and sustain- able way. This entrepreneurship fair shows that every need or problem in society rep- resents a profitable busi- ness opportunity and that one can make even more money from doing good.
The MBAs will showcase that the businesses they started less than three months ago are all profit- able. We hope to attract investors, who can con- tribute to scaling up these businesses and thereby increase their social im- pact and profitability. It is, however, important to note that, while inves- tors are welcome, all the businesses are structured to grow organically and can survive even without investments.
You mentor start-ups of YOUWIN programme. What would you say is peculiar among start-ups you have mentored?
One clear common fac- tor among the YouWin start-ups I have mentored is that they all started re- ally small and have grown organically. They are therefore attractive invest- ments, because you can see a track record. Many start-ups fail because people make large invest- ments in areas where they have little or no experi- ence. While starting small allows you learn and make manageable mistakes, which you can overcome and continue, starting big leads to expensive mis- takes that are difficult to overcome. Unfortunately, it is difficult to remove the mindset that a lot of money is required to start business.
How can a young en- trepreneur with no start- up capital benefit from this upcoming event?
They will be inspired by what they see, because I provide only N5000 for the MBAs to start the businesses they will be showcasing. This amount forces them to be creative. The surprising thing is that some of them don’t even use any money at all and they tend to be the ones who make the most money. They will make a paradigm shift from the mindset that one needs a bank loan or a lot of money to start a business. They will also learn that a good source of business ideas are the problems we see or experience, and that all problems represent profitable business op- portunities.
Would you say the government has done enough in addressing major challenges en- trepreneurs face in the country? I would say they have made some efforts, but need to have a more ho- listic approach to achieve the desired results.
They need to create an ecosys- tem that allows start-ups to succeed. The funds they have been providing should be accompanied with management training to ensure the entrepre- neurs learn how to man- age businesses, otherwise, the funds will likely be poorly employed and the SMEs/start-ups will even- tually die. Basic training in aspects such as book- keeping, inventory man- agement, marketing and people management, will go a long way in helping start-ups survive. Further- more, it is not sufficient to have skill acquisition centres. The trainees need to be helped with access to wid- er markets; otherwise they cannot sell their products, no matter how good. Most trainees come from low- income background and if they cannot reach higher income clients, they can get discouraged and aban- don the business. In sum- mary, the elements of skill acquisition, management training, funding and ac- cess to markets, need to be linked to achieve stronger SME performance
What will be the big-gest take-away from the programme?
An opportunity for ev- eryone to know that you do not need a lot of money to start making a differ- ence in society or to start a business. People will learn that everyone of us can con- tribute to making Nigeria a better country through profitable businesses. Our MBAs have touched thou- sands of lives through their various businesses, which started with just N5, 000 or nothing. They have experienced the joy of transforming lives, while being profitable.
Apart from funding, what other things do you think are critical for start-ups?
The biggest problem is lack of adequate prepara- tion, which can be pro- vided through apprentice- ship and mentoring. In addition to these are poor management skills and inadequate infrastruc- tural facilities such as poor power supply and access to potable water and bad roads. Even with the poor infrastructure, start-ups are more likely to survive and thrive if they are either willing to start by apprenticing in the area of business they wish to go into, and even- tually start really small and grow progressively. With some basic train- ing in book-keeping and management, they can build a better structured business. I have encour- aged some of my MBAs to start basic business train- ing schools, especially in locations like Computer Village as well as Balogun and Alaba markets. This will help start-ups and local marketers become even more successful, while providing good in- come to the trainers.
What should Presi- dent Muhammadu Bu- hari do for start-ups and MSMEs?
I think government’s role should be restricted to providing an enabling policy frame-work. Gov- ernment should provide policy incentives to en- courage the private sec- tor to provide training, mentorship and funding to SMEs. SMEs represent great investment oppor- tunities when they are de-risked through train- ing and mentoring. For example, if organisations that focus on SME training and funding are given tax incentives or some form of recognition by govern- ment, more companies or even banks will work in that direction. SMEs are the engine of social and economic growth, so the sooner we strengthen them, the faster we will at- tain inclusive growth and our potential as the giant of Africa.
