Small Businesses in Nigeria

SMALL BUSINESSES IN NIGERIA: WHY THEY
REMAIN AS SMALL BUSINESSES
Some weeks ago at the office, I called on a lady hawking food. My colleague and I had
made up our mind to buy the food because we were very hungry; we had the belief that
the food might not be that good but we were in need of something to eat as it was a
Saturday and none of the canteens in the area were open as that area was a business
community with offices as the main occupants of buildings in that location.
To our surprise the food was properly cooked and tasted nice; more pleasing was that
the lady had good customer service and she was very pleasant. However, there and
then she asked if we were employing and if she could bring her resume for future
vacancy. When asked why she wanted a job, her response was that what she did was
temporary and “a means to an end”. Something she did just to keep body and soul
together until she could get a job. I was worried!!
Who you decide you are can determine who you will
become!
Most Nigerian youths leave school with a certificate that cannot be used to get
employment. They spend years going from one company to another in search of a job.
Some go as far as looking for just anything to make ends meet. For those who have
work, they are underpaid and overworked but cannot leave the unsatisfying
employment because they are worried (with good reason) that they might not fine
another one. The banks that were the major employers some for many years have now
cut back on staff and salary.
Unemployment has pushed a lot into starting a

micro or small business “just to make ends meet”
while they still have the hope of getting a paid
employment.
The incident above is true of a large percentage of Nigerian small and micro businesses.
We are not into it because it is what we love to do and because we want to meet a need
and make use of opportunities that we see available open to us. We start businesses
because we feel we have no choice because we need money and cannot get paid
employment. The thing about money is that it would take a lot from you before it gives
to you, or it would not even bother to come pay you a visit.
Remember life is give and take it is what you give

to the environment, nature or your fellow man that
comes back to you as a harvest.
Since the business owner is in it because of the money he thinks he can get from it or
because he is tired of always been hungry and not because he wants to meet a need and
that he loves what he does; he fails to start right. He does not do a proper analysis of the
business before he starts, not taking time to find out if the business will be feasible and
make good profit enough to run itself with time and meet his ever growing needs.
He starts and he is faced with a lot of questions and

challenges most of which could have been avoided.
That is why I like the typical Ibo Business Man, he would apprentice with his ”Oga” to
learn the rudiments of the trade or business for years before starting his own. He knows
how many cups can be found in a bag of rice, beans, garri. He knows how much he
needs to start and how much he can make on particular quantity of a particular
product, he know where to situate his shop and how to start and maintain a saving
culture so much so that before you know it he has expanded his business and has his
own fleet of apprentices or “boys”.
People call this Ibo Business Men traders but the thing is that have taken time to get to
know the industry and the market in which they intend to do business. Many years ago
Inter-State transport was not an organized business, but involved individual persons
been in charge of just one vehicle or hiring it out for transport. But the same Ibo
Business Man saw a need and opportunity and today we have the likes of Associated
Bus Company (ABC), Chisco, Ifesinachi, Young Shall Grow, just to mention a few.
These same transport businesses branched into haulage and courier services and are
now in the international road transport to other West African Countries.
But the same Ibo Business Man saw a need and

opportunity.
The thing about a business is that just like every other creation it would develop a life of
its own with time and maturity and would want to be free. It is at this stage of freedom
that the entrepreneur has to use the creativity arising from his love for what he does to
direct it on the right part and develop strategies that would ensure sustainability. If this
freedom is not given to the business, it would suffocate and die or be eternally
challenged and continue to have a stunted growth.
Nigerian micro and small business owners go through unwanted challenges such as:
1. Under-pricing or over-pricing of products and services

2. Been unable to differentiate the thin line between what belongs to the business
and what is personal in the sales and income generated by the business
3. Financial drought due to lack of having a saving culture. Every business owner
should be able to set aside a percentage of their gross profit for the lean times
4. The most annoying is that they don’t have an accounting system. They can’t
track how much money comes into or goes out of the business
5. Most don’t even have a bank account and so all the transaction are cashed based
so that when the thief comes to steal they do not have a fall back savings to
continue their business
With these, the micro or small businesses will

always continue to be just that – small or micro
and nothing more.
It is important that business owners or individuals who want to start their own
businesses take time out to actually have an understanding of the business before they
start. Let’s learn from the Ibo Business Man’s way of doing business. Get to know about
the business, the industry and the market. Let’s learn how much profit we can make
and where our customers are. Let us make use of what has stood the in good stead and
has ensured that they continue to grow in every business and to expand.
This is the only way that Nigerian micro businesses can become small businesses and
continue to grow; it is also through this way that our small businesses can grow to
become conglomerates. Remember ABC Transport started small and has now grown
into an international business same goes for all those Alaba boys (funny as that may
seem).

Small Businesses in Nigeria

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SMALL BUSINESSES IN NIGERIA: WHY THEY

REMAIN AS SMALL BUSINESSES

Unemployment has pushed a lot into starting a

Remember life is give and take it is what you give

He starts and he is faced with a lot of questions and

But the same Ibo Business Man saw a need and

1. Under-pricing or over-pricing of products and services

With these, the micro or small businesses will

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