INNOVATION: The Saving Grace of Small Businesses in Nigeria

According to the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) make up over 90 per cent of all firms and account for an average of 60 to 70 per cent of total employment and 50 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any economy.

Now, with the statistics above, it is clear that small businesses are the engine of our economy, but what baffles me is the fact that our institutions do not pay sharp attention to what’s happening to this dispenser of energy to our economy and so creating an enabling environment for them to grow and scale beyond borders have been a challenge. In fact, kudo have been thrown to decide whether to take deliberate steps or to leave it in the hands of chance

Design with Ease

Small businesses are the engine of our economy

The truth is, we will continue to speak in unknown tongues until we understand, take steps to create an ecosystem where businesses will strive and grow without much barrier to entry and robust business support to help budding entrepreneurs stand strong and independent.

One of the victories experienced in the tech industry is the development of co-working space which has helped (and still helping) small tech firms to cut the cost of setting up structures and fittings that can be a constraint in kicking off and a burden to their working capital. This single move has caused an explosion with SMEs collaborating and Incubation of future solutions that will disrupt our world.

Be original, show off your style, and tell your story.

Every single day, I always ask myself what can be done with such model in other sectors where regulatory standards are archaic, rigid and less creative which have become unnecessarily a blockade for new solutions. We need to build a system that gives small businesses opportunities and options. The regulations can be there, but platforms should be raised and policies updated to meet the new solutions.

Last year January, California legalized selling food made at home, this act opened up 1,200 food businesses, do you know what that means? It has opened door for more people to be employed. Now I’m not saying we should do same in Nigeria but if we can regulate it, then it’s perfect! We can strengthen our incubation centers and equipped it with machineries… Food processing machines are damn expensive, so what good is providing only a space where there is no apparatus set and business support given to help accelerate growth and provide guidance?

We are in an age where we have more weird individuals than normal, and we need to rise up and take the lead… the government to review some of her policies to create room for new ideologies and innovations else we will be at logged –ahead on issues that will only slow growth and innovation.