Advice for small business owners in Nigeria – In real life, businesses are categorized in many forms ranging from small, medium to large businesses. Oftentimes, the amount of capital available determines the type of business one can undertake. People with little capital tend to engage themselves with small business which can be easily financed by the little amount of capital available. Considering the nature of business and the availability of little capital, there is need for a good caution to be taken in the act of running and managing the business.
Knowing the various pitfalls to avoid can help your small business to skyrocket. In Nigeria, small business are gaining more recognition as people are now more interested in venturing into it. It is also worthy to note that it is competitive. Therefore, what will determine your success as an entrepreneur is knowing the right approach to your Small Business. Small Business will only grow into a large scale business if it is properly managed. Whether your small business is at start-up level or already established, these advices will help you.
Advice for Small Business Owners in Nigeria
The following advice below can assist an owner of the small business in Nigeria to develop into a big business;
1. Be Focused
You have decided to run a small business, very good and excellent initiative. Have it in mind that you have to make a good decision on the type of business you want to venture into considering the small amount of capital within your disposal. After taking the decision, you must remain focus on the goal and vision of the business. People tend to be worried about the trend in other area of business while embarking on their business, that is checking or considering whether the other businesses is better than their already chosen business.
2. Be Determined
Yes, you have decided and it seems you are remaining focus still you are not convinced on the outcome yield of the focus you have put in the business. It is not strange to feel that way, it is natural, but there is one pertinent question you need to ask yourself. Have I invested the needed time, resources and effort into making this business what it should be? This is where your determination to succeed in the business become crystal clear.
The willingness to spend the money meant for the business must be there, you cannot have a choice and demand that is not effective. How much time have you invested in the business? Are you the type that closes your little shop and go to the house and relaxed while people are busy checking on your shop but find lock up shop? Or the type that opens shop, but cannot be steady in the shop? Your attitude towards the business, defines your altitudes. You must show readiness and steadfastness in the amount of time and effort you invested in the business.
3. Create Awareness of Your Products
What are you selling? Is it only known to your family members and neighborhood? Then, it is time to utilize various technological tools in marketing your business. The best place to start from is social media. You can have separate social media pages dedicated to your business. Run ads if you can afford it. Have a standard website where you can display your product and even their prices there. You can direct people to check out your products in your website. If your website is Search engine optimized, you can equally get a decent number of buyers from search engines.
Have an audience for your business in your social media handles. Display your products and also interact with them. Be ready to politely make amends when you receive negative feedbacks. With time, you can use bigger medias like Newspaper, magazines, Television and Radio for your business promotion.
4. Don’t Give Up
Are you discouraged by lack of patronage? You should not. Every business has its own time. The circumstances of your establishment which includes the method of your display of product, the type of product available in the shop and the time frame into which you established the business in that locality has a lot to contribute towards the growth of the business. Look very well on the manner in which you display your product, take cognizance of the product line people are looking and begin to bring them into the shop. You will soon discover an automatic patronage from people.
5. Initial Loss Does Not Signify Failure
Are you afraid of the initial loss? It is expected that at the start up stage of the business, you might incur a little loss, but this should not discourage you, businesses undergoes various stages in order to be what we have seen today as a business. There are factors responsible for that initial losses, but your ability to turn things around will yield great value for your business.
Advice for small business owners in Nigeria
6. Constantly Survey Your Product Prices
You must be well acquainted with the whole prices of the product you stock in your shop. You might think that you are obtaining a product at a lower price but you do not know that there are other manufactures still offering prices lower than what you are procuring. Try as much as possible to devote much time into research on the best available whole prices so that you will be able to maximize profit.
7. Keep Record of the Products in Your Shop
Joke apart, I have seen people that do not know exactly the product they have in their shop to the extent that when an inquiry is made on it, the seller will answer, “the product is not available now” What is in your mind? Common On! Who told you that the day to day record of your sells is tedious or cannot be captured or track? It is the only way you can know what and what that is in or what is out in your shop.
8. Always Restock
Are you the type that exhausts your product before ordering for another batch of the product? Note that sales can still occur in between the time you place an order and the time the order is received by you. Please cultivate the habit of having a minimum stock available that can serve your customers before your order arrives.
There is nothing that worries a customer when he hope to get a product in a particular shop, the customer is sure the product exist, and you tell the customer that the product is not available at the moment or that the customer should come back some other time but forgetting that the customer needs that product at the time he comes for it.
9. Have a good Customer Relationship
What is your relationship with your customers? As a small business owner, how do you relate with your Customers? Are you a hash type thinking that your customers does not have a choice of where to get the product even at a lower price? You are making a mistake. Virtually, every product is being sold by multiple shops.
Please, cultivate the habit of pampering your customers. Pampering them does not mean you will sell to them at the lowest price. I bet you there are people that are buying from you at a higher price still they keep on coming, just because of your manner of approach. So develop that approach today, it will take you very far.
It is worthy of note that embarking on the journey of small business ventures take a lot not necessarily finance alone. But your ability to harness all the advise put forth in the article will go a long way to make you a champion in that line of business. We are committed to bringing you the best advice for Small Business Owners in Nigeria and a sure way to overcome the problems involve in the small business. Watch out for more editions.
Also Read; 9 Factors to Consider before Setting up Small Scale Business
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