Entrepreneurs counsel at the 2019 Women Confab
Some entrepreneurs in Lagos advised women to properly structure their businesses when starting them up, for sustainable growth.
They gave the advice at the second annual Thrive Women conference in Lagos.
The aim of the conference, with the theme, ”Today’s Women: Influencing and Shaping the Future”, was to enlighten and empower women to become financially independent.
The Chief Executive Officer of So Fresh, a Food Chain enterprise, Mr Olagoke Balogun, urged women to properly lay foundation for their businesses.
” For a business to start and grow to a brand, the business needs to be properly structured and the foundation properly laid for it to stand.
” A Startup needs to know what he plans to achieve and its objective. This drives the business and makes it move forward.
“There is also a legal structure that is needed for a business that is in partnership; this gives both parties opportunity to own a percentage.
” More importantly, business owners need education to grow successfully, ” he said.
The Director, Strategy, Funding and Stakeholder Management, LSETF, Mrs Abosede Alimi, urged women to use indigenous ways to grow their businesses.
“The world has significantly evolved and women should too.
” A woman that is looking to startup a business should start it indigenously by joining cooperative groups; this is a support trust system for every startup.
“The gap is that women have not the knowledge and information about the group, but thank God, with the phone the information gap is closed,” she said.
The Head of Product Development and Strategy, Retail Banking Group of Zenith Bank, Ms Chile Udemba, assured business startups that the bank was willing to grant loans to them.
” As a bank, we are trying as hard as possible to ensure that we meet everybody as possible at their stages, particularly those that are in their launch state.
“But you can’t really get funding if you don’t have some structure,” she said.
Udemba said beyond funding, the bank would soon organise a capacity building programme for SMEs.
She said that the bank would partner with Facebook and Google to have entrepreneurial skill training for businesses.
Earlier, the Convener and Founder of Thrive Women Solutions, Mrs Rosemary Onyebigwa, said the theme of the conference was to shape the future of women.
”The theme will help to shape our tomorrow as individuals, as a family and collectively as women,” she said.