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An entrepreneur has told young professionals that
starting a business in a small way is a good way to show that one’s business
would be successful later.

Speaking at a business forum on Wednesday in
Lagos, Ibukun Awosika, the chief executive officer of Sokoa Chair Centre, a
chair production outfit, said that “Small beginning in business is not because
you don’t have enough capital; but it is based on wisdom, as the place of
humble beginning allows you to start well.”

Ms. Awosika, who spoke on the topic, ‘Failsafe
strategies for succeeding as an entrepreneur’ explained that entrepreneurs
should always allow their business to be flexible in order to adapt to change
in the society.

“The best business plan in the world is filled
with assumptions, or it could be a good idea that has a high chance of
succeeding but would always be subject to some issues within and outside of
your control. And at the end of the day, there would be so many judgment calls
that you make on a day-to-day basis,” she said.

However, Ms. Awosika added that many entrepreneurs
in Nigeria change their business focus as a result of the challenges they face
in their business, which is also normal.

Investing in human
relationship

Ms. Awosika emphasised managing human relationship as a major
key to grow any entrepreneur’s business.

“When you set up a business and you want it to be successful on
a continuous basis, it is important that you do the right thing at every point
in time. Don’t take any stage of it for granted. Anyone you think is useless to
you today might be the person that would save the life of your business
tomorrow. Also, it is a small world, people move from one area to the other.”

She further explained that the key measure to take in building
business relationship is to earn people’s trust, which is the greatest asset of
any business.

A participant, Temitope Busari, said that the forum has helped
him to readdress his business plan.

“Though I have conceived a business plan, I have been going
about the implementation the wrong way, wanting to use the big bang approach.
But this forum has proven that starting small is the best strategy and also
ensured I have an indepth knowledge of the business idea. “

Rarzack Olaegbe, another participant, said, “The take home for
me is on building lasting relationship, not with the top managers only but also
with the middle and lower level personnel.

“The people may be at the bottom of the ladder, but you would need them
somehow, someday. However, if you have not earned their friendship when the
going was good, obviously it would be hard to ask for their favour in bad
times. The most important factor for me of all the issues she raised is
building cordial relationship across all levels.”