JCI Ikeja trains entrepreneurs on business innovation, creativity

Admin l Tuesday, June 01, 2021

 

 LAGOS, Nigeria – Junior Chamber International (JCI), Ikeja recently organised its annual forum  with a focus on reaching out and sensitising Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on how to scale up innovation and creativity in the various sectors of the economy.

Entrepreneurs  were told during the programme that to be successful at sustaining and developing their businesses it is essential to have a mindset that begins with acquiring and investing majorly in the knowledge and information of the sort of business they are operating.

The leadership organisation during the forum which was themed, Innovative Enterprise Seminar (IES)  said it saw the crucial need to contribute its own quota towards supporting entrepreneurs with the necessary information, skills and tools  needed to sustain and upscale their business operations due to the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on small and large scale businesses.

Speaking at the event, President, Junior Chamber International, Ikeja, Tricia Inalu said that when an entrepreneur develops a positive mindset it would become possible to tackle the challenges in a particular industry, thereby innovating solutions within the ecosystem of the entrepreneur.

“A knowledgeable and empowered mindset would result in the empowerment of the workforce of any organisation.  So, it is important that business owners invest not only on improving their technical know-how and capacity but also on the employees in order to attain maximum performance and results within the enterprise.”

“As part of efforts to develop our minds, as a country, it is crucial for the educational sector to be rehabilitated in order to enhance innovations and creativity of our children, youth and adults who are aspiring to join the labour market or become entrepreneurs. We know that the education sector remains a crucial factor for the progress of citizens and how businesses are established and operated.”

Commenting on the challenges startups face regarding manpower, Inalu explained that business owners who make up the entire workforce of the organisation as they do not have staff to carry out various functions for the business need to understand what becomes essential to delegate and outsource to other experts at a low scale, thereby creating more time for the entrepreneur to think creatively and innovate ideas for the sustainability and growth of the enterprise.

“It is necessary for entrepreneurs to outsource in order to attain maximum results for the business as this generates more innovation and creative ideas for the business. In addition, as prioritisation is essential, leveraging on the resources and skills available to the workforce is crucial towards the success of such a business.”

Also speaking at the event, Founder, Accounting Experts for SMEs, Ogochuckwu Lawson said a major factor that hinders innovations and creativity of businesses is the lack of structure, lack of following due process, and absence of bookkeeping.

“Majority of entrepreneurs are still struggling towards understanding the vital role keeping records play towards the sustainability and development of a business. Also, it is important to set up the business’s bookkeeping with efficient software that would keep the records of the business throughout its existence.

“In addition, an entrepreneur should be able to forecast monthly or yearly the number of sales and revenue that is to be generated by the organisation, whilst also projecting what it would cost to attain the forecasted results.”