At the online masterclass organised by FCMB Flexx and Smartpreneur to support entrepreneurs with insights to building a profitable online business, Nancy Nnadi explained the effective ways to build and sustain a successful business.
Nnadi said “see your business as a game. You cannot score without a goalpost. It is important for business owners to plan and set goals.
“Some of us started our businesses with survival mindset, you need to cater for your family, you need to do a couple of things but you must not remain in that same place. You must begin to grow your mindset above survival because survival can hold you back from doing a lot.”
She encouraged business owners to start small but think digital and global. “In this age you can start business right from your home. You do not need a lot of money to start any business right now. This has given us the opportunity to sell to the world, to sell to more people. We need to leverage on the digital space but we must be willing to learn because there are new technologies coming up” Nandi said.
According to her, entrepreneurs must be sensitive to trends if they want to sell to the global market.
Nancy Nandi also emphasized that business owners should drive their businesses shamelessly. She stated that people can easily see through one’s lack of confidence when it comes to business dealings. “When you don’t have confidence, it’s a sign that you’re not competent or aren’t comfortable with the kind of business you do”. Speaking further on driving business shamelessly, customer service plays a pivotal role. In the world of online business, entrepreneurs cannot afford to shun customer service. It could be costly to have people call you out online, dragging you on social media for bad service. “When we offer great services, it will help us get referrals and in this digital age, you can’t hide, any mistake you make will be out there. Also, You can make mistakes but how you handle them matters to your customers” said Nnadi.
Nancy Nnadi urged entrepreneurs to pay attention to customer feedback and monitor competitors. Another point she raised was that of numbers. It is not advisable to focus so much on sales and neglect bookkeeping. “Knowing your numbers will help sustain your business so it is important that you keep all records, all your inflows and outflows. Ensure you document them. If you can’t, learn how to do it or hire someone to help.
“Build bank history. This is a credible way to analyse the growth of your business. If you want to expand or get loans to do much more for your business in future, you will need your bank history.”
On a final note, Coach Nancy stated that to be successful in business, one must understand cost of operation. Understanding and distinguishing profit from overhead will help a business. She added that entrepreneurs must be disciplined in separating their personal finance from that of business stating that most businesses that get loans cannot payback as a result of this.
