Respect Your Rewarder: Key to Business Growth

Every business including yours has got the potential to become a multibillion naira business.

Many are actually of the opinion that the kind of business you're into will determine your revenue. But the truth is the number of customers you have and their frequency of purchase would determine your real income and how rich your business would become at the end of the day.

A typical example is this, if you're into car sales and you sell five cars in a month and generate a total revenue of about 15 million naira, and I am into the sales and distribution of noodles or bottled water and I'm able to sell a million cartons a month at 2,500 naira a carton, My revenue is 25 million naira.

I've generated more revenue than you that month. You made 15 million I made 25 million in the same period.

The funny thing is the society will assume a car dealer should be richer and have more money that a bottled water distributor.

If for example I approach a beautiful lady for marriage and say to her I sell cars and another says to her I sell water, the tendency for the lady to respect and assume the car dealer is richer than the water seller is high.

Ladies and gentlemen, every business venture in the world is after one thing – money. The money of a butcher is not different from the money of a bank owner, the money of an entertainer is not different from the money of a teacher. As long as it can be exchanged for goods and services, it is money.

In Nigeria today, it is sad many intelligent, exposed and knowledgeable young people have refused to venture into very lucrative and rewarding businesses because in their opinion, the business is beneath them. The society does not perceive it as prestigious hence, they wouldn't venture into it. They are more bothered about what the society thinks than their possibility of building a multi-billion naira business in the long run.

In fact many have remained in paid employment for decades because they are still looking for that huge sum of money to start that capital intensive business that is perceived as prestigious by the society. They disdain businesses generally embraced by the so called uneducated and illiterates. They want the high tech, high style, high profile and of course high cost business venture and they want to start big.

Unfortunately they never get to start as by the time they have the money, their youthfulness, energy and connections with relevant contemporaries are all gone. They are late.

Dear friend, no matter what kind of business you're into, no matter how lowly it is perceived by the society, your vision and ability to package well, brand well, sell well and make it global is what matters the most.

A mama-put, a fast food joint, an eatery, restaurant and world class bistro offering the finest world class dinner all sell the same thing – food.  

A nursery school teacher, primary school teacher, university lecturer, a business consultant like me and a professor in Harvard all do the same thing – teach.

A business is perceived as prestigious or otherwise based on your vision, ambition, packaging, branding and most importantly, scope.

The worth of your business is not defined by the beauty of your office, quality of manpower, modern technology or strategy alone. As all these are important, they are only important to the extent to which they are able to grow your customer base.

The real worth of your business is determined by the number of people that buy from you.

This has little to do with your environment or location, it's about your reach and the size of your customers.

A multibillion naira business is purely a function of the number of customers they have or how much the customers is willing to spend on their product per season. This being the case, it simply means the power to become that big lies with your customers. No matter the intelligence and creativity of your team, no matter the quality and performance of your machinery and processes, no matter the class of your advertising, if the customers don't buy, you cannot grow.

Many times customers are driven more to buy based on feelings than objectivity. Competition is fast eroding the difference in quality and the quality gaps are closing fast, hence, emotional attachment is a superior reason why I'd buy a brand than quality these days.

Every now and again different sales people come from different banks trying to market their various products to me. I mean, marketers come from more than nine banks and at the end of the day they are all trying to sell me the same thing only differentiated by what they call it.

My final decision on what bank to go with will have little to do with the product and very much to do with how I feel about the bank, the reputation of the bank and the professional skills of the marketer. Ill most likely make an emotional decision as a rational decision is made difficult due to similarity in product offerings.

To grow and remain strong in business, you must respect the customer. Don't become arrogant based on your current success or achievement as a business, the customer is your rewarder. Your billions are in their pockets and bank accounts. If you disrespect them, exploit them, maltreat them and take them for granted, they'll give your money to your competitors. Ensure your customer service is realistic and compelling enough to guarantee a repeat purchase. Don't just sell once to a customer and think it's all you need, keep all your customers coming back through excellent treatment and superior relationship experience.

The power of your business growth is primarily in the hands of your customers, to truly grow, respect your rewarder; respect your customers.

 -(Credit: Muyiwa Afolabi)