How marketing can help SMEs survive at turbulent times —Experts

SMALL and medium scale businesses, no doubt, constitute the major enabler of any economy.  Its capacity for job  and wealth creation is, without doubt, very humongous.

In 2017 alone,  in Nigeria, the contribution of this sector  to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, was put at 49.78 percent, while the number of persons, engaged by those enterprises, in the period under review, was seen as a huge relief for an economy being  always encumbered with  huge number of unemployed individuals.

But, despite being globally recognized as engines of socio-economic transformation, the survival of MSMEs in this part of the world is increasingly threatened, by a lot of factors, with the latest being the  COVID 19 pandemic.

For instance,  in its report of June 2020, Fate Foundation stated that  94.3% of the nation’s  MSMEs “were

heavily impacted by COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the areas of Cashflow (72.1%), Sales (67.7%) and Revenue.

Not a few economists have, therefore,  warned on the consequences of allowing  such ‘foundation of any economy’ to crumble; since that would spell doom for the welfare of individuals in such economy.

Speaking at a public lecture, organized by the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), its president, Mr. Tony Agenmonmen emphasized that much. He however expressed the belief that every professional, especially marketers, had a role to play if the nation’s small businesses were to survive.

According to him, the decision to have the theme of this year’s marketing conference focus on MSMEs, their roles in an economy, the clear and present danger which the COVID 19 pandemic had constituted to their survival, and what marketing practitioners could do to ensure their survival, was to bring this all-important issue to the front-burner.

“NIMN has made very conscious efforts to deepen the discussions around some topics that are germane to our growth and development as a nation,” he stated.

In his Keynote Address, the Guest Speaker, Mr. Alex Okoh,  argued that though MSMEs are critical stimulators of economic growth, due to their potential to create jobs, he was, however, of the strong belief that inadequate access to the market, infrastructure challenges and other extraneous factors had all contributed to slow down their growth, and spike production cost.

While arguing that COVID 19 had affected small businesses and redefined individual and corporate ways of doing things, Okoh, who is also the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE),  believed there were huge opportunities for those businesses to turn around their fortunes, especially with the support of marketing practitioners.

For instance, he argued, marketing practitioners should be ready to support small businesses in the area of market orientation, which,  he  noted,  is presently low.

“Every business needs publicity. Marketing allows the business to connect with the consumers. It boosts sales, helps the business to construct constant clientele base. That is why I believe it can play a major role in MSMEs’ survival in the country,” he added.

In her submission, the founder and Chief Responsibility  Officer of Ruff ‘N’ Tumble, Mrs. Adenike Ogunlesi,  stressed the need for business owners to be attune to the essence of marketing to enable them leverage it for their businesses’ growth.

She also believed every business owner must understand the shift in the modern-day consumer’ behaviour, and must therefore design their products with such shifts in mind.

“For instance, it is no longer about demographics, it is about psychographics, that is what the consumers think,” she stated.

Another  panelist,  Dr. Muda Yusuf, called on marketing  practitioners to help small enterprises scale up advocacy for the  nation’s MSMEs, to enable the policy formulators know the true situation of things in the sector.

“I believe MSMEs in Nigeria are going through a lot. I think it has therefore become imperative for them to scale up advocacy, so that the policy formulators will not think that all is well, when all is actually not. I believe  this is where the support of the marketing practitioners is needed,” the Director General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…

[ICYMI] Lekki Shootings: Why We Lied About Our Presence — General Taiwo

The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the killings at Lekki Toll Gate, on Saturday resumed viewing of the 24hrs footage of the October 20, 2020 shooting of #EndSARS protesters by personnel of the Nigerian Army…