Job creation without nurturing SMEs won’t yield anticipated results, says branding consultant

THE Chief Executive Officer/Lead Consultant of Smart-X Communications and Consulting Limited, Mr Yemi Omitola, has said small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) comprise 95 per cent of businesses in Nigeria and employ the largest portion of our workforce.

He said that the idea of job creation without first nurturing SMEs would not yield the anticipated results.

Omitola made the disclosure at a recent training organised for start-up CEOs, held at the Initiative for Information, Arts, Culture Development in Nigeria, Jericho Road, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Speaking on the theme: “CEO as the Leading Brand Champion”, Omitola said that when chief executive officers build brands, they are building both the economy and prosperity; adding that because a  brand has longevity, people would still stick to the brand, even when the business is closed down.

Stressing the importance of vision, Omitola said that the ability to see far beyond now is the hallmark of the chief executive officer, adding that one must be able to see up to 15 years’ time about what would happen to the business.

He further noted that the chief executive officer must be hungry to capture more markets in terms of competition, saying any business should be strong to such an extent that customers would not be able to switch to other products.

Emphasising  the importance of adaptability in business,  he said that chief executive officers must be ready to launch attacks in order to remain relevant, noting that they should have a big goal that would attract anybody to do business with their organisations.

While acknowledging the limitations being faced by SMEs, Omitola said, “As  a marketing  communication and brand consulting firm, we will empathise with them, and see how we can capture the value in that system, by deploying our creative ability, our strategic understanding and our hindsight to help them to grow beyond any limitation.

“So, ‘brand sales 01’ so to speak is more like empowerment for SMEs. In fact, we call it branding and marketing empowerment for start-ups. We are not going to talk to the bigger brands like P&G, like Nigerian Breweries. We are comfortable with SMEs,” he stated.

Several owners of SMEs across the state participated in the training, while facilitators like Dr Chellapa Shanmuga Priya, Mr Ade Thompson John, Mr Uthman Shafau and Omolara Olaosebikan delivered papers on different topics at the event.