Among other factors that may be stalling your business growth, maybe your mindset is also a king factor.

A narrative

I checked out today to buy a half crate of egg in the neighbourhood. 

• Me: How much is half crate I queried. 
• The lady: It’s N600
• Me: I buy for N500, since when did it turn N600
• The lady: I don’t dispute that you buy it for N500 but I was instructed it is N600 here.
• Me: Okay! Do you have the type of egg that sells 6 for 200?
• The lady: Yes, it’s available.

PS: Note that half crate of egg is 15 units. By implication, if 6 is available for 200, 15 will cost N500 without any much ado nor bargaining. I tried to help the lady understand this but she shut me from doing so. The result, I only bought goods worth N200 and left the shop.

This event birthed a quick nostalgia from my previous employment with Opeoluwa Shea Butter. It is a common practice while I was with the company to sell either at discount or bearing some cost that otherwise would have been borne by the business partner or altogether adding a new product to the primary package in order to grow a new business territory. All these were done deliberately to foster product growth and grow the number of first-timers that use the company’s product. The result, some new territory go on adding a significant percentage to the bottom line. That’s an open-minded mindset at play.

Where do the two narratives intersect?

Business mindset! One was fixated on the price dictated to her by the business owner, the other was open-minded enough to understand that sometimes you need to “lose money to gain money”. It appears to me that a lot of SMEs (not a startup) are missing a lot in terms of revenue because of their mindset and little to no understanding of how business works.

While I may not use the example of “a shop” to generalize “SMEs”, I make bold to say poor business practices hinged on fixated mindset and not understanding when compromises are needed in business is one of the things responsible for lacklustre growth of small businesses in Nigeria.

From “the lady’s” narrative, if she had an open mind, she would have taken note to understand that N500 is still a profitable deal and wouldn’t have lost N500 in revenue. While for Opeoluwa SheaButter, the business managers understood when compromises are important for the sake of growth.

Business growth

Growth strategy is a whole lot and it takes local understanding to penetrate any local market. This is because different markets have it believes, myth and mindset. Understanding this can help you put an appropriate strategy in place for customer acquisition. One of such workable strategies is what I have described above hinged on the entrepreneur’s mindset. The entrepreneur/business manager must always understand when compromise is needed in order to grow her business to the desired level.

Among other things though that helps to grow customer is understanding the myth of the market. Once in the wake of America industrialization, Andrew Carnegie the father of iron melting (Carnegie Steel) constructed a bridge with iron (new then). However, no one will use the bridge out of fear. But they have a myth in the location then, “if an elephant can walk through a path, then the path is safe”. Your guess is probably right. Carnegie organized a show and arranged an elephant to walk across the bridge to the other side. The rest they say is history. Swift adoption and usage started at once.

Understanding the myth of your market might be the way to unlock growth. But it takes an open-minded person to make the needed compromise.

Car sharing and Ride sharing models have been hailed as the bridges towards transiting to autonomous mobility. These models minimise capital expenditures and increases the efficiency of transportation assets.

Recently, OPay recently launched a new vertical, OCar, to compete against the likes of Uber and Bolt, which makes the field even more crowded. ‘With its go anywhere from 200 naira’, OCar is definitely incentivizing consumers to come onto its platform.

Even though this vertical (ride sharing model) represents a good move, I am of the opinion that OCar could equally benefit from a car sharing business model. The car sharing model, in this context, means if Mr A owns a car and he is commuting to Ikeja from VI (both in Lagos, Nigeria), he is able to share his car with other passengers commuting from Ikeja to VI.

This would provide a market opportunity for private car owners interested in sharing their cars during their journeys. By private owners, I mean private car owners who are not Uber or Bolt drivers, simply private car owners who use their cars for private use but are interested in sharing their cars when commuting.

To achieve this, OCar would need to provide a platform for these private car owners (in Lagos and elsewhere) who may be willing to share their cars with passengers commuting in the same direction of travel. It is already a common occurrence to find private car owners in Lagos offering to pick passengers travelling in the same direction of travel. Such a platform would encourage more private car owners to consider sharing their cars as well as enjoy profits from such car sharing arrangements. This represents a new market opportunity which could help differentiate OCar from Bolt or Uber.

Is this market segment small or big? I do not know. OCar would have to conduct its market research to determine if this market segment is of significant size to justify any reasonable investment. I do know there is an opportunity here, which could easily grow with time.

With its ORide and OTrike platforms, Opay currently manages various motorcycles and tricycles within various cities. It is very common to find various OPay and OTrike drivers sitting idle during less congested times of the day. OPay could equally benefit from expanding its services to allow these drivers become engaged in the delivery of food (take-aways), items (e-commerce), dispatch and other delivery needs etc. I am aware that Opay already collaborates with small restaurants and allow consumers to order food. This service could further be expanded to the ecommerce industry, beyond the food industry.

Another expansion that may interest Opay may involve the provision of bicycle sharing arrangements (OBike) within universities or small private communities. This may be particularly attractive to universities looking to reduce their greenhouse gases, as a way of addressing climate change. This would no doubt involve the construction of dedicated cycle lanes as well as close collaboration with universities.

With Opay’s rapid expansion across various verticals, it may not be long before we see an OTruck platform which may disrupt the truck industry.

For now, OCar looks ready to take on Uber and bolt. The race is definitely on and we are watching closely to see who emerges the winner.