A Business Coach and lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Dr. Andrews Ayiku, has emphasized the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) developing business models to effectively manage and grow their businesses.
Speaking at the Citi Business Festival on ‘Building Resilient SMEs’ on Citi TV in Accra, Dr. Ayiku provided valuable insights to SME owners and highlighted the benefits of adopting business models.
According to Dr. Ayiku, having a well-defined business model not only helps SMEs attract investments but also enables them to recruit talented individuals and motivate their teams.
He expressed concern about the misconception among some business owners who believe their businesses can operate without a model, simply selling to everyone.
“The strong SME needs to have a business model. You meet business people who don’t think the business should run on a model, they wake and sell to everyone, which is so wrong,” he stated.
In addition to business models, Dr. Ayiku emphasized the importance of strategies for SMEs to achieve their goals effectively.
He highlighted that many businesses in Ghana overlook the significance of strategic planning, mistakenly believing it is only for larger corporations. However, Dr. Ayiku emphasized that a successful business requires a well-thought-out strategy.
“Businesses in Ghana do not think about strategies, they think strategies are for big businesses. A successful business needs a strategy,” he added.
Dr Ayiku added that it was also imperative for businesses to be flexible and innovative, as that would open them up to lots of opportunities.
“And they also need to build strong networks. People think they can do things on their own. But I have seen businesses that are doing well because of networking. It has given them access to a lot of things,” he added.
About the Citi Business Festival
The annual Citi Business Festival is a month-long initiative marked with on-air and outdoor events in the month of June to equip Ghanaian businesses with strategies to grow and scale up while meeting emerging trade and commerce trends.
This year, it is themed generally around the Made it Ghana Agenda.
There are live radio on-air series at 9:05am every Monday to Thursday on the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM. On Fridays however, it airs at 7:10am.
Aside from the on-air series, there will be weekly forums on Citi TV every Tuesday to hold discussions on the theme for the week as well as special TV feature stories aimed at showcasing indigenous Ghanaian businesses.
The Citi Business Festival 2023 is powered by Citi TV and Citi FM in partnership with Absa Bank and is proudly sponsored by MTN MOMO, MTN Business, and Zeepay with support from GIRSAL.
