How to scale a small business in Nigeria today, according to those who did it

Nigerian entrepreneurs do not build businesses to stay small, but their growth requires systems that defy even the strongest of economic conditions. This is according to experts and owners of businesses that have managed to do so.

At a BusinessDay event on Thursday celebrating Nigeria’s top hundred fastest growing SMEs in Lagos, entrepreneurs like Josephine Ehimen, founder and CEO of Nett Pharmacy noted that many small businesses do not grow due to no division of labour.

“Their business depends too much on them,” she said at a panel session of scaling operations. “You’re the accountant, marketer, and cashier. If you want to grow, your business needs to transcend outside you.” Ehimen, who has been running her business for 21 years, said businesses no matter how small must have systems that everyone in the company aligns with. “That way you have structure.”

And structure is important, according to another entrepreneur Adetola Akinola, founder of Glitz Group of Companies. “Scaling is not accidental. It’s the outcome of structure, systems and people walking in alignment with the vision of the founder,” she said.

According to her, founders must see succession as a strategy for growth rather than an exit plan. “Organisations should move from being founder-led to being systems-led. We must learn that our businesses are separate from us,” she said. Akinola surged founders to mentor others to bring up innovative ideas and fill in for their unavailability.

“We must duplicate ourselves in others so other people we trained can do that too. An organisation shouldn’t die because the founder is not there. If your fear is they won’t do it like I would do it. That’s where mentorship comes in.”

Chris Imumolen, another panelist said “I started my business with a one-man team. But overtime, I saw the need to build structure. Because of the way the country is structured, regulation is a challenge with SMEs, but do everything necessary to build governance without waiting for regulation,”

A persistent problem for Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria, according to the discussions, is access to finance. Ehimen says documentation can help. She narrated an experience in the early stages of her business when she visited a bank to obtain loans for her pharmacy but was undervalued because much of her profit was still stored in uncalculated cash. “My bank was in my handbag,” she said.

Hassam Imam, managing director Keystone Bank Limited represented by Ganiu Adebayo, affirmed to this “Let every transaction that you’re doing pass through the banking system. We’re into business. If customers are growing the banks are growing, so keep your records,” he said. “If they see the trend of your growth, they will approve it. Let your record support what you’re asking for.”

Come back to read: World Bank data shows Nigerian SMEs could grow twice as fast with equity, but few can access it

Ehimen noted that documenting transcends just a balance sheet to customer behaviour and seasons of peak sales. “Document what works,” she said. “You need data of customers, who you’re selling to and how many times they’re buying from you. If you don’t know, you work with guesswork,” she said.

But entrepreneurs must not put all their eggs in one basket. Olumide Gbadebo, founder of Adunni Organics, who urged SMEs to diversify their supply chain for resilience.

“Your supply chain determines if you’ll be able to do well. Don’t be stuck with one person,” she said, adding that businesses must ensure there’s a “plan A and plan Z. Have in mind that everything will go wrong and have a backup supplier.” Businesses must also build relationships with suppliers to ensure “that when you don’t have cash, your relationship can maintain the chain.”

Gbadebo also clamoured for localisation to save cost. “Localise as much as possible,” she said. “I cut everything I was using foreign exchange (FX) to do. It reduced fx rates and cut a lot of time that I used to secure things.”

She says Nigeria has the best quality and raw materials and advised small businesses to stock smartly so they don’t buy what they don’t need yet, adding that to scale, businesses must “plan and invest in storage so when you buy in bulk you can take advantage of price trends.”

Read also: Nigeria’s strongest SMEs shine at 2025 BusinessDay SME 100

One other setback for scalable businesses is competition for product and talent. Experts say people must move beyond competition to consider collaboration built on trust. “When you start up an organisation as a newbie, you cannot do it alone. You might not single-handedly have what it takes to retain talents, but partnerships bring together ideas and beat competition,” said Flora Mbeledeogu, founder MABA.

But she warns that partners must be chosen with caution and discretion. “Be reliable and relate with someone who is reliable. Anything you do must be documented in a partnership agreement and you must protect your Intellectual Property (IP),” she said.

Bethel Olujobi reports on trade and maritime business for BusinessDay with prior experience reporting on migration, labour, and tech. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from the University of Jos, and is certified by the FT, Reuters and Google. Drawing from his experience working with other respected news providers, he presents a nuanced and informed perspective on the complexities of critical matters. He is based in Lagos, Nigeria and occasionally commutes to Abuja.

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