“If you look at the corporate history of Nigeria, there are many companies that did not transcend the first generation and no one has written about the reason why they failed so we could learn from it…” – In this episode of hashtag#BusinessInsightsWithAO, I speak on the need to document corporate entrepreneurial experiences for future studies. hashtag#ALA – Culled from the wall of my mentor – Austin Okere, Founder, CWG Plc and Entrepreneur in Residence, Ausso Leadership Academy
While I studied at Harvard business school, every single time we worked on a case study on an American company, I would constantly ask myself how wonderful it would be to actually have a business case written on Nigerian companies.
How wonderful it would be to know how some big Nigerian companies were founded, what made them thrive, and what made them collapse eventually. I notice with a passion that I could not point to any company that I know that has survived a generation after the demise of its founder.
I recall the days of Kingsway stores, Leventis stores, SCOA motors, etc. It really hurts to know that apart from Mr. Biggs that has somehow stood the test of time, such businesses that gave us the likes of Cortina from Bata are no more.
Standing inside any of the Shoprite stores springing up these days, though beautiful, I doubt if I can compare the feelings I get from going into Shoprite with the feeling Kingsway Stores left in me each time my mum took myself and my siblings shopping back in the days.
Why did they just fizzle away? Is there anything we may learn from them?
Is there anything the new kids on the tech block learn from rideshare companies that failed recently irrespective of their huge fundings?
In his book “Why Companies Fail“, Harlan D. Platt opined that A business fails every hour of every day in the United States. He gives reasons as to why companies might fail, and what to look out for as indicators to a failing company.
As to why companies do not transcend their first-generation, Rei Obaigbo has this to say – ” Data is key in documenting history, most of these corporate corpses were killed and buried by corruption, somewhere even born from corruption. Data exposes corruption, hence the corrupt will constantly fight against the harnessing of data. The want for data will keep coming up, and unless the root problem is resolved, it will keep dying.”
Sad as it is, I am forced to take the stance of Rei, though I’ll add that most of them must at a point or the other changed their culture and became less customer-centric or they simply did not innovate accurately as and when they needed to.
So, the question for me is – How do we get Nigeria owned companies to give accurate data of their affairs? Would a private company be willing to through data out there, and would the big companies in the guise of shying away from taxes be willing to give a true account of their affairs?
And by accurate data of their affairs, I inquire on more than the numbers on the financial statements. I need them to disclose information investors need to put those numbers into context; not just the “how much?” but the “what?” and the “why?” !
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