‘Companies Need to Think Out of the Box to Grow Their Businesses’
Author and consummate life coach, Ayo Benson Olarewaju, a chartered accountant, rose to become a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, as well as Association of Certified Chartered Accountants in United Kingdom. He has his fingers i
You are based in the UK but have consistently showed passionate interest in Nigeria, through your articles and appearances in local and international television stations. What is the attraction?
The first attraction is the fact that I’m a Nigerian and like the saying goes; ‘no place like home’. Besides, the country has potentials for growth and a lot of human and natural resources that require proper nourishment. I have always said it that Nigeria has what it takes to become one of the greatest economies in the world if her resources can be well harnessed. To me, apart from the fact that we have poor approach to governance, I also believe experts should not shy away from providing necessary professional advice and services from time to time.
It is stated on your company’s website (ayobenson.com) that it helps transform businesses in the UK by getting remarkable results for big companies. Could you please tell us more about MBC Konsult?
MBC Konsult is a UK based company with a presence in Nigeria. The impressive results that are referred to in our profile are as a result of our unconventional ways of approaching business problems. Our experience has shown that the business school solutions are sometimes too complex to achieve quick result, so we devise our own ingenious ways of looking at providing solutions for our clients and the results speak for itself.
What do you think is the major challenge preventing Nigerian big companies from getting to the next level to compete internationally?
Let me take the question from unique perspectives; when you refer to major challenge, I would further divide it into two parts namely; internal and external challenges. Let me take the external challenges first because it is a great excuse for mediocrity. In today’s Nigeria, they include; the infrastructure, low per capital income, corruption, legislations, regulations and others. There is a limited chance of changing these factors directly as it is considered outside the control of the companies. However, the internal challenges are within the purview of control by the companies, which I will try to look at some of them and proffer solutions now.
The first one is people and in my practice when a company comes to me with a gigantic business challenge, I usually don’t jump in to solve the problem the way they expected. I analyse the leader of the company to see if there is any blind spot he couldn’t see himself. I call it blind spot to explain the fact that most leaders have tremendous skills and energy which is why they got to that position but for obvious reasons, it is difficult for them to see their own fault and people around them are unlikely to tell them the truth! The qualities that get a leader to the top may also stop them from getting to the next level.
You are saying the attitude of the CEO can make and break a company?
Yes, let me give you a practical example. A client of mine with presence in the UK, US and South Africa recorded losses for three years in a row and he was introduced by another client. My diagnosis revealed that the success achieved by the company through expansion got into the head of the CEO and he was running ahead of time to get things done! The simple solution is usu-