ICT firm exemplifying principles of SME success
The cardinal principles of business success for small and medium enterprises is being exemplified by Domino Information Company Limited (DICL).
This is buttressed by recognitions from within and outside the country as DICL, which is just about to enter its fifth year has received four major awards/recognitions this year.
Uzo Nduka, chief executive, DICL says. “These four awards that we have received this year deliver important messages about our company from the outside, from our customers, from the civil society and from other stakeholders.”
Nduka, who is also a business trainer, uses his company recognition to point out some vital information for businesses. He adds, “This is very good feedback coming from the outside to us; it is not us telling ourselves.
For instance, a group from Harvard that worked in Nigeria in partnership with the Tony Elumelu Foundation recognised us as the 12th fastest growing business in Nigeria, meaning that over a three to four-year period we have consistently been able to achieve good financial performance which is one of the basic building blocks of business.
“Any business that cannot achieve and consistently sustain good financial performance is not a good business, it will not be trusted by an investor; no employee would trust such a business; such a business is a disaster waiting to happen.
“The second award is from the Institute for Government Research and Leadership Technology which is part of the presidency. They gave us the award as the best company in process information in software development.
It speaks of the fact that we have technical capabilities that are stronger than most of our competitors in the same line of business in Nigeria and in the developed world.”
He continues. “The third award we got at the SERA event is on corporate social responsibility. We have been able to demonstrate that we are operating in a socially responsible manner. This is because as a business trainer, in the last four years, I have been volunteering my time every month in training other young people in small business management skills at no cost to anybody.
“Also, each time DICL is running its annual small business planning workshop where we train small businesses to prepare for the new year, we always admit some small business operators we know might not be able to afford the little amount we charge for free at our own cost over the last four years.”
He further says, “The fourth award came from the Leadership magazine which is a pan-African company based in Ghana. They recognised us as a company that has good leadership and management in Africa. One of the main reasons is the fact that as a company we are committed to developing our own African products for the African market.
“We are not importing from America, Europe or anywhere else. For them it is important that a SME company is championing research and the development of product for the African market rather than just joining others to dump products in our market and exporting our money abroad. What we are doing is the more difficult way to go, but it is what creates more value for African nations.”
According to him, these four principles, consistent financial growth, technical capabilities, corporate social responsibility and good management skills are needed by every small business that wants to grow and exist for a long time.
DICL is an information technology company that develops ICT-based products to ease decision-making for managers in the private and public sectors.
By: OLUYINKA ALAWODE