Start-ups need apprenticeship to upscale their businesses, experts say

Experts in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) space in the country have called on start-ups in Nigeria to leverage apprenticeship and training to upscale their businesses.

The experts spoke at the Fate Foundation annual alumni conference held in Lagos recently, saying that start-up owners need to learn as apprentices before starting to grow and scale their businesses.

“Apprenticeship is a fantastic model of knowledge and learning to building businesses for scale. It also allows connection between learning and the industry,” Adenike Adeyemi, executive director, Fate Foundation, said.

“Start-ups need to undergo an incubation or apprenticeship programme to learn the practical aspect of their business from people that have already established similar business if they want to build for scale,” she added.

She noted that despite the difficult operating business environment in the country, start-ups that undergo apprenticeship programmes can position themselves with the skills and experience learnt to build their business sustainably.

Cosmos Maduka, founder of Cosharis Group, urged start-ups to undergo apprenticeship programmes to gain practical knowledge to build their businesses.

“Start-ups must understand that enduring businesses are not products of chance, they are characterised by clear vision and growth strategies actualised through prepared, structured and efficient leadership,” Maduka said.

“People will only invest in your business when they know where you are coming from and how you intend to scale up your business,” he added.

He noted that start-ups can do a lot with the little finance they have if they equip themselves with the right knowledge and practical skills by learning from people that are running the kind of business they intend to run

 “You need to build your practical skills front-end on how you develop your products, how to market the products, how to manage your financials, the challenges involved and how to resolve them to scale your business sustainably,” he added.

Josephine Okojie