Simple Actions That Will Accelerate Your Business

Starting your own business has several financial benefits over working for a wage or salary. First, you are building an enterprise that has growth potential – and your wallet grows as your company does. Second, your business itself is a valuable asset. As your business grows, it is worth more and more. I believe this is the story of everyone who owns a small business. It is the story of Customer Passion Point Limited (CPPL) which is led and managed by Ikechukwu Kalu.

Customer Passion Point Limited is a value-creation consulting firm that provides advertising and training solutions to small, medium, and large corporations in Nigeria and beyond. It started its operations in 2010 and has been a part of building some great brands and individuals in the last 10 years. Ikechukwu Kalu is glad to share his story with us in the edition.

The drive to create value is a good reason to start and run a business. This is the story of Customer Passion Points Limited (CPPL). We started by running open training programs targeted at SMEs and young professionals in the corporate sector. These programs were aimed at equipping business owners and young professionals with the right skills to be the best they can be. More than 400 participants have attended these programs, and testimonies abound. Over the next few months, we expanded to include corporate/customized training to meet specific needs as well as online courses that participants can take at any time.

Ikechukwu Kalu started his career as a Factory Hand at Guinness Nigeria Plc (now Diageo) fresh from secondary school in 1982 and went through higher education while working. He joined MTN Nigeria in 2002 after putting in 19 years of meritorious service in Guinness. He worked at MTN for 7 years and grow to the position of Ag. General Manager, Consumer Segment before moving on to Zain Nigeria (now Airtel) as HoD Churn & Retention and later HoD Consumer Segments. He was in this role for two years before he went on an expatriate assignment in Tanzania, A Marketing Director of Zantel Telecoms (a part of Etisalat). After 3 years in Tanzania, he returned to Nigeria to Join FCMB Limited as Group Head / VP, Marketing & Communications. Thereafter, he led the marketing team of Ecobank Nigeria as AVP/Head of Consumer Marketing before settling into running Customer Passion Point Limited full-time.

The experiences shared, as good as they seem, may not lead to one being able to start and effectively run a successful business. Running a business requires a little more than just having a good idea and being famous.

Below are five simple thoughts I would like to share with you. It’s not magic, it’s a result of strategy and proper execution.

1. Hire the right people and train them. You must seek out good people with entrepreneurial skills and a desire to add value. They may be a little more expensive, but it pays off in the end. Having recruited right, the next enabler is training. You should have a plan and process to train them regularly.

2. Keep and nurture your trusted sources of revenue. You must have a customer value development plan that would drive the delivery of a consistent experience. Be in touch with your trusted customers/clients and ensure that nothing goes wrong with them. While we are looking for new sources of revenue, we must never take our eyes off the existing ones.

3.Reduce your risks. You just have to avoid taking careless risks. Business owners must adopt simple processes that ensure the risks attached to their activities are well managed.

4. Be adaptable and flexible. You cannot afford to be rigid if we want to accelerate our organization. The needs, want, and aspirations of our customers are ever-changing. You, therefore, have to be flexible enough to accommodate them. This is really what value creation is about.

5.Be driven by vision, and your culture. You must keep your focus right – on the vision. Always think ahead of the business, be clear about our mission, and have non-negotiable core values. Your systems, processes, and people will work well when the motivation for being in business is tangible and understood by everyone in the organization.

In conclusion, the importance of culture which covers our mission, vision, and core value cannot be over-emphasized. They set the pace for us and help to keep us focused. If you don’t know where you are going, everything you do will take you nowhere. Culture will assist employees in understanding the dynamics of your organization, working well with colleagues, adapting to working practices, sharing ideas, and communicating more effectively. The result shows in the way we are perceived externally. It influences an organization’s brand perception

For More Tips on how to grow your small business: Visit https://cppl.com.ng/blog/

Simple Actions That Will Accelerate Your Business

Starting your own business has several financial benefits over working for a wage or salary. First, you are building an enterprise that has growth potential – and your wallet grows as your company does. Second, your business itself is a valuable asset. As your business grows, it is worth more and more. I believe this is the story of everyone who owns a small business. It is the story of Customer Passion Point Limited (CPPL) which is led and managed by Ikechukwu Kalu.