SME’s and their environment [Part 2]

temitope a

May 16, 2016 12:48 PM

This is a blog post by Dipo Oyewole...It is unimaginable that taxes are being paid and the infrastructural deficits are this enormous, justifying payment is always a philosophical commentary.

I simply see it as the issue of the ‘the chicken or the egg’ which comes first, pay now and we promise you development or develop first with the previous payments already in your coffers.

My advice, PAY NOW! Part of the responsibilities of a business and its interactions with its external environment (which will be discussed later) is providing, proffering solutions and not being part of the problem also has a box to be checked in the list.

As a Consulting Firm, one of the first lessons learnt when interacting with clients and their businesses is, to address the root cause, never fall into the trap of addressing cosmetic challenge which requires a corresponding solution.

Like the name implies,’ cosmetic’, it will never last forever. Often times temporary fixes do a lot more harm than not doing anything, down the line they are always more expensive, with no exceptions.

Until certain infrastructural fundamentals are addressed, loans, any and every form of financial and intellectual aid given to businesses will have their objectives frustrated with delays and waste. The theory of cutting costs in a business will then be well prioritized accordingly; overheads and most recurrent costs will have to reduce drastically, not the philosophy of underpaying staff and suspending benefits under the same pretense.

So let’s take a quick look at the outcomes of a proper enabling environment with a population of over one hundred and seventy million with sixty percent being youths …:

With a highly productive population of over 100,000,000 Youths only, internally generated revenue will grow exponentially.
Businesses run with ease, less tension, higher productivity, more money.
Staff is assumed to be better paid a little more than the current conditions.
Higher profits = Higher tax payments for the Government.
Higher GDP, better influx of Direct Foreign Investments.
Better respect for the Nation, its people and the Government.

I believe the analysis is quite clear and simplistic enough… providing infrastructure is not just a civic responsibility, it is also good for business and yes, including government business. It is an investment that yields returns in itself with the primary costs of it being spent on maintenance after it has been put in place.

All these are under the assumption that the Nation’s financial dependence and survival is dependent on SME’s, which in this case it isn’t. But the picture does look great from this perspective if it were supposed to be. The argument that countless other sources combined with these haven’t gotten us developed is probably a conversation for another time.

But let the numbers be true and the rumors be false. Fiction is usually better embraced than Fact, but we all know which of the two endures the most, infrastructural investment is being penny wise and pound wiser.

temitope a