Starting a business is similar to executing a project. And in Nigeria’s vibrant entrepreneurial space acquiring effective business skills, like project management, in addition to applying technology to business operations might perhaps give businesses competitive advantage.
Although project manager roles have continued to expand into such areas as the business development arena where new projects are initiated through processes designed to obtain additional business for the organization, according to the Project Management Institute’s 2014 Pulse of the Profession report, organizations face a chasm between what they should be doing — aligning projects to their strategy — and what they are able to accomplish. As a result, 44 percent of strategic initiatives are unsuccessful; although the report also indicates that projects aligned to an organisation’s strategy are completed successfully more often than projects that are misaligned (48 percent versus 71 percent).
Affirming this global business trend, information management expert and MD/CEO Digital Jewels, Adedoyin Odunfa says projectizing the business activities, especially at startup stage, helps business owners manage operations better.
“A project management approach helps to manage business processes,” Odunfa says, “by breaking down business operations into smaller projects assigning tasks to competent people, and measuring results, entrepreneurs can run businesses more efficiently.”
Speaking recently on the Mara Mentor Talk Show, the Digital Jewels CEO added that information as corporate asset in today’s world requires entrepreneurs to understand how the information value chain works to succeed in business. Thus, with the impact of technology on generating and applying tailored information to improve business and develop human capacities, perhaps entrepreneurs could have it easier by ‘projectizing’ operations and utilizing technology in business.
The “winners [in business] will be those who use technology effectively,” she said, commenting on the impact of technology in business. “The efficient use of technology helps build requisite database and corresponding automated functions, which assist modern day entrepreneurs to ‘projectized’ business operations and manage risks,” Odunfa added.
Besides project management and technology, Mrs Odunfa, who is also a mentor on Africa’s largest entrepreneurship network, Mara Mentor, urged young Nigerians to build capacity and acquire knowledge about industries before venturing into them. She also implored young entrepreneurs to seek guidance from mentors.
“Nobody is going to tell you what to do,” she said, adding that young people must learn from the mistakes and successes of mentors.
