Technology will continue to significantly affect business models in Nigeria over and beyond the next decade. While new businesses may be quick to adopt new technologies, older businesses will need innovation and major changes in their processes to succeed in the digital economy.
Today, Nigerian customers are more digitally empowered than they were 10 years ago and as businesses employ new technologies, they are finding it easier to better engage with their customers and offer delightful experiences at affordable costs.
Here are 5 business aspects that are quickly changing in Nigeria, thanks to technology and innovation.
Marketing: of all aspects of business, marketing has seen the most disruption in recent times. Just 10 years ago, only a handful of Nigerian businesses could be found online. But fast forward to now, businesses build their nests on the web even before they are launched. Although traditional marketing is still used, many businesses are taking a larger chunk of their marketing digital while most new businesses are going 100% digital with their marketing. Jumia and Konga are well known for changing how we shop because they maximised digital marketing at a time it wasn’t so popular.
Related Event: Programmatic Marketing: The Future of Digital Media in Africa
Finance: with finance being one of the most important aspects of business and a high determinant of the success or failure of the same, technology is making it easier for businesses to manage finances and Nigerian businesses are quickly adopting financial technology solutions. Paystack, for instance, is helping Nigerian businesses accept payments from anyone, anywhere in the world, while Accountinghub is providing professional accounting support for small and medium scale enterprises. Some other innovators are Paga, Vogue Pay, Remita, and Interswitch.
Collaboration & Team Work: more and more new businesses are building teams that are distributed across the country and even globally. This would not be possible without the use of collaboration software like Slack, Trello etc.
There has also been a rise in the number of co-working communities, office share and workspaces that serve entrepreneurs and small businesses across the country. Companies like Co-Creation Hub, iDea Hub, Capital Square, Cranium One, Buffrspace, Cre8 Space and Ventures Platform are filling the gap and helping small businesses cut overhead costs on renting office spaces.
Related Event: The Co-World: Transformative Power of Technology, Content & Commerce
Recruitment & Talent Management: you will agree that the success of any business depends on the quality of its human resources. While companies like Jobberman, PushCV, Gr8Jobsng have sprung up to make it easier to find and hire high-quality full-time staff, a newer solution eWorker is helping companies cut costs by hiring remote staff and Talent Base a free Payroll & HR Software is giving businesses a single place to manage all of their HR administration needs.
Business Travel: both intercity and intracity travel are being disrupted by technology and entrepreneurs are getting easier solutions to ensure their travels are smooth. Startups like Hotels.ng, JumiaTravel are helping business travellers book hotels ahead of their journeys, Travelstart, Wakanow on the other hand are helping travellers book cheap flights, Uber has revolutionised intracity travel while a new intercity travel startup, Travoola is promising business owners who travel by road, faster, more comfortable and convenient road trips with their online only booking system. God is Good Motors is also known for spearheading the digital transformation of the intercity travel services in Nigeria.
This list above is in no way exhaustive. There’s so much more disruption occurring in the business sector. Know of any more business aspects fast changing in Nigeria due to innovation? Be sure to share with us in the comments below.
To learn more about the innovation across lagos at Africa at large be sure to attend #smwlagos 2017. Register here: https://socialmediaweek.org/lagos/attend/