Why companies should use IT for business growth

The financial institutions may then demand proper business record keeping and, in some cases, a history of financial records. With operations in multiple locations, the small business has difficulty keeping track of inventory, sales and cash from the different locations. The growth is capped by her ability to surmount these challenges. And if the business […]

The financial institutions may then demand proper business record keeping and, in some cases, a history of financial records.
With operations in multiple locations, the small business has difficulty keeping track of inventory, sales and cash from the different locations.
The growth is capped by her ability to surmount these challenges. And if the business just grows without dealing with these challenges, the growth very quickly becomes unsustainable and runs into difficulty with suppliers, financiers and customers. This is a familiar refrain of many SMEs.
Larger organisations, especially those with affiliation to global multinational corporations, already know how to overcome many of these challenges using technology by leveraging on available technologies, investing  heavily in hardware (different types of computers), communication networks, linking their locations together, using various software typically for accounting, sales, operations and people management. They also invest in people with requisite skill in technology and business to keep these all working seamlessly together to deliver value.
These business systems however cost a lot of money, typically beyond the reach of many SMEs.
Large Enterprise servers and ERP software installations cost millions of dollars. Large IT departments have yearly budgets of a few million dollars as well.
This realisation of the challenges facing small businesses in keeping tab of their records informed the Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) Plc’s decision to develop various technological solutions aimed at addressing problems facing SMEs in Nigeria.
According to the Chief Technology Officer, CWG, Mr. James Agada, the company has for 20 years built a N20 billion business to help large organisations roll out these systems and keep them running.
He said banks, telcos, manufacturing, consulting and other such organisations have benefited from CWG’s service which quickly earned her the nickname – the technology of business, making CWG build a name for herself in the quality of service she offers and her spirit of never leaving the customer stranded.
Utilising her learning from these years of serving the large enterprises and taking advantage of the advances in technology – smartphones, tablets and the cloud, he said CWG has launched an initiative to bring the same tools large organisations use to drive their operations and growth to the smaller businesses and SMEs, who do not have the kind of budget that the large organisations boast of.
Agada noted that this initiative dubbed CWG 2.0 is to democratise access to technology for business growth.
He said: “By enabling much smaller companies and SMEs to utilise these tools, CWG 2.0 can drive an economic revolution. There are 17.6 million micro, small and medium enterprises in Nigeria compared to the roughly 200 companies listed on the Stock Exchange. The impact on the economy of these enterprises adding just one more employee or increasing their output by even one percent is beyond imagination. Some schools of thought have suggested that the ICT Cluster alone can shift the needle from the current $40b contribution to GDP, to as much as $150b market, not to talk of other value added segments in the supply chain such as Logistics.”
According to him, CWG has already released several products in this initiative, starting from her FinEdge software for microfinance and cooperative institutions, and now available on a monthly subscription basis through a partnership with the telco giant MTN.
He explained that openshopen.ng, an eCommerce platform that allows anyone to own and operate an online store with minimum fuss is also available within this eco system.
He said, “With more than 60 million Nigerians online, an online store allows the SME to expand her addressable market way beyond her immediate street or town or even state. The CWG SMERP platform also brings a complete business management solution to even one man businesses at the barest minimum cost. With other solutions still in the pipeline, one can very well say that CWG 2.0 has indeed democratised the technology of business.”