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  We are into a New Year. Despite the uncertainties and turbulence we had to deal with in the previous 12 months, we look forward to the coming ones with a hope for better things. However, as pragmatists often point out, hope is not a strategy. It’s great as a foundation for action, but getting things done requires clarity about direction and a willingness to execute with efficiency. That’s just one of several watchwords for Nigerian entrepreneurs we’re recommending.
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This piece is a run through many such watchwords. What we’ll do here is encapsulate a winning attitude to the year ahead in just a few words. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired by them to achieve a lot more in 2025. Here they are:

Courage

Faced with economic headwinds, you have two options to choose from: panic and buckle; or press on with courage. Unless it makes no financial sense to continue on your current course, we encourage you to stay the course. There’s no guarantee that the dark clouds menacing our skies as a nation will dissipate any time soon. But we can drive into the future knowing that our best efforts can yield wonderful results in the long run. Hope should breed courage—lots of it. And you’ll need all the courage you can muster to succeed this year.

Watchfulness

While we urge you to advance courageously, it’s also prudent to keep an eye on things within and around your business. This means tracking production processes, inventory, and sales; watching for and correcting administrative inefficiencies; and monitoring policy and economic conditions so you can adapt quickly to changes. The more attuned you are to what’s going on in your business environment, the better your knowledge will be. As a result, you’ll spot valuable opportunities, avoid costly mistakes, and record more successes.
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Transparency

This is one of the most important watchwords for Nigerian entrepreneurs this year. Being transparent about the state of your business to members of your team will allow them to make better decisions and take action with greater conviction. Also, being open to your customers about your products and services—what they are and aren’t meant for –will earn you their respect (and perhaps their loyalty too). We’re not telling you to divulge trade secrets to the public. We’re suggesting that you treat your employees and customers with respect and honour their right to know.

Efficiency

Inflation will probably remain a big concern for businesses in 2025. So, maximizing every naira you invest in your enterprise has to be a top priority. With costs staying high, your aim should be to cut waste wherever you find it and seek out ways to produce more results with less. This might take more than a bit of tinkering. However encouraging innovative, out-of-the-box thinking and problem-solving among your staff could take you closer to this goal. For starters, consider switching to less costly vendors and local alternatives to imported inputs.

Flexibility

Flexibility is a characteristic that businesses will do well to have, especially in conditions like the one we’ve been in these past few years. You need to be able to adapt to a rapidly changing operating environment. Economic pressures, along with fast-paced technological evolution, make this an absolute necessity. If you can revise and adjust things on the go, you’ll be in a better position than most businesses to seize opportunities when they arise.
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Final Words

Those were our 5 watchwords for Nigerian entrepreneurs for the year 2025. We believe they should be pillars for every business, shaping their plans and guiding their executions. You can achieve more going forward if you have them top of mind.
Got a suggestion? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.com

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This article was first published on 13th January 2025
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ikenna-nwachukwu

Ikenna Nwachukwu holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He loves to look at the world through multiple lenses- economic, political, religious and philosophical- and to write about what he observes in a witty, yet reflective style.


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