The Chief Executive Officer of Lalaa Consulting, Mr. Demola Aderibigbe, has said that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria must begin to apply creativity and innovation in their businesses if they want to survive and compete with bigger companies.
Mr. Aderibigbe made this statement in Lagos during the first edition of the Academy of Creativity, Innovation and Disruption (ACID), a programme organised to teach business owners how to think creatively and do things differently.
According to him, many SMEs in Nigeria don’t grow or last beyond five years because they don’t use new ideas to run their businesses. He pointed to a 2023 report by the National Bureau of Statistics which showed that 80 per cent of small businesses in the country do not survive after five years.
He said one of the major problems is that many business owners wrongly believe innovation means spending a lot of money on technology. He explained that innovation actually starts with imagination, and every business owner has that.
“Many SME founders think innovation is about costly technology. But true innovation starts with imagination—something every business owner has. The real challenge is learning how to apply it strategically,” he said.
Mr. Aderibigbe said the ACID programme was introduced to help business owners learn how to be creative and innovative, especially as many of them are not aware of how important creativity is to their growth.
He also said his company, Lalaa Consulting, has changed the way business consulting is done by introducing something called Humour-based Gamified Consulting Practice (HGCP). This method uses fun and games to help businesses grow, and it has helped them work with some of Nigeria’s biggest companies.
He advised SME owners to start thinking differently about their products, services and how they run their businesses so they can meet the needs of customers that are not properly served by big companies.
According to him, smaller businesses have the power to break into the market and build strong customer bases if they are creative. He added that creativity is no longer a choice but something every serious business must have.
Mr. Aderibigbe encouraged SMEs to take advantage of platforms like ACID and other programmes that teach practical business skills, saying these tools can help them grow and succeed even in tough economic times.
