As an entrepreneur, you want to grow your small business as quickly and efficiently as possible. But how can you do that? You may not have the resources of a multinational corporation, but there are still ways to grow your SME in Nigeria by using smart financial planning, good marketing strategies, and even online courses. Here’s our comprehensive guide to growing your SME in Nigeria:

Advertise Your Business

Advertising is one of the best ways to spread the word about your business. You can advertise online, on social media, or in print media. Have a catchy slogan and logo that will get people talking about what you do. Use different advertising techniques like radio, TV, and newspapers to reach out to potential clients.

What business are you trying to grow?

The first thing you need to do is answer the question: what business are you trying to grow?

You might be thinking, “I have a startup company and I want it to be more successful”. But what does that even mean?

A business has many different components, but there are three main aspects that make up every single one of them:

• What is your current state? What kind of situation are you in now? Are things going well or not so great at all? If so, how can we improve on our current strategy for growth and success (or lack thereof)?
• What is the problem?
• What are we trying to solve? How do we know that what we are doing will actually solve this problem (or any problems at all)?

Use a tax calculator

An important part of growing your business is to know how much tax you’re going to owe. If you don’t pay enough, the government will take it out of your pockets and give it back when they collect taxes at the end of the year (or sometimes even earlier if they think someone hasn’t paid enough).

If this sounds like something that would interest you, then there are some things that can help:

• Use a tax calculator. Tax calculators are great tools for helping people estimate how much tax they should be paying based on their income level and other factors such as deductions or credits that may apply in specific situations. You can use them both online via third-party websites like [this one], or offline using spreadsheets such as [this one].

Consider the location

Location is important because it affects your business’s success. If you are a retail business, you need to be close to your customers; if you are a service business, then proximity will help with customer service; or if you are manufacturing and have suppliers located in the same city as your factory or warehouse (which happens sometimes), then proximity would also be beneficial for both parties involved.

When starting an SME from scratch, decide whether it’s better to be a sole proprietor or incorporate your business

A sole proprietorship is the simplest way to start an SME in Nigeria. You don’t need any outside investors and you can do everything yourself. In this case, there are no formalities involved in starting up a company and you can get started on day one!

However, if your goal is to grow into something bigger than just yourself then incorporating may be more suitable for you since it allows both equity holders (shareholders), as well as creditors (debtors), access to what’s going on inside the company’s finances.

Also Read: How to Create a Unique selling proposition for your SME

See if your business idea is financially viable

It is important to know the cost of starting your business before you start it. You may think that you can get away with spending less on your business idea, but in reality, this is not true. You need to have a good estimate of how much money you will need to invest in order to launch your SME in Nigeria successfully.

Here are some questions that will help you determine whether or not your startup idea is financially viable:

• What are the costs of starting a business?
• What are the costs of running a business?
• What are projected revenues and profit margins? How much money do I need right now so that I can start my company without having any debts or obligations when I get started (i.e., no loans)?

Choose a suitable business name and register it.

The first step in growing your SME is to choose a suitable business name and register it with the corporate affairs commission (CAC). You can use this guide to help you choose the perfect name for your company:

• Choose an easy-to-remember name. A good choice is one that’s easy for potential customers or clients to remember, like “Apple” or “Google”.
• Choose an easy name that’s also safe enough for other businesses because they might try to infringe on it by registering their own similar products under those names;

Also, read our article on how to register a business name.

Get a tax identification number.

The Nigerian government has made it mandatory for all businesses in Nigeria to have a Tax Identification Number (TIN) by February 2020. This is so you can pay your taxes and business expenses on time, which is good for everyone involved: customers, employees, partners, and shareholders alike. You may think this won’t be an issue for small or medium enterprises because they’re not big enough to need one yet; however, there are several important things you should know before applying for one.

Set up an office, warehouse, equipment, or whatever structure you need for your business.

• You need a place to work.
• You also need a place to store your inventory.
• It’s important that you have somewhere safe where all of this can be kept in order and secure. You don’t want any risks with what is going on in the backroom at any given moment!

Make sure cash flows in and out of the business easily with bank accounts and credit cards.

It’s important because it allows you to pay expenses, make investments, and grow your business. If you don’t have enough cash flow, then it might be difficult for you to make payroll or purchase supplies.

This can lead to problems like having too much debt or not being able to keep up with expenses like taxes and insurance premiums. The more money that comes in from sales (and vice versa), the better off your company will be!

Conclusion

In conclusion, we hope that this article has helped you to understand the steps that you need to take in order to grow your SME business. Remember, it’s not just about how much money you make; it’s also about how happy employees are and how efficient your company is at doing what they do best.