Platform Enterprise is an arm of The Platform that is targeted at how to grow businesses, sustainable business practices and sharing practical experiences from respected experts with visionary minds. The first edition of Platform Enterprise is scheduled for 9 am prompt on the 5th of July, 2014 at The Covenant Place, Iganmu, Lagos.
According to ‘Poju Oyemade, the promoter of this initiative, “The driving force behind the concept “The Platform” is nation building and nothing drives nation building like the development of enterprise.”
Enterprise development plays a critical role in nation building, nation advancement and a nation’s innovativeness. Development cannot happen without it, growth cannot happen without it and poverty cannot be reduced. It is what produces the middle class in any society which is the stabilising force and its engine of growth.
Enterprise begins with an individual who starts with an idea, a vision, to fulfil a need within the community. Against all odds he decides to pursue that dream and to succeed at it. By so doing changes the dynamics of his environment forever.
Having an idea is one thing, building it into an enterprise is another thing. Failure rate among enthusiastic start ups is 25% first year, 36% in the second year and 60% by the 5th year.
Among the reasons for failure, neglect, fraud or disaster are only responsible for 1% of failure. The major problems are incompetence, lack of or unbalanced managerial experience and lack of experience in the line of goods and services.
It requires a set of skills to succeed.
At Platform Enterprise we seek to address that.
This enterprise education based seminar is themed: “Principles for Starting & Developing an Enterprise in Nigeria.”
Speakers are:
- Prof Anil Gupta: “How to grow a business”. Dr. Anil K. Gupta is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy, globalization and entrepreneurship. He is ranked by Thinkers50 as one of the world’s “most influential living management thinkers” and has been named by The Economist as one of the world’s “superstars” in a cover story on “Innovation in Emerging Economies.” He is also one of only three professors, out of over 25000 worldwide, to have been elected as a Lifetime Fellow of the three most prestigious academic bodies in his field – Academy of Management, Strategic Management Society, and Academy of International Business.
- Leke Alder: “Understanding the Power of Branding and Marketing”. Leke Alder is the Founder & Principal of Alder Consulting, Nigeria’s leading branding firm with offices in Lagos and London. He is credited with introducing branding as a discipline to Nigeria and has consulted on policy, politics and business at the highest levels locally and internationally. He has consulted on policy formulation for the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Federal Ministries of Information & Communication, Education, Foreign Affairs, Solid Minerals Development, among others. He has also consulted on political strategy and communication campaigns at national and sub-national levels. Leke Alder wrote the blueprint on Nigeria’s image management programme – the Heart of Africa project and was the Chief Consultant to the Federal Government on the project.
- Dr Doyin Salami: “Understanding the present Economic Climate in Nigeria: Its Trends and Opportunities”. A doctoral degree graduate of Queen Mary College, University of London, Doyin Salami is currently a full-time member of the faculty at Lagos Business School (LBS), where he is Senior Lecturer. In addition, he is also an executive director of the UK-based African Business Research Ltd. At LBS he leads sessions in economic environment of business, and had also served as director of programmes for five years until January 2005. Dr Salami’s research interests include: issues in corporate long-term financial management; macroeconomic policy; corporate competitiveness and risk management; and characteristics of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In addition to teaching, Doyin Salami is a consultant. His consulting activities have included assignments for the Department for International Development (DFID), World Bank, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
- Bolaji Balogun: “Things you should know to start and develop a business enterprise in Nigeria”. Mobolaji Balogun is the Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer of Chapel Hill Denham Group, a leading independent investment banking firm in Nigeria. He attended London School of Economics, University of London where he obtained a B.Sc. Degree (Hons) in Economics in 1989. He is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Nigeria as well as an Authorised Dealing Clerk of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. He is a renowned investment expert whose commitment to national development encouraged his involvement in various Government reform programmes in Telecommunications, Banking, and the Capital Market.
