The Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria has outlined ways businesses should use to stay open despite growing inflation.
The institute identified a number of methods that must be implemented for organizations to remain dynamic in trying times, including reducing corporate operations, maintaining a focus on cash flow, repositioning for future growth through enhanced productivity, and monitoring supply chain risks.
Dr. Nosike Agokei, chief consultant of Agokei & Co., was the featured speaker at the institute’s induction of new members.
He claimed that businesses should raise prices in line with inflation as a wonderful method to protect profits.
According to him, optimizing corporate operations can help businesses remain effective during inflation by reducing costs and enabling them to earn more money with less work.
“When doing this, it is crucial to maintain your customers’ attention. So, consider using a pricing strategy that helps you earn sales. At the same time, instead of hiking the prices without a clear plan, you could try to have competitive prices that don’t force your customers to leave you.”
“Identifying flexibility with suppliers is a key to dealing with inflation and restructuring existing debt. Insist on a fixed-rate loan instead of an adjustable-rate loan so your cost of borrowing will remain constant, regardless of economic conditions and also prioritise the most profitable products,” he said.
According to Dr. Ije Jidenma, president and council chairman of IoD Nigeria, a substantial portion of the problems the nation is currently confronting are not external but rather internal.
The IoD head listed issues like crude oil theft, pervasive corruption in the PMS subsidy scheme, farmer displacement, and changes in residence as all being self-inflicted.
She noted that the institute has a difficulty in contributing to the answer and claimed that effective leadership calls for much more than skill or the accomplishment of immediate objectives.
She advised the newly inducted members that in order to accomplish long-term and sustainable goals that would be advantageous to all stakeholders, practitioners must encourage ethical and responsible leadership.
She urged the directors to volunteer for work inside the institute and stated that the institution had prepared the directors to serve as the most responsible global advocates for good corporate governance and ethical behavior.
