Citing capital as the single most important factor for the sustainable growth of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), the Head, SME Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Obinna Ukachukwu, has assured that the bank is committed to supporting SMEs through various capacity building.
He gave this clarification at the 2016 Global Possibilities Summit of Inspired Woman of Worth (iWOW) network which took place in Lagos, recently.
Ukachukwu, who was a guest speaker and panelist at the summit, spoke on “How to Find, Create, Manage, Grow and Keep Real Money for your Business.”
He said without capital it would be difficult for any business to attract finance or investment. Ukachukwu defined capital as the value of and the history behind a business. According to him, if a promoter of a business does not know the value of the business, it is very unlikely that any investor or financier will be comfortable committing their money because the equity or debt investor is bringing in money in exchange for value.
“If you don’t know the value of your business then you do not expect a debt investor to put in his money,” Ukachukwu said.
He, however, assured that Stanbic IBTC Bank would continue to work with operators in the SME sector, particularly through capacity building and information sharing, to ensure they build capital. He explained that the value of a business can be determined if the proper structures, such as proper book keeping, annual reports, tax returns, auditor’s report, and record of banking transactions, which form the history of the business, have been put in place.
He therefore, encouraged business owners and entrepreneurs to engage the services of professionals to ensure the right structures are in place.
“When you have generated capital, you have determined your business’ worth, you then need someone to attest to that in form of documentations, whether it is your banker, your auditor or your tax man. Having these in place will make it easier for you to attract debt or equity financing,” Ukachukwu stated.
He expressed confidence that Stanbic IBTC Bank will continue to assist the growth of micro, small and medium scale enterprises through targeted product and service offerings. According to him, the Stanbic IBTC SME seminars and the Virtual Business Centre (BizDirect) are two of the bank’s interventions to help build capacity and share needed information.