Zoho Executive Advocates for Structured Growth in Nigeria

Kehinde Ogundare, the Regional Head for West Africa at Zoho Corporation, has called on Nigerian entrepreneurs to minimize their reliance on founders and informal processes by establishing structured, technology-driven systems that support long-term growth. He noted that many Nigerian businesses depend heavily on founders’ memories and personal relationships, which makes operations vulnerable when key individuals are unavailable.

Ogundare emphasized that while resilience is crucial, it differs from building a scalable enterprise. He stated that businesses should evaluate their operational strength by considering their performance in the founder's absence.

He identified operational inefficiencies and fragmented information as significant barriers to growth. Ogundare outlined five essential shifts for Nigerian businesses: transitioning from memory-based operations to permanent systems, and moving from intuition to data-backed decision-making.

He stressed the importance of documenting customer interactions and using real-time data for informed decision-making to enhance sustainability and predictability in business growth.