Sustainability is key in the life of every business- QVT Media boss, Brenda Nwagwu
Amechi Obiakpu
As business owners grapple with the twin tasks of cost reduction and profit maximization among other challenges, the need for sustainability is one key element that the owners must put into consideration as without it, the continuous existence of the business will be threatened.
This advice was given by the Chief Executive, QVT Media, Brenda Nwagwu. She said this is particularly important because nobody has unlimited pool of fund, and even if they do, there is so much losses they can accommodate before they pull the plug on the business.
Brenda, a seasoned entrepreneur and communications specialist who runs QVT Media, a thriving media marketing and advertising company said in an interview with MediaConsortium, last Thursday, August 31, 2023, at the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM), in Lagos, that Profitability should be the paramount thing for any business to remain alive.
The theme of the event was “Key Enablers to Running a Healthy and Profitable Agency Business”.
According to Brenda, “even when there is struggle and you keep making a loss what it means is that you are heading to shut down so, to be profitable helps you to be alive while you now think of sustainability which is one of the things that came up today,” she said.
“It’s a path to sustainability unless you have a pool of money some where, you can keep making all the losses while you are trying to build any idea then its fine. But, we should also realise that, no business can take up losses more than necessary before it begins to think of pulling the plug on that business.
“I think where we are is probably a re-invention stage, we need to re-invent ourselves to be relevant to build that profitability road after profitability then sustainability. Profitability without sustainability will end sooner than later,” she pointed.
She noted that no business abruptly goes out of operation, it first starts showing its owners signs which come in different dimensions depending on how the agencies are wired.
“Things don’t happen in a day. For most people things might have been happening in the life of a business before it transcend to the top, there are things that are evident over time and in the economy we find ourselves it didn’t just happen. Even before covid we were already seeing the signs and know where we are headed. One of the things that came up today is cost reduction- every organization is looking towards reducing cost and how to increase revenue. The biggest thing for many of the organization is how to remain relevant- looking for how to move from point A to B. People are not even talking of one square meal again but people must eat anyways”.
Although, the effect of the economic downturn is evident across various sectors of the economy including the IMC industry, but, Brenda says that has not stopped her agency from adding value to the clients they work with which has made QVT Media to remain relevant in the industry.
“They say when your client is not successful, then you are not successful. When your client is not doing well you cant do well. But if your client is having challenges, you don’t wait until they get to the doldrum before you jump into it and be part of the solution- that is one of our strongest point- ensuring that every clients that work with us get value.
“We keep building our people and building knowledge of our clients and people we are prospecting. So, if I meet you for the first time I should tell you how to help you improve your business and not just doing it in such a way that it will be too technical for you but to bring it down and then take it back up so that by the time you leave me, you would have gotten value from me and you will see it in all of our engagements via the posts we dish out regularly.
“A lot of work we are putting out there is about building value, reduce cost and stuff like that. Also, for the core business that you do, people need to have a better understanding and have a more rounded view of the business and how our client’s business whether its going well or not and how it impacts us and why it has to be a solutions provider. Questions like how are we impacting the business of our clients and are we delivering on our mandate are some of what occupy our mind regularly?” she added
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