At the 2025 BusinessDay Top 100 Fastest Growing SMEs event, industry leaders gathered in Lagos to examine the future of small business competitiveness in Nigeria. Among the speakers was Isaac Oladipupo, Founder of Moneywise Africa, whose message centred on on leveraging clarity and storytelling to thrive for SMEs.
Speaking on the panel for Digital Transformation and SME Growth, Oladipupo emphasised that Nigerian businesses can no longer rely on intuition or guesswork in a rapidly shifting digital economy.
“People don’t buy products; they buy solutions to their problems,” he said. “Data tells you the truth about your business and helps you understand those problems clearly.”
Oladipupo urged entrepreneurs to adopt simple data-driven practices, such as consistently asking customers where they heard about the business, tracking daily sales patterns, and observing repeat-purchase behaviour to guide decisions on marketing, product development, and operations. According to him, many SMEs struggle not because they lack talent or effort, but because “they are guessing their way through decisions that require clarity.”
The panel also explored how digital tools are reshaping market access. Oladipupo noted that payment links, online visibility, and e-commerce platforms are expanding the reach of small businesses beyond physical boundaries. “Digital tools don’t replace entrepreneurs—they multiply them,” he said, adding that technology enables SMEs to reduce waste, improve speed, and deliver a more trustworthy customer experience.
Another major theme of the session was the power of storytelling. Oladipupo described storytelling as a “core business skill” in a crowded digital landscape. “No matter how automated the world becomes, people will always buy from people,” he said. He encouraged SMEs to use simple content formats to share their processes, values, and customer success stories as a way to build trust and differentiate their brands.
Adeshina Adewunmi, CEO of Trade Lenda, urged SMEs to begin their digital adoption by defining the value they want to deliver and selecting channels that best connect them to their audience. He noted that social media remains a powerful tool for organic customer acquisition when entrepreneurs demonstrate genuine value.
Suliat Aliyu, Head of Partnerships at Interswitch, highlighted the increasing importance of compliance and digital transparency, particularly for SMEs seeking to build credibility in regulated sectors. She noted that digital payments and e-commerce infrastructure have significantly improved customer trust and removed geographic limitations for small businesses.
Chibuike Goodnews, CEO of Dochase Adx, explained how targeted algorithms now allow SMEs to reach the right audiences faster than ever. He encouraged entrepreneurs aspiring to global markets to design products and communication strategies that resonate beyond local borders.
Financial discipline also featured prominently in the discussion. Tina Nwaiwu, Director of Sales at UCEE Microfinance Bank, advised SMEs to track every transaction and channel business income through bank accounts to strengthen credit profiles and expand access to financing.
The event underscored a shared message: SMEs that combine data, storytelling, digital tools, and financial discipline will be better positioned to compete globally and scale sustainably.
As the session concluded, Oladipupo reiterated Moneywise’s mission to equip Africans with the clarity and competence needed for long-term financial growth. For many attendees, the message landed as both instruction and encouragement, a reminder that with the right tools and insights, Nigerian SMEs can build stronger, smarter, and more competitive businesses in the years ahead.
