FLIP to Boost Indigenous Businesses for Long-term Sustainability

Business owners from various sectors including real estate, oil and gas, and telecommunication recently convened for the first-ever Founders Leadership Intelligence Programme (FLIP) at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. 
The two-day residential retreat marked the flag off of a three-month online programme that will be held fortnightly till September 10.
An offshoot of the Niyi Adesanya Business ThinkTank Programme, FLIP is an initiative geared at repositioning the mindset of business owners through a wealth of knowledge harnessed from seasoned business coaches to develop and drive long-term strategic plans for the sustainability and profitability of businesses.
“FLIP focuses on business owners who have a vision of building businesses that can outlast them, that is, centennial businesses,” CEO, FifthGear Plus Consulting and convener of FLIP, Niyi Adesanya said. 
He added, “On the African continent, You find so many organisations that started and died with their owners or their founders. And you keep wondering, why is that so? How can we correct this? How can you, as an individual, start a company that can outlive you?
“There is a gap. And it is not just a gap, it is a serious lacuna that prompted us to convene these business founders and start teaching  them and letting them understand what needs to be done to be able to sustain their businesses.”
Through Adesanya’s lens, business owners were imparted with knowledge of the different leadership styles, setting up structures to build dynamic systems, and collaborating within and outside their sectors while leveraging relationships.  
During a special segment tagged ‘Gathering of Kings: The Kings, The Land, and Real Estate’, FLIP  introduced participants in the real estate business to traditional rulers in a bid to forge a mutual relationship that can be leveraged for long-term growth in the sector. 
The Alara of Ilara, Oba Olufolarin Ogunsanwo who was among the rulers present at the event, commended the initiative for being a timely intervention at a time when business longevity is alien to most indigenous startups.
“There is a very urgent and important need for us to be mentored properly for businesses to thrive and even exist beyond us. We should be able to hand it over to the coming generations to continue. To achieve such, we must adopt the three C’: Character, Competence, and Capacity,” he said, noting that  “most multinational businesses are still thriving with strong brand names that still stand the test of time. They are not any better than us, their thinking faculties aren’t any better; however, it has been the way we’ve been approaching things. I am glad that Niyi Adesanya has been able to put this together.”
On his part, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, who is well versed in the subject of real estate pointed out that some of the current structures adopted by businesses need an overhaul.
“I think what is fundamentally wrong with Nigerian companies is that we don’t have a strong succession plan, and every time we blame the government,” Ogunwusi asserted.
Adesanya hopes that the impact of FLIP will be one that not only helps build these dynamic systems but also empowers them through the accountability of these business owners. 
Other business coaches expected in the series include Founder, Coscharis Group, Dr Cosmas Maduka; Founder, Centre for Values in Leadership, Prof Pat Utomi; MD, Mopheth Pharmacy, Odun Oyegade; Group Chief Executive, Signature Group, Samson Davies; and Group IT Manager and CIO, Evolution Power Tools, Emmanuel Haruna.