HERE COMES THE “LOAN DOCTOR

Accessing loans can be a daunting challenge for many entrepreneurs, especially women. Fayo Williams, a pharmacist by training, entrepreneur by choice and certified management consultant, has gained extensive experience in securing various types of loans from different sources, earning her the nickname “the Loan Doctor.” With her expertise in both pharmaceuticals and finance, Williams is on a mission to bridge the gap between these two worlds through her work in financial literacy for women. Vanessa Obioha reports

From a young age, Fayo Williams demonstrated a passion for research and knowledge sharing, initially sparked by her curiosity about the pharmacodynamics of painkillers. Today, she wears multiple hats in the fields of pharmaceuticals and finance, striving to empower women through financial literacy initiatives.
Obtaining a bachelor’s and master’s degree in pharmacy from Obafemi Awolowo University, Williams launched her first business as a small pharmacy store owner, one that shares proximity to her residence. Within 30 years, she has advanced to take on the dual role of executive director of a Health and Safety Supplies and Training company and the managing consultant of Simply Exponential Consult Limited, a social enterprise involved in hub management that offers entrepreneurship and employability training, as well as production of digital content for learning management systems.
Before venturing into entrepreneurship, Williams gained valuable experience in paid employment, working for a manufacturing company in Ibadan before coming to Lagos to work as a healthcare consultant.
Throughout her business journey, Williams recognized the critical importance of financial support in achieving her goals.
“All along the way, I found out that, at various times, I needed funding to expand my business. So I became quite adept at getting different kinds of loans, ranging from loans from family and friends to cooperative society loans. I was able to raise a loan from my insurance company backed by my policies. I was able to raise non-collateralized loans from a financial institution.

“I was also able to raise development finance, including the FGN COVID-19 funds, as well as a hub loan from the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund under the Lagos Innovates programme. In fact, that was the second time, the first being the Lagos State SME Loan,” explained Williams.

These series of events around securing a loan and building her business which eventually expanded to new locations over the years, prepared her to serve as a beacon to other women who were running SMEs and finding it difficult to navigate through the rigorous processes of securing loans, and effectively running their day-to-day financial affairs. It was in 2010 that she delved fully into the finance field.

“I decided to forge into that space (finance) to do what I love doing best, which was to train and educate SMEs because I got asked a lot of questions: How come you’ve been able to stay so long in business? What are the ways you run your financial management and your planning? How come you are at exhibitions? How do you bid for projects and things like that? So I found out that I had a lot to share. That took me into the management consulting space.”

Using a pragmatic approach, Williams walks her mentees through the basics of record keeping, and this is irrespective of the tier of business they run. It usually ranges from market women in the informal sector to professionals in the formal sector.
“I’ve trained the informal sector for about three years running, in vernacular, my native language. I’ve been able to communicate, dance with them and pass on these nuggets of personal finance.”
By these nuggets, Williams meant educating them on the need for delayed gratification, planning and budgeting, as well as calculating return on investments. Williams also established an online course called HERMONEYCLINIC, designed to instill a winning money mindset in women. The course addresses misconceptions surrounding money and funding requirements, emphasizing the need for proper assessment.
“My online course, HERMONEYCLINIC, was borne out of the need to take women through a winning money mindset. I found that a lot of women had the wrong notion when it comes to getting money. At times they would say things like,’ Oh, if you just give me two million, just bring two million,” and you ask for what, and sometimes you can’t really get a cogent reply.

“So, that means that the funding requirements have not been properly assessed. Many times, record keeping is deficient. People are asked to bring records, and they say, ‘WelI, I pay money into the bank, and these are my bank statements.’ And in fact, in the bank statements, you find money being used for non-business items. Furthermore, bank statements are not equivalent to Financial Statements.”
With poor record keeping and tax evasion usually the case for ailing businesses, Williams doesn’t fail to highlight the role such practices influence in driving off potential investors who can’t properly assess the profitability of the business. She said this has also resulted in financial institutions declining loan requests due to low confidence levels in such businesses to service the loans.

“Many also use the money for personal pursuits, for the care of the family, but the way I have overcome that is to put myself on a salary and to encourage the women we trained to do the same so that out of your salary, the personal expenses would come, while the money for the business remains in the coffers of the business. And that would help them to maintain the strong financial health for their business,” she advised.

She further emphasized that women should not wait until they are financially broke to seek funding. Consistent business traction and a strong customer base are crucial to demonstrating the viability and stability of a business when approaching financial institutions for loans.

“They need to consistently access a lot of traction and have repeat customers because many times, the banker wants to see the same name popping up severally in your bank statements. It gives them the comfort that you have loyal customers and that the business is not on the brink of collapse. So there must be consistent inflows.”

Asides from the firsthand experience Williams garnered from her entrepreneurial exploits, Williams understands the role continuous honing of skills plays toward personal growth and evolution. So far, she has amassed certifications from renowned bodies to further her cause of lifting female entrepreneurs to flourish. To her, she’s as good a student as she is a tutor.

“I’ve been able to attend a number of courses,” she disclosed. “FATE Foundation course on internal control and financial management was particularly striking. I also attended the Enterprise Development Centre under Lagos Business School Certificate for Entrepreneurship Management. I met very brilliant facilitators who took us through various kinds of electronic bookkeeping systems, and that really stuck in my mind.

“So, that made me set up the very first electronic bookkeeping system in my organisation, and to date, we still run with a bookkeeping system that makes it easy to draw out information anytime we need it rather than manual. And my expertise in money management was further honed at the WeConnect International Moody’s Bootcamp, which I have attended for about two or three years now. And every year, it gets bigger and better. We take case studies, and we actually end up recommending growth strategies for female entrepreneurs.”

As the Loan Doctor, Williams not only assists women entrepreneurs in accessing loans but also educates them about alternative forms of financial support beyond traditional bank loans. She emphasized the importance of grants, angel investors, and crowdfunding, tailoring the approach based on the specific needs of each entrepreneur.

One of the ways she revealed female entrepreneurs could flourish is by collaborating with financial institutions and agencies by becoming members of reputable groups to access funding. She noted that this strategy had worked for her as a member of various groups like the NECA’s Network of Entrepreneurial Women.

“In my view, the integration of personal financial planning and effective money management do contribute to long-term sustainability and growth of women-led businesses. So, my business is an example. I’ve been in business for 30 years.”

Given the ever-changing business landscape, Williams recommended three innovative tools that entrepreneurs need to have.

“I would like to advise on at least three categories of digital tools namely Communication, Online Marketing and Business Management tools. Under the business management tools, women can sign up and send electronic invoices to customers, keep their records, check their expenses, and so on. Under this category, there are also productivity tools that help women in their word processing and spreadsheets for their quotations etc. We have tools that help in project management, that help in collaboration. In the communication tools category, video conferencing apps help women save costs instead of travelling long distances while online marketing tools such as online stores are very important.”

To ensure that businesses stay on top of their game, Williams asserted the need for strong online visibility through content creation and storytelling for businesses to create traffic that translates to sales is paramount.

Williams strongly believes that entrepreneurship can translate to wealth and progress for the country. Therefore, she strives to create a thriving ecosystem where women entrepreneurs can flourish and contribute to the growth and progress of the country.

QUOTE
“As the Loan Doctor, Williams not only assists women entrepreneurs in accessing loans but also educates them about alternative forms of financial support beyond traditional bank loans. She emphasized the importance of grants, angel investors, and crowdfunding, tailoring the approach based on the specific needs of each entrepreneur”.