Overcoming the Challenges Confronting Startups in Nigeria

Abstract

The word 'Startup' has become a worldwide phenomenon. Every year millions of startup companies spring up worldwide. These startups have a great impact on the economies of countries in terms of new production and employment. The study aims include studying the concept of startups, examining major challenges facing startups in Nigeria, suggesting key solutions that will ease the pains of startups in Nigeria and identifying the recent efforts by the Government to ease the challenges of doing business in Nigeria. Data was collected from the primary source by using a structured questionnaire. The sample was selected using a stratified random sampling technique. The target respondents were business startups across various sectors of the economy and the year of operations between 1 to 3 years. Data were gathered electronically using Google form from 1078 respondents in Nigeria, out of which valid responses were 1065. Microsoft Excel was used for analysis. The study showed that lack of startup capital, lack of access to an accelerator and access to bank loans were strongly major factors of startup problems for businesses in Nigeria. The important factors for the successful business startup identified include the idea, training, marketing, business model, teamwork and timing were other factors for the success of businesses in Nigeria. Further research can be done on the solutions for startup businesses' access to funds, training, and marketing business models, among others, to sustain business growth in Nigeria. The findings would be valuable to startup businesses, young entrepreneurs, researchers and Government (policymakers) in understanding startup challenges and highlighting the significant support that startup entrepreneurs need. It also offered useful inputs to policymakers in improving the existing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Nigeria.