ENTREPRENEURS SHOULD INVEST IN REAL ESTATE - EXPERT

• An expert in the property market has described the real estate market as an investors’ haven, adding that the industry holds great potential for operators in the country.

Speaking on the theme: ‘Growing a diversified group of businesses’ at the Fidelity SME Forum, a weekly radio programme being packaged by Fidelity Bank Plc, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Genesis Group of Companies, Chief Nnaeto Orazulike, said the property business was one area where investors could expect to recoup their investment within a short period of time because of the high return on investment.

He advised Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs desirous of growing their businesses to make conscious efforts to tap into the huge property market in the country even as they ploughed back the excess funds into their businesses.

“Naturally, as you grow your business and develop it, the best thing to do with the excess, which the business doesn’t absorb is to invest it in real estate,” he said.

 “Real estate, as far as I am concerned, is the best of value. It will grow over time, out last you and generations to come,” Orazulike, who is also a director of Fidelity Bank, was quoted as saying in a statement made available by the bank on Sunday.

He advised the operators to be smart, quick and articulate as the business required people who had the head for numbers and who were able to think on their feet.

He, however, cautioned them to move into areas of potential high yields, adding, “I will always put a caveat: invest in prime property.”

The Genesis Group started in 1990 as a small restaurant but has now grown into a conglomerate with interests in oil and gas, hotels, industrial catering, family entertainment, steel and real estate just within two decades.

Orazulike advised SMEs to invest in human capacity development and create structures that would support the growth of the business.

“Creating a structure is very important. You need to create a structure that will support the growth and employ good quality people and invest in training them and supporting them to run the business with a sense of ownership in each individual business so that the persons running it will have a sense of belief in what they are doing and run it like their own,” he added.

Orazulike stressed the importance of culture in any organisation as it would make for easy adoption of company values and ideals.

“If you create a culture, after a while people will see the way things are done and they will be compelled to follow suit,” he added.

Source : Punch Newspaper