An Agronomist Consultant, Mr. Augustine Adongo, has asked persons looking for financing to start-up businesses to stay far off bank loans if they intend to succeed in their businesses.
He said such investors have no business borrowing from a bank, and even if the banks entice them, promising ‘all the support in the world’, they should resist the temptation because ‘banks everywhere in the world, not only here in Ghana, are not set up to service start-up companies.’
Mr. Adongo who was contributing to discussions at the Joy FM/Corporate Initiative Ghana forum on banking at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, on the theme; The Changing Face of Banking in Ghana and capped Joy FM’s annual Banking Month series.
He said the best option for business start-ups is to source funds from family and friends.
“They are those you should take money from to start your business,” not the banks which he said “if they promise you heaven, stay on earth.”
Mr. Adongo said in spite of the relatively large number of banks in the country, there is absolutely no competition in the Banking Sector in Ghana, with virtually all the banks ‘doing the same things’.
“Competition is not numbers, competition is the availability of choice. If I have a thousand women, all preparing banku, there is no competition between them, from the perspective of the customer. If I go to the first chop bar, it’s Banku Chop Bar, second is Banku No. 2 Chop Bar, third is Banku No. 3 Chop Bar. That is what we are seeing in Ghana.”
He maintained that if you walked into any bank today, be they Ghanaian, Nigerian, American or whatever, they offer you exactly the same products.
He said the situation has arisen because the banks have virtually shirked their responsibility of researching the market to better know and meet the needs of customers.
“You grow your business by knowing your customer and to know your customer, you must invest in research to know the customer.
“We have only two million banked people in Ghana because the banks have refused to do their work. You don’t know me as a customer. You are hoping that Kofi will do his research and give it to you. You are investing nothing, you are investing all your money in bricks and mortar. Service does not thrive on bricks and mortar.”
He said because of that challenge, there are several business projects and proposals that are lying fallow because the banks are simply not adapted responsive to them.
“You are very comfortable doing the business as you have done with the two million and running everyday after us when there is at least another eight million that you can reach.”
Source: MJFM
