With economic uncertainty as a result of geopolitical tensions, inflation, unstable exchange rate, supply chain disruptions and the likes, 2023 Business Year is truly a year to be much remembered. In this exclusive SPECIAL FEATURE INTERVIEW, WHERE To Print caught up with Mr. Godwin Ogilo – the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Heidelberg Nigeria Limited (subsidiary of world renowned print solutions provider – Heidelberger Druckmaschinen) to assess the outgoing year and as professional accountant with over 2 decades of cognate experience in the industry in Nigeria; make sense of what 2024 holds for discerning players who desire to succeed in 2024. His invaluable insight, personal and professional recommendations should be adopted and put to use. Check these out in the below tête-à-tête excerpt:
AS A BUSINESS, WHAT ARE THE THREE ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THIS YEAR THAT YOU’RE MOST PROUD OF?
This year was a very challenging one and one major achievement as a business is the ability to keep our team together. In the year under review, we were also able to install the first brand new state-of-the-art Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 104 – 5 + L offset printing machine in the Nigeria Printing Industry. Lastly, we were still able to maintain the lead of having the largest market share in the graphic communication industry.
WHAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT THIS YEAR?
With our experience of the Printing Industry and good knowledge of the Nigerian business environment, there were really no surprises.
WHAT WERE THE LOWS AND HIGHS OF THIS YEAR?
The continuous depreciation of our currency and the reopening of the borders by the countries of the world after the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
WHAT GOT YOU THROUGH THE LOWS AND MOTIVATED YOU TO REACH THE HIGHS?
Our determination, flexibility and resilience. We also ensured that we stand out from competition in our products and service delivery which is very important to the success of every business.
WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR?
We are grateful for life and good health. We are also grateful that we are able to meet the important needs of our customers and have been able to build up so much trust in the industry.
WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU OVERCOME?
Ability to source Foreign Exchange (FX) for our importations despite the acute scarcity which helped to avoid products stockout.
WHAT LESSONS DID YOU LEARN THAT OTHERS CAN ADOPT?
Some of the most important business skills everyone should learn include:
Data analysis skills;
Identifying trends;
Making data-driven business decisions; and
Understanding pricing strategies and market demand to develop the right decision-making abilities.
WHAT OLD BUSINESS STRATEGY(IES) DO YOU THINK PRINT & ALLIED PRACTITIONERS SHOULD DO DIFFERENTLY NOW TO TAKE THEIR BUSINESSES TO NEXT HIGHER LEVEL?
There are lots of old strategies that require changes of how things should be done in the present-day business environment. One of the areas print practitioners should look into is the estimation process. Most Printers do jobs and make no profit without even knowing due to wrong estimation. Printers should invest in robust estimation software to do their estimations and also adopt modern accounting & information management systems to improve efficiency and profitability.
WHAT IS THE OVERALL END OF YEAR REFLECTION FOR BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY IN THIS ECONOMY?
It is really tough I must say looking at the inconsistencies in recent Government policies. However, there are still lots of opportunities in the economy looking at our population and natural resources advantage. There is still room for packaging print business and we hope that more businesses will spring up in the years ahead as things begin to take shape, and as the new Government settles down after all the election court cases.
WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT THIS YEAR AND WILL MOTIVATE YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS TO SUCCEED NEXT YEAR?
Consistency in delivery of our quality products and services to our customers which is a key component to a successful business. We plan to sustain this tradition next year as well.
ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, WHAT NEW HABITS DID YOU START AND ARE WORKING WELL FOR YOU THAT OTHERS CAN LEARN FROM?
Along with eating right (no junk food), it’s important to stay active by exercising at least three to four times each week. Regular exercise not only helps maintain a healthy weight and cardio; it also helps people feel good about themselves.
WHAT WERE YOUR MOST MEANINGFUL MOMENTS IN 2023?
The installation and commissioning of the state-of-the-art Heidelberg Speedmaster CX 104 – 5 + L for the first time at Lagos State Printing Corporation, Lagos, Nigeria is a moment to relish.
WHAT WERE THE KEY RELATIONSHIP TIPS YOU DISCOVERED THIS YEAR THAT YOU KNOW WILL BE VITAL TO BUSINESS GROWTH AND SUSTAINABILITY NEXT YEAR AND BEYOND?
With focus on consistent communication, trust, constructive feedback, and personal attention, we have been able to build lasting partnerships that benefit both us and our clients and partners. Remember that strong relationships take time and effort to develop, but the rewards are well worth it in the end.
WHAT WILL YOU DO NEXT YEAR IN TERMS OF PRODUCT OR SERVICE OFFERINGS TO DISTINGUISH YOU FROM COMPETITION?
Next business year, we are looking forward to increasing our product offerings to the market. Also, we are reinforcing and repositioning our customer support team to offer unbeatable services to our customers nationwide. We are equally opening up new business frontiers/opportunities to our customers and prospective investors to key into in the New Year. In addition, we are working with some banks both locally and internationally on various financing schemes for our customers because there is no customer that can raise cash for new investment especially with the current exchange rate without support from the banks. We plan to keep large stock of spare parts and standby technical team to ensure that our customers experience less down time in their production. This is in addition to our top-quality consumables (inks and chemistry) that enable our customers to produce high quality print. We are also developing new brands of quality consumables that will be competitive in the market.
Heidelberg print solutions from Prepress, Press to Postpress
ARE THERE SPECIALS, PROMOS OR DISCOUNTS THAT YOU’RE OFFERING TO YOUR CLIENTS IN THIS YULETIDE SEASON?
We have always had special offers for our consistent customers. You just need to call in for a discussion on your need.
WHAT ASSURANCE ARE YOUR GIVING YOUR CUSTOMERS IN 2024 TO GUARANTEE YOUR COMMITMENT TO THEIR NEEDS ANYTIME, ANYDAY?
We have always been there for our customers and this will only get better in the New Year. We will continue to commit both human and material resources to support our customers by ways of skills and capacity building through educational seminars and workshops, diplomacy, and conflicts resolutions.
FINALLY, WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR 2024 BUSINESS YEAR?
Well, I think 2024 is going to be a challenging year, considering the fact that 2023 wasn’t too good and many of the fundamentals have not changed. Although, we managed to scale through, but I was not happy to see that the whole Printing Industry was not doing too well. Other industries in the country did not do well in 2023 as well, so it affected the Printing Industry, because Printing Industry is a service provider to other industries. When there is problem in other industries, it will affect printing. 2023 is an election year. It took almost 3 months to put in place the cabinet but I must say that I am very optimistic about the new Government; I think the Government is doing a great job for now, even though the focus of everyone is on corruption and insecurity, which have been the most conspicuous focus of all Nigerians for now. Yes, corruption and insecurity may be the major subjects in the eyes of the public, but there are other things going on. For instance, a lot of “institutional restructuring” is going on within the Government; ministers are fully moving into action, among others. Therefore, I want to say here that we should give the Government a little bit of time. Yes, President Tinubu was elected by majority of Nigerians and he took the challenge and promised a lot of things but we should also not forget that he took over a country that was almost destroyed to small pieces without proper institutions, full of corruption, insecurity, extremely poor infrastructure and without “money in the safe”, while the oil price has been relatively high but with very low output due to oil theft and other associated problems in the oil industry.
The present Government has a lot of things to dig into, before it can start work on outright operational issues. Many things were not the way they should be before President Tinubu came on board, so he has to put those things in place first unlike in other country where it will take a new Government less than a week to start running in full speed because they take over functioning institutions. So, he has a major challenge to clean up the country not only from corruption, but also from poor education, insecurity etc. We have to build new institutions and skills, sometimes from scratch. All I am saying in essence is that we need time to organize and turn things around. This is still November and it might be too early to predict 2024, until we have a bit more certainty with regards to both monetary (FX, etc.) & fiscal (Tax etc.) policies of the Government, 2024 budget etc. We are also hopeful that 2024 being a drupa year would usher in new innovation and development in the industry and this will drive business growth in many areas.
BRIEFLY TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND HEIDELBERG?
As you may know, I am Professional Accountant and started off with Heidelberg Nigeria LTD as the Pioneer Chief Finance Officer (CFO) in 1999 before my elevation to the position of the MD/CEO in 2017. My experience of over 24 years in the industry has been that of a relative steady growth despite the various challenges such as inadequate/low level of skilled manpower, lack of financing options, high interest & exchange rates, high cost of operations (power, multiple taxes etc.) to mention a few. A sizeable number of top range machines have been installed all around the country in the last 20 years compared to what was on ground when I joined the industry. Heidelberg is the only equipment supplier committed to being a total solutions provider offering all aspects of print solutions to the industry in Nigeria. We offer a complete range of Heidelberg solutions from Prepress to Press and then Postpress. These are Computer to Plate systems, Offset Sheetfed Printing machines, and Postpress equipment for commercial and packaging Printers. The digitization of the graphic arts industry is at top speed and we are actively driving this process by constantly updating the industry with latest innovations especially in the areas of Automation and Integration.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
