Known as the Small Business Fixer, Tricia Ikponmwomba popularly known as “Tricia Biz” is fixing small businesses one business at a time. Born-and-raised in Lagos and ancestral Bini roots, Tricia spent over a decade working for multinationals including British American Tobacco, Nigerian Breweries, MasterCard etc.
In order to translate her success working with multinationals to MSMEs (Micro small and medium enterprises), Tricia launched TriciaBiz in April 2017. Her focus is on boosting the competitiveness of small businesses and she does this through a range of business services including one-on-one coaching, online courses, trainings and keynote speeches.
Tricia holds certifications in Public Relations, Integrated Marketing Communications, Marketing, Brand Building, Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She is a certified member of the Association of Accredited Small Business consultants. She recently launched “Business Lab Africa”, an online school for entrepreneurs in Africa. The Business Lab provides African entrepreneurs with practical knowledge for business growth. Read and be inspired by Tricia’s Q&A with us.
In Three Words, how would you describe Triciabiz?
Innovative, Passionate, Driven
What do you consider your greatest achievement in your life so far?
Launching the 1st monthly subscription business platform for Entrepreneurs in Africa
What would you say are some of the practical steps you have taken towards ensuring consistent growth in your career?
- Staying true to my course
- Putting in the hard work, working long hours to build the foundation
- Being consistent with my content and message
- Creating alternative but innovative solutions to continually help entrepreneurs even in the face of obstacles
- Continuous learning to add value to self
What inspired the creation of your online business school “Business Lab Africa”?
I work with thousands of MSMEs and one thing is constant, they lack knowledge on business growth and are unable to afford the available options. Without proper business knowledge they are simply playing a game of chess, some winners will emerge and many losers too.
I began to ideate on a solution that could
– Provide business knowledge
– Affordable one at that
– Locally relevant to the African market as some general strategies if not conceptualized will not yield much results on this continent.
– Equally important a solution that does not lay all the teaching burden on me.
– One that brings in several experts on a subject matter.
The result is BLA
Would you say you are committed to go the whole haul with this venture? Do you ever plan to expand beyond the continent?
Yes I am committed, with the launch it has grown much bigger than anticipated or imagined. For now the focus is on the continent, I am not sure it will expand but with solutions and ideas one never knows the turn it might take.
What inspires you to get out of bed everyday?
The entrepreneur whose growth relies on my existence
If you could give your younger self one advice, what would it be?
Take your time, do not rush into decisions because they seem easy or are popular. The road less walked is the one you should take Tricia
What is the most important life lesson you’ve learned so far?
People are not always what they seem to be, learn to sieve the people around you for they can influence your life drastically.
Where do you draw strength on days when you feel no motivation to get things done?
From God, I rely solely on him for I know I am on a divine assignment and to get me through the rough days I go back to my source.
You seem quite passionate about what you do. Can you share briefly on your journey to BLA and the key lessons you have learned so far, building the brand from nothing to where it is right now.
The journey here started 2 years when I left the corporate world to pursue entrepreneurship, my mantra has always been simple, solve a need, impact lives. I stumbled into a report published by SMEDAN about the number of entrepreneurs in Nigeria and their needs. I saw an opportunity there and started TriciaBiz. It was a tough start, with no knowledge on how the digital space worked, teaching etc but I was determined to succeed and help several entrepreneurs succeed so I developed the mass market model of offering low priced online trainings (webinar) to provide bite-size knowledge for small business owners with the hope that when executed it improves their business and they can afford to pay more to unlock the next level of growth. It was a huge success.
On this journey I have learnt several things;
- Keep adding value, as long as you are adding value to someone else, revenue is guaranteed.
- Consistency is key.
- Strategic partnerships are absolutely key.
- Understanding market needs and proffering solutions that are timely is key.
- Just be you, people can smell a fake after a while.
What is your take on “women supporting women”?
- It should be adopted by more women. We all need some support one way or the other
- The support is in the doing (action) not talking. Let us talk less and do more
Who is one woman you look up to and why?
Tara Fela-Durotoye. Despite her busy schedule and building one of the fore-most brands on the continent she finds time to inspire the younger ones like myself coming up and show us the path to avoid the pits.
What would you like to be remembered for?
For my impact and contribution to Enterprise development on the African continent
Share a word of advice for entrepreneurs globally.
Don’t let anyone tell you it cannot be done, conquer it first in your mind then execute.
Connect with Tricia On Instagram
Find out more on the Business Lab Africa here