THE DANGOTE EFFECT - by Princess Chronicles

At this point, everybody and their neighbour has something to say about Dangote shares..🌝 People are buying shares.People are calculating how much their investment could become.People are saying, “Omo, Dangote shares fit skyrocket o.”People are seeing Dangote trucks and saying, “That’s my company.” 😂And the memes have honestly been killing me. But beyond all the banter, I saw a business lesson here. A business lesson I think business owners should actually pay attention to. The Dangote Refinery IPO was offered at ₦525 per share, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares. That means an everyday Nigerian could actually participate without needing hundreds of thousands or millions of naira to enter. Now, look at what that did.People who probably had never paid attention to an IPO before are suddenly interested.People who may not even have known much about the stock market are asking questions.People are buying shares and joking that they now own a piece of Dangote Refinery. 😂 And that got me thinking about how we approach business.Yes, your product can be luxury.Yes, you can have premium packages specifically for people who can afford millions of naira.Yes, you can have an exclusive product for a particular class of people. But while you're doing all of that, where is the larger population in your business strategy?Where are the everyday Nigerians?Where are the people who may not be able to afford your ₦3 million package but can comfortably afford your ₦5,000 product?Where is the product that allows more people to participate in what you're building? Let's look at it practically.Dangote could have priced those shares at ₦300,000, ₦400,000 or ₦500,000 per share. There would still be people who could afford them.But at ₦525 per share, a much larger number of people can participate. And when a large number of people can participate in something, something else happens.They talk about it.They ask questions about it.They recommend it.They share it.They feel connected to it.They start paying attention to it. Suddenly, something that would have been an exclusive conversation among a small group of people becomes a conversation happening everywhere.That is a kind of buzz on its own. And I think that's one part of this IPO that we aren't talking about enough.This isn't me saying every business should make everything cheap.Please, make your profit. 😂 I'm saying that when you're drawing your business plan and strategy, don't build your entire business around the assumption that your biggest customer must be the person with the deepest pocket. The Nigerian market is largely made up of everyday people.So if you can create something that thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people can afford, why wouldn't you consider that population in your business strategy? You might have a ₦3 million product that only a small number of people can buy.Or you could have a ₦5,000 product that a much larger number of people can buy. Of course, the numbers, margins, cost of production and your business model matter. I'm not saying every business should simply reduce its price.I'm saying create a space for the masses in your business.There is power in volume.There is power in participation.There is power in having a large number of people who can say, “Yes, I can afford this.” That is where the market is. This celebrity culture of everything having to look expensive, exclusive and unattainable can make business owners forget that there are millions of people who want what they sell; they just need a version they can actually afford.And that's why I think the Dangote IPO is interesting from a business perspective. Whether the share price eventually goes up, down, sideways, or starts doing backflips... that's a different conversation entirely.Whether it's going to be profitable for everyone who subscribed is another conversation.Whether this is the rich getting richer or the poor getting poorer is also another conversation. That's not my point here.My point is..if you're building a business in Nigeria, look at the masses. Don't just ask, “Who can afford my most expensive product?”Ask yourself, “What can I create that the larger population can participate in?” The biggest market is sitting right there among the people who can afford something and there are a lot of them.And that, for me, is one of the biggest lessons from the Dangote IPO. Now, I want to hear from you. Did you subscribe for the Dangote shares, or are you still observing?Let's talk..🤭 Princess Chronicles ...

Other insights from Princess Chronicles

Contributor Points

Points-to-Coupons

Referral Earning