Segun Ayinde, Abeokuta
GFA Technologies, a software company and leading provider of innovative solutions in various fields, has trained over 30,000 Small and Medium Scale Enterprise(SMEs) operators across the 20 Local Government Areas of Ogun State to digitize and improve their productivity and incomes. The goal is to cushion the effect of economic hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal on their livelihoods.
Mr. Debo Omololu, the Chief Executive Officer, who stated this, at the weekend, at the Office Headquarters in Abeokuta, the state capital, said that the 30,000 SMEs operators drawn from 140 categories of various ventures in the state, were trained on how to apply online technology in operating their businesses for easy service delivery to customers to obtain maximum profits
The CEO said that the firm had developed a website builder, dimplified.com, for the trainees including barbers, hairdressers, mechanics, plumbers, electricians, vulganizers carpenters, Point Of Sales(POS) operators among others, on how to create their own websites for booking appointments and online transactions to increase their revenue.
He explained that at the training workshop, the small business owners were taught how to make use of their smartphones, computer or any communication gadgets to run their businesses on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, to mention few, to generate more money their ventures
Omololu explained further that company is acting as a middle man to providing single digit loans to the business owners at 10% from deposit money banks particularly Wema bank Plc and Sterling bank or other financial institutions to improve the standards of their enterprises and procure efficient working tools for smooth operations of their businesses for customers to experience modern service delivery aided by technology.
He said ” GFA Technologies is a software company that creates software to increase and improve the productivity and by extension the income of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and we also provide training and certification fpr these Small and Medium Scale Enterprises”
“Over the last few months we have trained about 30,000 people across all the local government area of the state in terms of digital skills and we are now taking this a step further that those skills that they have garnered and gained we want to help these small businesses to be able to digitize their businesses by giving them the ability to create their own website.
“So we have developed a website builder, the dimplified.com and this website builder allows you to create your website, allows you to have payments online and we rollout a specific solution for barbers, that is dimplified.com/barbers. What these solutions do, it increases and improves their productivity in multiple folds and this has a direct impact on increasing revenue or income. Let’s say as a barber you cut hair for 100 people at N2000, what it means is that your earning for that month is 200,000.
“For those that have gone through training we have been able to connect them with banks that can provide loans for phones, loans for computers even single digit loans as you know right now loans from banks is 30%, but they can get them at 10% depending on the size of the equity, it is really up to them, not all of them can have access to the phone. When a bank gives you a loan it is for specific reasons to buy tools. We also are still putting that together and within the next few months we are also planning to provide loans for tools starting with the barbers and hairdressers.”