A combination of fear, lack of support, and a desire for self-reliance is stopping microentrepreneurs from scaling up through collaboration, writes Kenneth Amaeshi.
In large companies, collaboration is not only typical but is expected. Businesses merge, form partnerships, acquire one another, build alliances, and invest in joint ventures. Cooperation is part of how they grow, dominate markets, and build profit.
But small business owners find it much harder to collaborate. They are enterprising, creative, and resilient. But surprisingly, they do not find it easy to collaborate on economic ventures.
The One Kindred One Business Initiative (OKOBI) aims to promote group-owned businesses across communities in Imo State. Instead of everyone starting individual businesses that often remain small and vulnerable, the idea is to encourage people to come together, pool resources, and build more sustainable enterprises.
In many Nigerian communities, especially among the Igbo, people regularly collaborate on social projects. They contribute funds and effort to build roads, town halls, churches, schools, and health centres. The potential for collective wealth creation is enormous if that same energy can be directed towards economic ventures.
Despite this, many microentrepreneurs are reluctant to work together when it comes to business. They are cautious, often preferring to go it alone. Even when group businesses are formed, it is usually through external nudging, support, or incentives. On their own, most people still lean toward individual enterprise.
Why is it easy for communities to come together to build a church, but difficult for the same people to come together to build a factory or farm?
One answer may lie in how people perceive ownership. For many small business owners, especially those who have worked hard to rise above poverty, owning a business is more than a source of income; it is a badge of honour. It reflects their self-worth, their struggle, and their achievement. Sharing ownership or control with others feels like a threat. They fear that a group business might fail, not because of their own decisions, but because of someone else’s missteps. And in a context where second chances are few, failure is not a luxury they can afford.
There is also the issue of class identity. For many microentrepreneurs, business success marks a clear line between their past and present. It is not just about making money but about stepping into a new status. Working with others from their former class may feel like stepping back or losing their unique position. Some want to be seen as the standout success, the single shining light in the community. The only cock in the village, so to speak. In this mindset, collaboration feels less like partnership and more like compromise.
Big businesses, in contrast, have the advantage of multiple safety nets. They can take risks, try partnerships, and explore joint ventures because they have legal teams, financial buffers, management expertise, and access to capital. When they fail, they bounce back. The downside of risk is absorbed across large structures. For the microentrepreneur, a failed collaboration could mean total collapse. So, their caution is not without reason.
Yet, this caution, while understandable, limits their potential. When done right, group enterprises reduce costs, increase bargaining power, and open access to larger markets. They enable small players to achieve what would be impossible alone. That is why OKOBI exists—not just as a policy programme, but as a mindset revolution.
OKOBI has already registered over 400 group-owned businesses involving more than 10,000 members. These businesses are early proof that cooperation at the grassroots is not only possible, but it can be transformative. However, more work is needed to change attitudes and build trust for the movement to grow.
Education is critical. Through the newly launched OKOBI Student Clubs, starting at Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University, the initiative is instilling the values of collaboration in young people before they become entrenched in the solo-entrepreneur mindset.
Support systems are equally important. Big businesses do not collaborate in a vacuum, they have lawyers, consultants, and institutions backing them. Microentrepreneurs also need such infrastructure. Organisations like Africa Business Affairs are stepping into this space, offering guidance and support for group-owned community businesses across Nigeria and beyond.
Perhaps most important of all is the need to tell success stories, as illustrated through this documentary on thriving OKOBI businesses. When people see their peers succeed through group efforts, their scepticism reduces. When communities observe that a cooperative cassava processing business is working, or a shared poultry farm is generating income for families, they begin to imagine similar possibilities for themselves. Role modelling matters. Stories build belief.
The goal of OKOBI is ambitious. The initiative aims to help create 100,000 new jobs across Imo State in the next three years. That is more than double the number of civil servants currently employed by the state government. But beyond numbers, the deeper mission is to reframe how entrepreneurship is practised and perceived in Nigeria, to shift from the isolated hustle to the power of shared prosperity.
This lesson is not just for Imo State. It applies across Nigeria, where millions of microentrepreneurs are striving, alone, to climb the same ladder. If the initiative can teach collaboration, build trust, provide support, and celebrate collective wins, we can unlock a new era of grassroots development. The talent is here. The ambition is here. What remains is the will to rise together.
Photo credit: Eugene Kim used with permission CC BY 2.0
