By Prince Osuagwu

Online classified, OLX, last week recounted how initial challenges encountered while doing business in Nigeria, provided great growth potentials which has kept the company at the frontline of its genre of business.

The company while celebrating three years of operation in Nigeria, at the Rooftop restaurant, Victoria Island Lagos, said even though the business has its own risks, the challenges faced have helped it develop innovative strategies to outperform expected target in three years.

Speaking to the media at the anniversary celebration, Country Manager, OLX, Lola Masha said OLX is committed to continuous innovation and improved quality of service delivery to its teeming users.

“When OLX commenced operations in Nigeria three years ago, we had our work clearly cut out. We started out with a determination to build an operation with excellence at its core. Among the many segments of our business, the vehicle category is one of our most popular, and we have seized the occasion of our third anniversary to celebrate our top-performing dealers on our site who have played a major role in our on-going success story. We are doing all we can to boost this category and other ones by establishing operational relationships and forging partnerships with other credible brands.”

While acknowledging that the business had experienced its fair share of challenges, Public Relations Manager of OLX, Uche Nwagboso said that each challenge has however presented a unique growth opportunity.

According to Nwagboso, “Each obstacle has actually driven us to do more, to innovate more and to achieve more. We believe that as we continue to innovate, to form new strategic alliances and to strengthen our twin pillars of safety and trust, we are contributing to the evolution and establishment of a vibrant e-commerce culture in Nigeria. Indeed, OLX is driven to become such a credible brand in the country that anytime, anyone has a product to buy or sell, the person automatically thinks OLX.”

Sharing his OLX experience at the event, Henchard Omere, a car dealer based in Ikeja who has been on OLX since July 2013 and placed 322 ads till date, said, “As a car dealer, my dreams of expanding my reach had always seemed far-fetched until the day a colleague told me about OLX and since I signed on two years ago, my business has grown like never before.”

Omere said that, “With the limited space in my shop, I had many cars parked at my house but thanks to OLX, I was able to sell 12 vehicles within a short period. I have also diversified to other profitable ventures because of the OLX advantage of safety, trust and convenience, and I am so grateful to the OLX team and everyone who has helped make my dreams come true.”