Economy
Bad Money Habits That Can Ruin Your Business
To be successful as an entrepreneur, good money management practice is crucial. Entrepreneurs start their business with an idea and lots of energy, however as the business gets very engaging, they start to unconsciously develop bad financial habits. Here are some of those habits and how you can break them:
Keeping one account for both personal and business funds
A lot of small business owners often make the mistake of combining both business income and expenses with personal income and expenses. This is a very bad practice as it is almost impossible to monitor your business funds and performance in general.
Solution: Get your business registered and open a business account solely for business funds.
Not keeping financial records
How do run your business if there are no records available for checks and balances? Some business owners think they can keep track of expenses and incomes in their head but thats impossible. It can never be accurate and will only lead to business decisions made based on wrong statistics. You would also end up spending more than you earn and will eventually end up in debt. Note that without financial records to back your decisions, you cannot approach an investor to request for funds.
Solution: Start keeping records so you can plan more effectively for your business. There are tools out there that help to automate your records.
Making late payments
Taking a loan and not paying as at when due is bad for your business. This affects the reputation of your business and lowers your credit score. A credit score shows your credit worthiness. Banks and investors make use of this score to evaluate the risk posed by lending money to a business and the probability of paying back.
Solution: Ensure you keep records and make repayments when due. If you are not sure of when you are to pay back, clarify with your account officer or the officer in charge.
Excluding yourself from your business payroll
You might think you are managing your funds well but in actual fact, you are not. You end up dipping into business funds with no proper structure to guide you. Therefore, it is better to set aside an amount for yourself. Besides, you are also working so you are entitled to it. You have needs and you will need funds to fulfil them.
Solution: Put yourself on your business payroll. You can choose to pay yourself bi-monthly or monthly, whichever works better for your business. This can be adjusted based on the business income.
Impulse purchases
Some business owners do not have control over their spending and want almost everything they see. Sometimes you just need to sit back and evaluate the importance of the item and if it will add value to you and your business. You need to be able to distinguish your needs from your desires. If you listen to a lot of successful entrepreneurs today, they all say you should spend less than you earn. That is your key to financial success.
Solution: To curb your spending, give yourself a certain period to think that purchase through before making a decision. Chances are that you will realize you never really needed that item.
Not delegating tasks
Every entrepreneur should know how to delegate. When a problem or task arises, you spend both time and money on it and the more you spend on one, the less you spend on the other.Consider this scenario: You spend a day doing a task that costs N5,000 when you could have just hired someone to do it and spend time on other tasks more specific to your expertise and worth much more.
Solution: Consider the time versus the money that will be spent on a task. Will it be better to pay someone to do it or do it yourself? You can hire someone to work on tasks you are not skilled enough to handle so you can spend time on other important tasks.
Forming good habits are how successful entrepreneurs achieve their goals and manage to run their businesses effectively. Avoid and break off these habits to become better with your business finances.
Source: http://635.gtbank.com/2016/10/financial-habits-that-can-harm-your-business/
By Adedapo Adesanya
The domestic supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from the Dangote Refinery increased by 64.4 percent in December 2025, contributing to an enhancement in Nigeria’s overall petrol availability.
This is according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in its December 2025 Factsheet Report released on Thursday.
The downstream regulatory agency revealed that the private refinery raised its domestic petrol supply from 19.47 million litres per day in November 2025 to an average of 32.012 million litres per day in December, as it quelled any probable fuel scarcity associated with the festive month.
The report attributed the improvement to more substantial capacity utilisation at the Lagos-based oil facility, which reached a peak of 71 per cent in December.
The increased output from Dangote Refinery contributed to a rise in Nigeria’s total daily domestic PMS supply to 74.2 million litres in December, up from 71.5 million litres per day recorded in November.
The authority also reported a sharp increase in petrol consumption, rising to 63.7 million litres per day in December 2025, up from 52.9 million litres per day in the previous month.
In contrast, the domestic supply of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) known as diesel declined to 17.9 million litres per day in December from 20.4 million litres per day in November, even as daily diesel consumption increased to 16.4 million litres per day from 15.4 million litres per day.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply recorded modest growth during the period, rising to 5.2 metric tonnes per day in December from 5.0 metric tonnes per day in November.
Despite the gains recorded by Dangote Refinery and modular refineries, the NMDPRA disclosed that Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries recorded zero production in December.
It said the Port Harcourt Refinery remained shut down, though evacuation of diesel produced before May 24, 2025, averaged 0.247 million litres per day. The Warri and Kaduna refineries also remained shut down throughout the period.
On modular refineries, the report said Waltersmith Refinery (Train 2 with 5,000 barrels per day) completed pre-commissioning in December, with hydrocarbon introduction expected in January 2026. The refinery recorded an average capacity utilisation of 63.24 per cent and an average AGO supply of 0.051 million litres per day
Edo Refinery posted an average capacity utilisation of 85.43 per cent with AGO supply of 0.052 million litres per day, while Aradel recorded 53.89 per cent utilisation and supplied an average of 0.289 million litres per day of AGO.
Total AGO supply from the three modular refineries averaged 0.392 million litres per day, with other products including naphtha, heavy hydrocarbon kerosene (HHK), fuel oil, and marine diesel oil (MDO).
The report listed Nigeria’s 2025 daily consumption benchmarks as 50 million litres per day for petrol, 14 million litres per day for diesel, 3 million litres per day for aviation fuel (ATK), and 3,900 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
Actual daily truck-out consumption in December stood at 63.7 million litres per day for petrol, 16.4 million litres per day for diesel, 2.7 million litres per day for ATK and 4,380 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced a comprehensive revision of minimum capital requirements for nearly all capital market operators, marking the most significant overhaul since 2015.
The changes, outlined in a circular issued on January 16, 2026, obtained from its website on Friday, replace the previous regime. Operators have been given until June 30, 2027, to comply.
The SEC stated that the reforms aim to strengthen market resilience, enhance investor protection, discourage undercapitalised operators, and align capital adequacy with the evolving risk profile of market activities.
According to the circular, “The revised framework applies to brokers, dealers, fund managers, issuing houses, fintech firms, digital asset operators, and market infrastructure providers.”
Some of the key highlights of the new reforms include increment of minimum capital for brokers from N200 million to N600 million while for dealers, it was raised to N1 billion from N100 million.
For broker-dealers, they are to get N2 billion instead of the previous N300 million, reflecting multi-role exposure across trading, execution, and margin lending.
The agency said fund and portfolio managers with assets above N20 billion must hold N5 billion, while mid-tier managers must maintain N2 billion with private equity and venture capital firms to have N500 million and N200 million, respectively.
There was also dynamic rule as firms managing assets above N100 billion must hold at least 10 per cent of assets under management as capital.
“Digital asset firms, previously in a regulatory grey area, are now fully covered: digital exchanges and custodians must maintain N2 billion each, while tokenisation platforms and intermediaries face thresholds of N500 million to N1 billion. Robo-advisers must hold N100 million.
“Other segments are also affected: issuing houses offering full underwriting services must hold N7 billion, advisory-only firms N2 billion, registrars N2.5 billion, trustees N2 billion, underwriters N5 billion, and individual investment advisers N10 million. Market infrastructure providers carry some of the highest obligations, with composite exchanges and central counterparties required to maintain N10 billion each, and clearinghouses N5 billion,” the SEC added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The founder and chief executive of Austin Laz and Company Plc, Mr Asimonye Austin Lazarus Azubuike, has sold off about 52.24 million shares of the organisation.
The stocks were offloaded in 11 tranches at an average price of N4.36 per unit, amounting to about N227.8 million.
The transactions occurred between December 2025 and January 2026, according to a notice filed by the company to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday.
Business Post reports that Austin Laz is known for producing ice block machines, aluminium roofing, thermoplastics coolers, PVC windows and doors, ice cream machines, and disposable plates.
The firm evolved from refrigeration sales to diverse manufacturing since its incorporation in 1982 in Benin City, Edo State, though facing recent operational halts.
According to the statement signed by company secretary, Ifeanyi Offor & Associates, Mr Azubuike first sold 1.5 million units of the equities at N2.42, and then offloaded 2.4 million units at N2.65, and 2.0 million units at N2.65.
In another tranche, he sold another 2.0 million units at a unit price of N2.91, and then 5.0 million units at N3.52, as well as about 4.5 million at N3.87 per share.
It was further disclosed that the owner of the company also sold 9.0 million shares at N4.25, and offloaded another 368,411 units at N4.66, then in another transaction sold about 6.9 million units at N4.67.
In the last two transactions he carried out, Mr Azubuike first traded 10.0 million units equities at N5.13, with the last being 8.5 million stocks sold at N5.64 per unit.
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