Economy
How to Effectively Manage Multiple Businesses Same Time
By Anton van Heerden
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s a question that most of us heard by the time we were four years-old, with the expectation that the answer would be a single profession or career.
But times are changing fast and many people are now rejecting the idea that they should choose to define themselves by only one job for life.
Many young professionals and entrepreneurs are embracing the idea of pursuing multiple professional interests in search of better earning power or more personal satisfaction.
Becoming an accountant doesn’t mean that you need to give up your dream of running a restaurant on the side; taking on a job as sales rep doesn’t stop you from earning some cash pursuing a passion such as freelance writing.
Serial entrepreneurs who move from one business to the next are becoming more common; so are entrepreneurs who run more than one business at once.
Sage research shows that 94 percent of young entrepreneurs in Nigeria and 82 percent in South Africa expect to start more than one business in their lifetime. The most common reason for wanting to do so is that they believe they have so many great ideas to share with the world.
If you’re an entrepreneur, there are many reasons to start up a second (or third or fourth…) business.
For many people—and this is often true for African entrepreneurs—one business isn’t enough to cover their living expenses. They might need to run a taxi service and offer part-time maths tuition to make ends meet.
It could be that your existing business has hit its maximum growth potential, so you could get better returns by investing your cash and time in a new venture. Or you might want to diversify your income streams to reduce your financial risks.
Alternatively, you may simply want to pursue a passion project that allows you to spend at least part of your workday doing something you love.
Managing multiple business interests can be tricky and demands great discipline.
At the Sage Summit this year, we learnt that there are many well-known people such as Ashton Kutcher who are involved in multiple businesses other than just being an actor. Such business owners whether big or small have one common trait – passion.
Here are a few ideas about how you can juggle multiple business interests:
Bed down your first business before starting another
Starting a new business venture has a major strain on your time and your money for at least a few months. If you try to start two businesses at nearly the same time, one or both will suffer from the lack of focus. Be careful of overcommitting yourself when you have limited capital, time and energy to spend. Ideally, your first business should be stable and providing you with a constant income before you try to launch the next one.
Be choosy
The problem that many entrepreneurs face is not a shortage of (seemingly) good business ideas and opportunities, but an excess of them. Pick your projects carefully and dedicate enough resources to them to give them a good chance of taking off. But also be brave enough to walk away when a side project will not be a success.
Hire a talented team
If you want to run multiple businesses, you’ll need to accept the fact that you’ll need to delegate more of the day to day operations to your team. It’s important to find people who you trust and work well with so that you can be comfortable leaving them to get on with it while you’re busy elsewhere. It can work well to share skills across your businesses and work with the same external consultants.
Get advice about how to structure your businesses
When you decide to diversify, you’ll need to look at the right structure for your different businesses. It might make sense to simply add your new line of business to an existing company, or to treat it as an associate, or to set it up as a completely new company. Discuss the pros and cons with your financial and legal advisors, with a view to minimising risk and optimising cost efficiencies.
Share infrastructure and skills where you can
Don’t double up on skills, services and infrastructure when it isn’t necessary. For example, you might be able to share an IT backbone, receptionist and an office between two or more businesses. As an extension to this thought, if you’re thinking about expanding into a new business or market, why not look at ideas that can leverage off the skills, infrastructure and assets you already have in place?
Be a time management and multitasking master
Use IT systems to save you time—ditch the spreadsheets and use proper accounting and payroll software, for example.
Learn to prioritise: perhaps focus on sales first, then marketing and admin.
Make time first thing in the morning or at the end of the day to take care of admin and email when there is no one else in the office to distract you.
Schedule your time carefully.
Outsource low value tasks or delegate them to juniors.
Closing words
Take South African serial entrepreneur Shezi Ntuthuko for example, who says that being an entrepreneur “does become easy after the first 10”. It takes hard work and human sacrifice to turn a dream business idea into a way of life. It is the entrepreneurial spirit that makes the difference all over the world.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s economic growth rate eased in the first quarter of 2026 to 3.89 per cent year-on-year, as a slowdown in the oil sector offset gains recorded in the non-oil sector.
The economy, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), slowed in the first three months of this year from the 4.07 per cent recorded in the previous quarter (Q4 2025), according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. However, it was higher than the 3.13 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2025.
In the first quarter of 2026, Nigeria recorded an average daily oil production of 1.55 million barrels per day, lower than 1.62 million barrels per day in the same quarter of 2025 and lower than the 1.58 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The real growth of the oil sector was 2.57 (year-on-year) in Q1 2026, indicating an increase of 0.70 per cent compared with the 1.87 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
However, growth decreased by 4.22 per cent compared to 6.79 per cent in Q4 2025, and on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 9.31 per cent.
For the non-oil sector, it contributed 96.08 per cent to the nation’s GDP between January and March 2026, versus 96.03 per cent in the same period of last year and lower than 97.13 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.
During the quarter under review, agriculture grew by 3.15 per cent. The growth of the industry sector stood at 3.50 per cent versus 3.42 per cent in the first quarter of last year, while the services sector recorded a growth of 4.31 per cent, in contrast to 4.33 per cent in the same quarter of 2025.
In terms of share of the GDP, the services sector contributed 57.73 per cent compared to 57.50 per cent in the first quarter of 2025.
In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP at basic price stood at N110.79 trillion in nominal terms, higher than N94.1 trillion in the first quarter of 2025 by 17.79 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has warned that Nigeria must not forgo its commitment to boosting domestic refining capacity amid growing advocacy for the importation of petroleum products.
In a statement, the centre explained that Nigeria must, therefore, avoid drifting into a policy regime that undermines domestic production in the name of competition or liberalisation.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the think tank, Mr Muda Yusuf, in a press release, warned that Nigeria is signalling to investors what happens if a multi-billion-dollar Dangote refinery investment of continental significance is confronted with regulatory uncertainty and policy headwinds.
The development comes as the management of the refinery has approached the court to battle against regulators, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), over their decision to allow importation.
The dispute stems from a lawsuit filed by Dangote Refinery against the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, over fuel import licences granted to six marketers and the state oil company. The case has since widened the debate around local refining, market competition and the future direction of Nigeria’s downstream petroleum industry.
According to the centre, the increased call speaks to the very architecture of Nigeria’s economic philosophy, the future of industrialisation, the resilience of the macroeconomy and, ultimately, the preservation of the country’s economic sovereignty.
“No nation has ever imported its way to industrial greatness. Prosperous economies are built on production, refining, manufacturing, value addition and the strengthening of domestic productive capacity.
“Countries that become excessively dependent on imports inevitably export jobs, weaken domestic industries, erode local investments and mortgage their economic sovereignty.
“Nigeria must therefore avoid drifting into a policy regime that undermines domestic production in the name of competition or liberalisation,“ Mr Yusuf noted.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Airtel Africa has launched a share buyback programme worth up to $110 million, signalling confidence in its strong balance sheet and financial flexibility as the telco seeks to return value to shareholders.
The company disclosed in a notice filed on the portal of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited that the programme would involve the repurchase of up to 1 per cent of its issued share capital as part of its capital allocation policy.
The telco further stated that all shares repurchased under the programme would be cancelled as the sole purpose of the exercise is to reduce the company’s capital base.
“The sole purpose of the buyback programme is to reduce the capital of the company. As such, all shares purchased under the buyback programme will be cancelled,” the notice stated.
According to the organisation, the initiative reflects the board’s confidence in the group’s financial position and its ability to continue investing across its African operations while rewarding shareholders.
“The board’s decision reflects the continued strength of the Group’s balance sheet and its ability to preserve financial flexibility while supporting ongoing investment to capitalise on the compelling growth outlook across the Group’s footprint,” the notice stated.
Airtel Africa said it had entered into an agreement with Barclays Capital Securities Limited to execute the programme through on-market purchases of its ordinary shares, which would subsequently be acquired by the company. The agreement, according to the notice, consists of two parallel elements.
Under the non-discretionary arrangement, Barclays will independently purchase between $50 million and $60 million worth of ordinary shares without influence from the company.
The second component is a discretionary arrangement under which Airtel Africa may instruct Barclays to purchase up to an additional $50 million worth of shares, subject to the provisions of the Market Abuse Regulation.
The programme commenced on May 22, 2026, and is expected to run until no later than November 27, 2026, unless terminated earlier in line with the terms of the agreement.
Airtel Africa said further tranches of the programme could be announced later to enable it fulfil its objective of repurchasing up to one per cent of its issued share capital as at the date of the announcement.
The telecommunications company also explained that the purchases would be carried out in line with shareholder approvals, UK listing regulations and market abuse rules. It noted that shareholders had earlier granted the company authority at its annual general meeting held on July 9, 2025, to repurchase a maximum of 366.07 million ordinary shares.
Following the completion of an earlier buyback programme, Airtel Africa said the remaining authority available for repurchases currently stands at 357.04 million ordinary shares.
The company further disclosed that Barclays may continue executing the discretionary portion of the buyback autonomously during closed periods under irrevocable and non-discretionary instructions permitted by regulation.
The new buyback announcement comes weeks after Airtel Africa reported strong financial and operational performance for the year ended March 31, 2026 (Q1), supported by growth in data usage, mobile money services and improved profitability across its markets.
According to its audited financial statement, the group recorded a 29.5 per cent increase in revenue to $6.42 billion from $4.96 billion in the previous year, while profit after tax (PAT) rose by 147.4 per cent to $813 million from $328 million.
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