The Business Is Changing in Ikeja - How Do We Survive, Adapt and Still Succeed? I have been thinking about the business environment in Ikeja a lot lately, especially for those of us in the laptop, computer and technology business. Competition is increasing. Rent is increasing. Electricity is expensive. Logistics are expensive. Staff costs are increasing. Customers are becoming more price-sensitive.
And yet, people are still opening shops - new laptop dealers are entering the market, more online sellers are appearing, more businesses are selling the same products. So the question becomes: Is the increasing competition in Ikeja a bad thing? Personally, I don't think so - competition is a sign that there is still money and opportunity in the market. The problem is that the old way of doing business may no longer be enough.
Recent business reports in Nigeria have highlighted exactly these pressures: rising operating costs, rent, energy, logistics, limited access to finance and increasingly difficult competition. NESG's 2026 outlook noted businesses are being pushed toward greater efficiency, technology adoption, stronger supply chains and better firm-level decision-making. So perhaps the question shouldn't be 'How do we survive this difficult period?' but 'What kind of business do we need to build for the environment that is coming?'
The laptop business is becoming more competitive: there was a time when a shop in Computer Village gave you a significant advantage - today your customer can see a laptop on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Jiji or Google before ever visiting Ikeja, compare prices within minutes, ask several vendors for quotations, order from another state. Location alone is no longer enough; your shop may be in Ikeja, but your business needs to operate beyond Ikeja.
How do we navigate this period? 1. Stop building a business that depends only on walk-in customers - build multiple channels: WhatsApp, Google, Facebook, TikTok, Nairaland, LinkedIn, websites, referrals, corporate relationships. 2. Move from selling products to solving procurement problems - if a company needs 20 laptops, monitors, bags, printers, UPS, networking equipment, CCTV, storage and accessories, positioning as a technology procurement and supply company turns the entire requirement into your business; your advantage becomes supplier network + sourcing + product knowledge + pricing + coordination + delivery + relationships.
3. Don't allow rising rent to force you into bad decisions - a bigger shop doesn't automatically mean a bigger business; ask whether the location produces enough additional profit to justify its cost. 4. Don't keep all your capital trapped in inventory - technology changes quickly; a strong supplier network becomes an extension of your inventory and reduces idle capital. 5. Corporate customers are becoming more important - a company that regularly buys laptops, monitors, printers, UPS, networking and office equipment is a completely different customer; serve them well and you're building accounts instead of chasing new customers daily.
6. Your reputation will become more valuable - when products are everywhere, trust becomes a product: correct specs, tested product, reasonable price, delivery, after-sales response. 7. We have to become better at numbers - you cannot run a 2026 business on 'bought at X, sold at Y'; rent, electricity, transport, staff, bank charges, repairs, damages, returns, delivery, taxes, marketing, interest and slow-moving stock all matter.
