A leadership column aimed at chief executives argues that companies leaning on one income source are exposed when markets shift — but warns against chasing growth that the business cannot manage.
Businesses that depend on a single source of income are vulnerable when trading conditions turn, and chief executives should be actively hunting for a second and third line of revenue. That is the central argument of a management column published by MyJoyOnline, written by CEO advisor Ernest De-Graft Egyir.
The piece is advisory rather than a news report on a company or policy. It is aimed at the people who run organisations, and it sets out a method for deciding whether a new income line is worth pursuing.
Start with what the business already has
The column advises leaders to look first at assets they already own before reaching for something new. That includes existing customer relationships, intellectual property, distribution networks and partnership arrangements.
The suggested questions are practical: what needs do current customers still have that are not being met, and what complementary products or services could sit alongside what the company already sells.
Egyir places particular weight on recurring and scalable income — the kind that comes in repeatedly rather than as one-off sales.
The warning attached
The column is not an argument for expansion at any cost. It cautions that new revenue lines should fit the organisation's existing strategy rather than add complication the business cannot carry.
To guard against that, the writer recommends setting clear financial and strategic tests that any new venture must pass before it gets funding or management attention. Each initiative, he argues, should be able to show both a credible benefit to the customer and a route to paying for itself.
The practical steps he lists for a CEO are to audit how dependent the organisation currently is on its main income source, and to identify at least two realistic diversification options.
The column offers a single test question for leaders: "What else could we offer our existing customers that solves a meaningful problem and creates additional value?"
Why it lands here
Egyir is the founding chief executive of Chief Executives Network Ghana, a membership body for company leaders, and convenes the Ghana CEO Summit, an annual gathering of business executives. He also served on Ghana's Economic Dialogue Planning Committee, the body set up around national economic consultations.
For Ghanaian business owners at home — and for diaspora investors in the United States with stakes in Ghanaian ventures — the underlying point is about exposure. A firm earning from one contract, one product or one client base feels every shock in that market directly. A broader base, the column argues, buys flexibility.
MyJoyOnline carries a standard notice that views expressed by contributors on its platform are not necessarily those of Multimedia Group Limited, its parent company.
