Overview
As Business Manager at Brightyield Golden Resources Limited, a finance firm in Abuja, Nigeria, specializing in providing loans to police officers, I led initiatives to streamline operations and enhance customer satisfaction. From May 2021 to February 2023, I focused on transforming the loan application and approval process, which was previously manual and prone to delays. By acting as the key liaison between business and technical teams, I implemented data-driven strategies that aligned product goals with customer needs, resulting in the development of efficient resource management tools. This case study highlights how these efforts increased operational efficiency by 20% and reduced project delays by 15%, demonstrating my skills in stakeholder management, process optimization, and cross-functional collaboration.
Challenge
Brightyield served a niche market of police officers seeking quick, reliable loans, but the existing system relied on paper-based applications, manual verifications, and siloed communication between departments. This led to several pain points:
- Extended Processing Times: Loan approvals often took 7-10 days, causing frustration for time-sensitive borrowers like police officers dealing with emergencies.
- High Error Rates: Manual data entry resulted in inaccuracies, leading to compliance issues and rework, which increased operational costs by an estimated 25%.
- Limited Scalability: As the client base grew by 30% year-over-year, the firm struggled to handle increased volume without proportional staff increases.
- Stakeholder Misalignment: Business teams focused on customer service, while technical teams prioritized system stability, leading to delayed implementations and suboptimal outcomes.
These challenges threatened customer retention and hindered business growth in a competitive microfinance landscape.
Solution
To address these issues, I proposed digitizing the loan processing workflow through a custom resource management tool integrated with existing CRM systems. The solution emphasized:
- Automation of Key Processes: Introducing automated verification checks for applicant eligibility (e.g., employment status with police forces) using simple API integrations.
- Data-Driven Insights: Implementing KPI dashboards to track application status in real-time, enabling proactive issue resolution.
- User-Centric Design: Focusing on accessibility for borrowers, including mobile-friendly interfaces for submissions and status updates, tailored to the needs of on-duty police officers.
This approach bridged the gap between business objectives (faster service) and technical feasibility (secure, scalable systems), ensuring buy-in from all stakeholders.
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