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Growth Strategies

Achieving Product-Market Fit in your Business

To begin, product-market fit means that your product, on all fronts, meets the needs of your customers.   To achieve this, you must first identify your most important assumptions and hypotheses. Once you have done this,  you need to conduct preliminary experiments. These experiments include the following: Opening a blog to publicise your product and learn from feedback. Visiting online discussion forums such as Reddit and Quora to ask open-ended questions, and gather feedback Creating surveys using tools such as SurveyMonkey Creating a landing page and collecting pre-orders for your product Creating and running test advertisements on social media channels such as Facebook and LinkedIn As you begin to get feedback on your Minimum Viable Prototype (MVP), compare it to your initial hypotheses. If you are correct, congratulations. If there are discrepancies, then it’s time for you to change strategy or ‘pivot.’ Unlike conventional businesses, pivoting isn’t evidence of failure in entrepreneurship – it’s a sign of progress. Oftentimes, a successful startup doesn’t hit on an effective business model until after Plan A, Plan B and even Plan C fails. The important thing is to ensure that you control your financial outlay, and the time and effort required to run the business until you achieve product-market fit. You know you have achieved product-market fit when your target market has adopted your product and is willing to use it and/or pay for it consistently. ACTION STEPS Brainstorm your assumptions and convert ten of these assumptions into key product-market hypotheses to be tested Run tests to prove the validity of your hypotheses Be willing to change strategy or ‘pivot’ if feedback from users suggests another direction until you achieve product-market fit. Creating a product that your customers cannot live without doesn’t happen in a day. The process requires active listening, tweaking, re-tweaking, patience and dedication. 

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Funding Opportunities for African Entrepreneurs

African Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) face many challenges, including access to funding opportunities. This, in turn, makes growing and scaling businesses difficult for entrepreneurs. While MSMEs are often drivers of growth, especially in developing countries, 51% of these businesses need more capital than they can access (Center for Strategic & International Studies, 2021). To support the capacities of MSMEs to create numerous jobs and sporadically improve the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of African countries, below are some available funding opportunities: 2022 Africa’s Business Heroes Prize Competition Win up to $300,000 in grant funds from Africa’s Business Heroes Prize (ABH) Competition. ABH is open to African entrepreneurs making a difference in their local communities. Your business must be providing a solution to the most important problems in the world. It must also be sustainable and inclusive. Formally registered African businesses from all sectors, with a three-year track record, are eligible to apply.  The application deadline is June 20, 2022. D-Prize Seed Capital Do you have a new, proven idea capable of solving poverty? If yes, you’re the entrepreneur D-prize is looking for. You stand a chance to get up to $20,000 to fund an intervention that is capable of eradicating poverty.  Your idea can fall into any of these categories- health access, water, education, agriculture, livelihoods, energy and public services. Similarly, you can propose a custom intervention. Every entrepreneur is eligible to apply as there are no geographical, age or background restrictions. The extended application deadline is June 26, 2022. Copernicus Masters Challenge A total of EUR 531,000 is available for individuals using Earth observation data to tackle global challenges. Innovators above 18 years are eligible to apply. More so, Applications are welcome from start-ups, SMEs, universities and corporations, as long as you’re utilizing Earth Observation (EO) data to solve a problem. If you decide to apply, make sure you do so on or before 11 July 2022. Cartier Women’s Initiative Annually, the Cartier Women’s Initiative empowers impact entrepreneurs, especially women with funding and networking opportunities. Women with solid, sustainable, social or environmental impact from any country or sector can apply. Funding from the Cartier Women’s Initiative is divided into three categories: The Regional Award Science and Technology Pioneer Award- for women entrepreneurs innovating scientific and technological solutions to problems. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award- for any entrepreneur (male or female) designing solutions that seek to provide opportunities for communities that have been underserved. The deadline for all categories is Thursday, June 30, 2022, at 2 p.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST). Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Is your business mission-driven? Have you been addressing critical social or environmental issues for about three years? The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation might be the right opportunity for you. The foundation accepts applications for social impact ideas all year, so you never have to worry about a deadline. Impact-focused, data-driven businesses at post-pilot stages, with the willingness to expand, are eligible to apply. Know an entrepreneur that needs this? Share and prompt them to check out these opportunities to start, grow or scale their businesses.  

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Artificial Intelligence in Business

Do you know that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in business has the potential to increase productivity by 40% or more? AI is the skilful art of computers carrying out tasks that humans perform. This intelligent software with human-like capabilities boosts revenue, improves customer experience and drives business growth. Moreover, it uses a range of techniques to improve efficiency. These include machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision and adaptive learning.  Artificial intelligence applications are useful across various industries. They are excellent at automating processes as well as decreasing operational costs. Additionally, they reduce human errors and are potent fraud detectors. Businesses and corporate organisations utilise these technologies to understand customers better, derive business intelligence and provide consistent customer service.  Without further ado, below are some implementations of machine intelligence across various spheres: Customer Service Interacting with a lot of customers daily can be overwhelming for customer service agents. However, the emergence of chatbots has simplified customer service processes, thus reducing burnout among representatives. They have also relieved businesses from spending hugely on recruiting into customer service departments. This is because they provide 24/7 real-time customer service. Chatbots are capable of independently resolving customer issues, placing orders and making inquiries. Data and Insights The availability of large business data makes meaningful insights difficult to derive. Nevertheless, artificial intelligence has created a system of segmentation that efficiently gathers valuable details. It segments data based on deployment, technology, applications, sentiment, content type or characters. Product Management Marketing is a never-ending process that nurtures and preserves the loyalty of a customer to a company’s product. To boost the effectiveness of marketing efforts, machine intelligence can be employed to carefully study customers’ habits. This helps to predict products that meet their needs, suit their lifestyles and provide maximum satisfaction. In conclusion, entrepreneurs need to identify lagging areas in their businesses, identify significant AI tools, and then invest in them to create efficient processes.

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Defining Your Business Hypothesis

“No business plan survives first contact with customers” – Steve Blank, Silicon Valley entrepreneur. The lean startup movement, pioneered by Eric Reis, is an approach for dealing with the inherent uncertainty in entrepreneurship. It is particularly well-suited to early-stage startups when: The starting point of the lean startup approach is the creation of a Minimum Viable Product or MVP. The MVP allows you to go to market and test the response of the market to your product and/or service. The MVP could be a physical product, software, or service. How to Define Your Business Hypothesis The form of the hypothesis is as follows: I believe [target market] will [do this action/use this solution] for [this reason] Hypotheses are usually based on assumptions. You need to isolate the most important assumptions for your product and/or service and test them first. Based on the work of Tom Eisenmann of Harvard Business School, assumptions fall into four key categories. Each category could give rise to several business hypothesis as follows: 1. Customer Value 2. Technology and Operations 3. Sales and Marketing 4. Finance and Profit As a team, consider each assumption and rate them: Select the assumptions with the highest scores as your key assumptions and hypotheses. Once you have identified your most important assumptions and hypotheses, you need to conduct preliminary experiments.

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How to Leverage Networking to grow Your Startup

The idea of networking contributes to the growth and relevance of a start-up. We are familiar with the saying “no man is an island”. Running your business on a solo mode might retain the focus or vision of the business but it shuts the owner from the real experiences of other business owners. In this article, we would look at how building a solid network can maintain a start-up business. Success in business especially for a start-up trying to gain traction is not only dependent on how much the business is able to control financially, neither is it by the size of the team. There are other activities that not only boost a start-up but ensures its sustainability. Research has shown that many successful start-ups developed meaningful partnerships, which enabled them to achieve success quickly and sustainably. This is known as networking. What is Networking? Networking in business involves building relationships with potential partners for your business. It should not be mistaken for just hosting business meetings, exchanging business cards, joining business communities and organizing pitch parties. Notwithstanding, these are processes of networking that may get people to be interested in your business, trust what you do and desire to partner with you. These connections, if optimized, can boost a start-up business and expose it to more opportunities. What can networking do for your start-up business? Networking attracts excellent skills: Networking offers a large range of skills to make selections from. A start-up business with strong connections cannot lack top skills in its decisions. It cannot be limited to just the available but have the option of picking its desired. Networking helps you through competition: One can hardly talk about a business and its sustenance without recognizing the place of competitors – how they charge and what they do to stay as market leaders. Exposure through your business network gives insights to what you can do to stand out and also face competition in the industry without wearing out. In simple terms, networking breaks down the bulk of handling competitors as by others experiences, one is guided on essential approaches for effective results. Networking provides you with more negotiating power with potential investors: Investors seek to support a business that not only promises good return on their investment but will deliver rightly and on time. A strong network gives a business credibility and gives investors the assurance they need before they invest in your business. Also, your network can introduce you to other potential investors. Wider customer reach: Customers of a business are spread abroad. Networking links the business with its potential clients who in turn advocates on behalf of the business. The effect of this is a wider reach to the right customers thereby, increasing the business customer base. This connection is beyond boundaries; could be online or offline reach. Impact on business strategy: By exposure through networking, a start-up business gets to improve its strategies in communication, financing, operations and other aspects. Networking influences positively from the structure of the start-up business through its publicity even to the personal brand of the founders.

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Web 3.0: More power to the people!

Web 3.0. Metaverse. Artificial Intelligence. Machine Learning. NFTs. Cryptocurrency. Internet of Things… – you have to have heard about one of these buzz words, let us break it down In 1989, the internet came into existence. It was called Web 1.0 or the Static Web and provided access to information with absolutely no interaction but importantly it was a decentralized platform where development, ownership, and operation were not controlled by a few. Web 1.0 was the dominant and more reliable form of the internet till 2005 when Web 2.0 was introduced.  Web 2.0 is the internet as we know it today.  It is also known as the social web, it is very interactive and led to the formation of big tech companies that created interactive web platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Google, iTunes, YouTube, and so on. On Web 2.0, platforms and apps are developed, owned, and operated by big tech companies. These big tech companies created centralized platforms whilst making it easier to connect, browse and transact.  In Web 2.0, these platforms and apps collect data from users and the owners of the apps use the data for what they please. The biggest challenges are that they use users’ data for their financial gain and that they decide what should be on the internet and when it should be on the internet.  But Web 3.0 is shifting things, by giving power back to the people (decentralized like Web 1.0) whilst creating open-sourced interactive web platforms (Web 2.0). Web 3.0 is the creation, operation, and governance of the internet by users, creators, and practically anything online. Ownership is defined by digital tokens and cryptocurrency; the more you have over a network, the more control you have over its operations and governance. This leads to the number one criticism of Web 3.0 whereby early adopters and venture capitalists are more likely to own more tokens and cryptos leading to more ownership of the web.  Web 3.0 is focused on decentralization and ownership. Web 3.0 processes information and data in a human way and interprets the information using artificial intelligence mainly machine learning. This data is generated from various sources; this is where the internet of things comes in. Any device that can be connected to the internet will generate data that you can choose to sell so it can be used to offer more personalized solutions to you.  This is bad for big tech companies as the selling of our data to advertisers is where their revenue comes from. As such many of them are moving to the Metaverse – a digital world where digital assets can be purchased and sold by anyone. These big tech companies are creating digital assets that can be sold.   Although Web 3.0 has not been fully nor officially launched, there are a few early-stage platforms that have already started rolling out Web 3.0 such as Siri and Alexa, which are platforms that collect data from ios or android devices connected to the internet whilst using artificial intelligence to decode the information and understand it in a human way.    Contact Versa Research your trusted data, research & consulting partner! https://seekingalpha.com/amp/article/4480677-what-is-web3?source=acquisition_campaign_google_premium&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=14926960698&utm_term=128319903825^dsa-1455561509464^^555659366580^^^g&external=true&gclid=Cj0KCQiA95aRBhCsARIsAC2xvfx-IlWBWYeMtKmlyWnCA25LMQSiOn-5j7avDJSiap80Q64P2qLwuWAaAstWEALw_wcB https://www.investopedia.com/web-20-web-30-5208698

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Starting a business but scared to build from scratch?

Dreaming of starting your own business but scared to build from scratch? Franchising might be the right option for you. Starting your own business has never been easy and often requires years of dedication and hard work. For a successful business owner, being a boss can be exciting but stressful at the same time. It’s a time filled with the freedom to make your own choices; create the life you want. However, it can also be scary to make the leap from employee to employer. But the big question is, do you want to start your dream business from scratch, or leverage the success of a franchise brand? Now, you might be wondering; what is a Franchise Business? Starting Your Own Business franchise is a business opportunity that allows the franchisee to start a business by legally using someone else’s (the franchisor’s) expertise, ideas, and processes, in return for a combination of a flat fee, plus fees based on profits or sales. According to research, there are over 41.5 million enterprises in Nigeria (list of franchise in Nigeria). An estimated 80% of these new businesses, however, fail within the first five years, due to common and familiar challenges. It is however proven to the contrary that only 15% of franchised businesses fail, compared to the 80% failure rate among other independent businesses. Further, several countries, both developed and emerging, have embraced the franchise concept as a method of creating job opportunities. According to a report by International Franchise Association (IFA), franchises create an economic output of $1.6 trillion and account for 5.8% of the U.S. GDP. Elsewhere, in a comparable economy like South Africa, franchises generate over 12% of the country’s GDP. Amazing! isn’t it? You learn about list of franchise in Nigeria Interestingly, unlike starting your own business from scratch, buying into a successful franchise business in Nigeria comes with exciting benefits which includes the following: Training and SupportUnlike independent businesses, franchise business owners enjoy the freedom of being their own bosses while leveraging the support and training provided by the franchisor. The franchisor provides you and your team with initial training programmes which cover areas such as product knowledge, operating procedures, merchandising, advertising, etc., as well as on-going supports to ensure you succeed. Little wonder Tom Scarda, founder of The Franchise Academy had said “A franchise is a business with training wheels”. Brand RecognitionFranchising helps lend a competitive edge to your business as opposed to start-ups. Leveraging the success and recognition of a franchise business significantly reduces the stress of building your customer fan base from zero, which in turn, increases your chances of success. As a new business, one of the biggest struggles is finding customers. However, investing in a successful franchise brand, solves that problem. You are starting off on a well-established modelUnlike starting from scratch and experimenting different strategies and methods, Franchising provides you an already tested and trusted operational methods and procedures. Hence, you wouldn’t have to re-invent the wheel. Access to market researchOne of the franchisor’s main responsibilities is to develop marketing research and standards for promoting the franchise brand; improving the products and services and ensuring that the franchise business remains relevant, sustainable, competitive, and profitable. Business RelationshipAs a franchisee, you are a business partner and an ambassador of the franchise brand. Hence, you enjoy and have access to network with other franchisees in the franchise business, amongst others. Reduced cost of marketingBy leveraging an already successful franchise business, you would not need to spend so much on marketing and advertisement as compared to an independent business owner. High Purchasing powerHaving operated the business for a long time, the franchisor has a list of approved vendors who are trusted with product and service quality. Hence, the franchisees not only have access to quality products and services but also affordability. Are you excited? Take the next step, call your franchise plug; call FBDS Nigeria today to learn more about list of franchise in Nigeria

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Why You need a Functional Website

The vision of every business is to achieve its set goals, meet the demands of clients and create solutions peculiar to life challenges. Irrespective of the drive of a business, accomplishing more results with less resources is usually an approach most use in achieving these visions. Thanks to the impact of digitization in day-to-day activities, every business ranging from small-sized to large-sized get a chance to be optimized as there are many opportunities to get on with. Ecommerce enables businesses to trade goods and services over the internet in the various levels of business-to-business, business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer relationships. Why Online Visibility is Important? Is there a need to put your business online? Of course. Among many reasons, looking for the right audience is a major factor in running a business. Generally, different audiences exist, hence, the need for wider reach to find a niche in the market. Businesses put themselves up online majorly through websites, social media platforms, emailing strategies and mobile apps techniques. As much as it is important to set up a website for your business, it is imperative that you ensure the website is functional and responsive. Facts about online visibility and reputation management: 98% of the audience expect to see visual structures that are appealing. Understand that your audience/viewers have needs for which they seek solutions and would not appreciate unresponsiveness when in search of solution. Gain is the bottom line of businesses. This can be in the form of financial profit and other business support. Competition exists in business. Your business may not be solid, it doesn’t stop the presence of competitors in the market. Residing on the few facts expressed above, a functional business website can go a long way in helping your business succeed as there are many things it can do. On the business side, the cost of operating and managing a business website is minimal compared to setting up physical strategies of reaching target audience and engaging market interaction. Less operational cost with effective results generates more revenue. Why Social Media Presence is Not Enough In a bid to get your business running, creating Ads, posting on social media platforms is not sufficient to maximizing the benefits of digitization in business. These can give publicity to your business but having a website that is effective is more beneficial as it creates an online presence for your business. Having a website for your business gives your business the feel of trustworthiness. The integrity of a business is core in attributing organizational values both from the business team and clients. When a client gets introduced to your business and finds a center to get more resources on what your business entails, it creates a sense of credibility to what you do, hence, confidence to engage in your business. Furthermore, if the website is responsive, customer services available and call-to-action prompt, the impression alone gives the viewer a level of satisfaction. How a Functional Website Provides Significance Having a website that showcases your business and gives you the opportunity to reach a wider customer base. Offline operations may not offer these opportunities as there are mobility limitations and other factors. A functional website helps you identify loopholes, monitor customer interaction, track customer patronage, fetch reviews and give insights to the business. These activities help you in making business decisions in finances, publicity, operations, customer relationship, potential areas in need of your business solutions. Lastly, in a business, market augmentation is such that an expansion in target audience or product line occurs. This is very much achievable when your business is online and has a website that is functional. Effectiveness of a business component has a way of rubbing on the choices of the market audience. What is a functional business website like? A business website that is functional has good content. It is compatible across devices. The creative visual designs attract viewers and make them stay longer on the site. It displays only relevant information. The website is easy to navigate.      

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How to Build Your 60-Second Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is an introductory summary of you and your business goals. It is one of the most effective methods to promote your personal brand and get listeners wanting to know more, be it with potential investors, employees, co-founders, etc. Build your own, outstanding pitch quickly and easily with any of the following positive ‘action’ words: Achieve Assess Broaden Capture Centralize Change Compile Complete Coordinate Create Design Develop Diversify Enforce Enhance Establish Evaluate Exceed Forecast Guide Identify Increase Initiate Inspire Investigate Launch Maintain Manage Who You Are Your success depends on the strength of your first few words, so your opening line is important. You need to engage the listeners and draw them in, by making them eager to learn more. This means providing context to make the pitch relevant to them, before talking about you. Present the problem that you and your solution solve and provide context. Here’s an example: Many entrepreneurs struggle to attract new customers, as they are so busy bringing in revenue by delivering value. Often they only grow through referrals. We specialize in creating marketing systems for successful entrepreneurs in the education industry. What You Do This speaks about your experience and builds on the initial section. You may reference recent projects you have been involved in or interesting opportunities you have had. Pay attention to the context by keeping it relevant to the listener and free from jargon. Here’s an example: We are focused on delivering marketing results for clients in the education industry. I have worked in this industry for ten years and I am very aware of the common business development challenges as well as effective solutions. Your Unique Selling Proposition You should show the unique qualities you have that can benefit the listener. The intention should be to clarify the points that differentiate you from competitors and similar companies in your industry. These differences should not be superficial but focused on delivering unique value. Here’s an example: We have developed a proprietary system for business development called the ASAP Marketing system and have used this system successfully with several clients in West Africa. We serve six of the top 10 schools in the Lagos district and have helped them achieve 20% increase in new business sales revenue over the last three years. Your Goals This section should also include ‘’What’s in it for them?’’ Be clear about what you want and align it to what the listener is looking for. Find out exactly what the listener wants so that your pitch can show how you can fulfill their needs. Use gentle, effective persuasion to avoid causing offense. Here’s an example: We would be interested in speaking to you to see if there is an opportunity for us to help you win more customers. Action Steps Write the first part of your elevator pitch by answering the question ‘’Who am I?’’ Write the second part of your elevator pitch by answering the question ‘’What do I do?’’ Write the third part of your elevator pitch by answering the question ‘’Why am I unique? What are my unique selling points?’’ Write the final part of your elevator pitch by answering the question ‘’What are your goals?’’ For more posts from this author, visit: www.gloryenyinnaya.com ‘’Your audience is waiting for your stories.’’ – Steve Woodruff, Author of Clarity Wins.

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Investor (as well as Startups) Beware

The bright red flags most people miss Here are red flags investors should be aware of when investing in a startup and red flags startups should be aware of when accepting investors’ funding. For Investors beware of  Startups that have many members on the founding team. This implies that there are a lot of people who already have equity in the startup and too many voices Startups that have high overhead and low-profit margins because it is an indication of a lack of sustainability and scalability Founders that have full-time jobs outside of the Startup because the startup might be a hobby or an entity not receiving attention. At the same time, beware of founders who have no other source of income apart from the Startup because your investment could be used to bankroll their lifestyle Startups whose early investors have not or are not participating in additional investment rounds because it implies the Startup did not deliver on its promises or the early investors do not see a future for the Startup For Startups beware of  Investors who offer smaller ticket sizes but want larger equity. In addition to you receiving less funding, these investors devalue your Startup which will affect you in all your other funding rounds Investors who have over 1x liquidation multiplier in their term sheets. When a Startup’s exit is lower than the valuation, the investor gets their full initial investment back if you have a 1x liquidation multiplier, above 1x implies the investor wants more than their full investment back which leaves the Startup at a greater loss Investors who want Participating Preferred Stocks. When a Startup’s exit is higher than their valuation, shareholders will receive additional cash (in addition to their initial investment) which is based on the equity they have in the Startup. This means for example if the investor invests 5Million for 50% equity, and the Startup’s exit was 25Million, the investor will their 5Million back in addition to 10Million (50% of the balance from exit fund) leaving the Startup with 10Million only Investors who are non-responsive; who go AWOL during the process and come back with heightened interest. Sounds too good to be true! This ends our Investor and Investment series, you can go to our profile for more related articles www.msmehub.org/author/busola-boyle-komolafe/.    Contact Versa Research your trusted data, research & consulting partner! References https://carta.com/blog/how-to-choose-investors-for-your-startup/ https://carta.com/blog/watch-out-for-these-terms/ https://techpoint.africa/2019/11/05/red-flag-nigerian-investor/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgedeeb/2017/01/03/16-red-flags-for-startup-investors/?sh=2606c1e1390a

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