Starting a business can be tough, especially as a first-timer.
You can be easily overwhelmed by the pressure in taking certain decisions to the point of making some rather dumb mistakes that could negatively affect your potential for success.
One of the ways to avoid these mistakes is to heed to the advice of people who have already established themselves in businesses, and the Nigerian genius leading Andela’s operations at the heart of Africa’s tech revolution is an example.
Seni Sulyman, VP Global Operations, Andela
Seni Sulyman, who is Andela’s Vice President of Global Operations has, through a series of tweets, been sharing some tips for people who are thinking of starting a business online.
1. Build a “regular” company before a “tech” company
1a) before building a “tech” company, build a “regular” company. Then enable it with tech. If your “regular” company doesn’t provide a good or service that people want, or you can’t do it better than others, your whole business might be Dead On Arrival.
— Seni Sulyman (@senisulyman) May 1, 2018
2. Find out how to source for the best items
1b) So if you want to start an online fashion retailer, first figure out how to source for the best items at a price customers want. Then ensure you can work out the logistics of handling, transporting, delivering, handling returns, etc. Even before building a website
— Seni Sulyman (@senisulyman) May 1, 2018
3. Create an e-catalogue for people to order from
1c) perhaps, start with an e-catalog which people can order from. Send it out via WhatsApp, instagram, Facebook, etc. Then practice taking and fulfilling orders. If you do this really well, apply tech (eg a website) to accelerate your demand and automate your biz.
— Seni Sulyman (@senisulyman) May 1, 2018
4. Get a good technical person or team
2a) “Tech business” is a combination of tech and business. You can’t solve half of this and then try to cheat on the other half. Life has shortcuts, but some of them are actually mirages.
— Seni Sulyman (@senisulyman) May 1, 2018
2b) This means if you are an “entrepreneur” and want to build a tech company, respect the fact that you need a technical person (or team) and that person has a brain. Don’t offer them N200k (~$550) to build a website that does what a billion dollar company does. It’s cheating.
— Seni Sulyman (@senisulyman) May 1, 2018
5. Don’t just start building a product. Identify a problem people are ever-ready to pay to solve and learn how to sell it
2c) If you’re a technologist, you need to understand concepts like product-market fit, demand & supply, recruiting, etc. Don’t start by building a product and expecting people to buy it. Start by identifying a problem people are willing to pay to solve and learn how to sell it.
— Seni Sulyman (@senisulyman) May 1, 2018
6. After identifying your market, find people who are abreast with issues in that market
3a) if you’re an individual or company that has identified Nigeria as your next market to make profits, and you have never lived or worked in Nigeria, help yourself by identifying people here who know what’s REALLY going on in the market. That way you won’t lose your investment.
— Seni Sulyman (@senisulyman) May 1, 2018
3b) The Nigerian market has opportunities, and also has mirages. The difference between the two is best known by people who have stumbled upon both and can speak with facts, data and experience. There are a good number of those people. Find them and work with them.
— Seni Sulyman (@senisulyman) May 1, 2018
