2020

We’ve previously talked about what it takes to make “the leap” from employee to entrepreneur; an empowering milestone that is often accompanied by a feeling of excitement and confidence. The Leap is certainly an event worth savouring but the journey ahead is likely going to be impervious, as Vusi Thembekwayo recently stated: “It is always clear in the beginning, messy in the middle and obvious at the end”. Most startup founders launch a venture off the back of a big spark, niggling certainty or revolutionary idea. Yet, that brilliant hunch is only as valid as the entrepreneur’s ability to execute and get things done with relentless momentum under conditions of extreme uncertainty. To turn an idea into something groundbreaking, entrepreneurs need to form a crystal clear long term vision while constantly making short-term operational decisions. Something groundbreaking = hunch + intention.  Here comes the “messy middle”: while there is clarity around the idea and final goal, what is unclear at this point is the “how and when”. What’s next? How do I grow? Where do I advertise? When do I hire? These are just a few of the dilemmas that every entrepreneur faces. Some call it ‘the art of execution’ – the ability to turn a vision into a set of actionable steps, orchestrated to position the venture in a crowded and complex ecosystem with limited resources, while delivering value to customers, finding product-market fit and building brand equity.  We would be lying to you if we said that there is a secret recipe for this. Instead, we spoke to six startup entrepreneurs and leaders across West Africa in agritech, e-commerce, fintech, and insurance, collected a series of tactics that helped founders turn a brilliant hunch into a groundbreaking venture. While no-one can pull up their sleeves for you, we’ve done the next best thing and distilled their insights into a series of recommendations here that have made the lives of other startup founders’ easier. Many startup entrepreneurs frame their business ideas in a solution-first way and thus end up building solutions that make sense in their minds but do not effectively solve the problem(s) their customers face. Entrepreneurs are more likely to suffer this pitfall when they build fully-fledged solutions without testing their ideas over and over again. Sometimes, entrepreneurs get sidetracked by the front end of social media and their own popularity and lose focus on building the right product, which often includes the least fun parts of making their venture grow. Richard Adarkwah (Founder of Insurerity and Graduate of the Accra program in Ghana), advised founders to “…focus on building a good product and actually be able to sell, rather than being popular on social media, [when] your books don’t show good sales.” Ayo Dawudo (Founder of Loystar and Graduate of the Lagos program in Nigeria) added, “early-stage startups also develop the key relationships needed to sustain their product in the marketplace.”  Quite simply, figure out who your customers are and what problem(s) they face, then you can build a solution that works. What that solution is will often not be obvious in the conception stage, but excellent customer development will help guide you to it eventually. As a startup founder, this is something you should do often, and to different kinds of audiences. Not only will you get feedback on your business and product from a diverse set of viewpoints, but you might also get lucky and kill two birds with one stone: winning a cash prize at a pitch competition. Don’t just do it for the money though – take it as an exercise to practice pitching to diverse audiences, and refine your idea. The more you pitch your business, the more you are able to recognize its deficiencies that escaped you before, thus helping you continuously hone your business idea and model in a way that is responsive to the market you are looking to serve. Being in a program that allows you to make and refine your pitch is highly beneficial in this regard, as Yutaro said, “…I realised the benefits of going through [the Founder Institute program] especially in structuring a pitch deck and presenting it.” Nail your 60-second pitch.  In addition to providing regimen and structure, accelerator and incubator programs are good curators and aggregators of mentors across multiple sectors. A good startup accelerator or incubator program will probably not be a cakewalk, because starting and running a successful startup venture is not easy, and so it is always a good idea to find and connect with mentors who are leaders in the sectors you want to start your venture in. When you join such programs, be ready to let your ideas evolve because they almost certainly will. Cameroon’s Stephanie Kingue, Founder of Dwelner and Ghana graduate, and one of the startup entrepreneurs we heard from advised entrepreneurs in incubator programs to “be open-minded to benefit fully from the mentors and also from the different teachings available.” Learn from others who have done it before, have put processes in place and walked the talk. Your journey will be far easier when you do. The key learning that emerges from this is that while you hustle to get a product to market, you should not stop focusing on your personal growth and on growing the support network around you because that is where the greatest opportunities will come from. We hope these important insights on how accelerator programs have helped founders navigate the ‘messy middle’, will further help you think about how you transform an idea from a brilliant hunch to a groundbreaking venture.  ***************** This article was based on the virtual panel discussion, Making it: Meet Founders Successfully Launching in West Africa, hosted by the Founder Institute Ghana. This article was written by groundbreaking.africa and the Maxwell Investments Group in partnership with Founder Institute Ghana. *****************  The Founder Institute (FI.co) is the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator. Since 2009,  FI has helped over 4,500 entrepreneurs get the focus and support needed to build businesses that matter. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters

Entrepreneurs are a rare breed of visionaries, creators and innovators who have the courage and ingenuity to take risks, break away from the herd and cast a path for themselves.  Starting a business is an increasingly appealing and aspirational career choice – particularly in markets where secure jobs are getting scarcer, and the idea of working your fingers to the bone just to make your boss’s beach house more lavish isn’t very appealing – yet it’s tainted with a veil of uncertainty, especially in the early days. So, how do you become an entrepreneur?  Whether you are in the game of amassing wealth, changing the world or building a legacy that will outlive you, there will come a time where you will need to set aside your job and outsiders’ expectations and just ‘make the leap’. Making the leap from employee to entrepreneur (successfully) is arguably one of the key obstacles and moments of truth in the life of a start-up founder.  To find out more about this ‘moment of truth’ we gathered some of the best entrepreneurs in Ghana and Founders Institute Mentors to discuss the topic in an interactive online webinar. What follows are the key learnings from “The Leap: Making the Leap from Employee to Entrepreneur in Ghana”.  The grubby reality of entrepreneurship is that there is no magic formula. What follows are some useful considerations and inspirations for anyone seeking to make the leap:  Serve your customer, not your ego. Be led by the conviction that you’re there to solve a problem, not by confidence in your billion-dollar idea and the need to be seen as a white-collar entrepreneur. Kafui Yevu (Founder of Kraado) rightly said that, “Entrepreneurship is not meant for you to show off as your own boss. You are there to solve a problem.” Many aspiring entrepreneurs fancy the idea of being labelled as entrepreneurs, but they have no clue whose problem or pain they are solving with their business solution.  The value you sell is in the solution you are offering. Before making the leap, ask yourself these reflective questions;  Answering these questions is part of the preliminary steps for starting and operating a sustainable business model in Ghana.  Keeping the Lights On. How do you pay your bills, especially during the first two years of your start-up venture during which you are either making a loss or barely breaking even? We unpacked what it means to make the leap in three steps and put together some tactics that will help you keep the lights on, building on the experience of some of our FI mentors and entrepreneurs. Remember, this is just an inspiration and one of many options. It’s important that ‘you do you’ and work with the resources and opportunities that are available around you.  As Felix Darko, one of the leading Program Managers of the African success story, MEST stated, “You need to find that place within yourself to focus and dedicate your full energies to both your side hustle and your startup. This is where time management becomes critical.”  Stage 1: Keep your job and start a side hustle (your start-up).  Keep your job. Once you have identified a problem worth solving, your goal is to develop a solution (or many iterations of it) and find a market (or many ways of bringing the product to market). If you keep an exploratory and testing mindset, then you’re on track.  Keep in mind, at this point, you are not running a business full time yet. Making it your side hustle means you are able to nurture and grow your idea or solution and test it within your network. You are also able to fall on your current employment income to fund aspects of your entirely new venture and also provide for yourself and your family.  Another argument in favour of such a strategy is the ability to make sound and good business decisions for your early-stage venture, since the urgency to make money and keep a roof over your head is significantly reduced.  “Have a stream of income that keeps you afloat to survive when starting your business because being in survival mode makes you desperate and you’re likely to make bad decisions.” – Foster Awintiti- Akugri | Founder, Hacklab Foundation. Stage 2: Quit your job and double the hustle.  At some point, after you have identified your product-market fit, you have revenue coming in, and your business is requiring more of your time and dedication. This is when your start-up (which started as your side hustle) needs full-time attention, but it can’t yet pay a full-time salary.  Founder Institute Ghana is made up of amazingly successful Founders and leaders, and some of our mentors who ‘did it’ by deciding to switch from full-time employees to sole traders in order to maintain an income stream from a job they can do for others while opening up more time for the business. Basically, switching their full-time role for a side hustle. Your options may include offering services like freelance consulting, blogging, public speaking and tutoring which is advised to be within your area of expertise.  Cecil Nutakor, CEO & Founder of eCampus, mentioned during the panel discussion that he considers offering public speaking services in the education and e-learning sector as a side hustle. This is something he can pull off with ease because it’s in his area of expertise and has an intrinsic alignment with his edu-tech business, potentially acting as a marketing tool for his startup as well. Two birds with one stone, essentially.  Stage 3: Full-time salary from your start-up  You hustled hard. Worked double jobs but it was worth it. You have found product-market fit and you have got money in the bank to pay yourself a salary and focus 100% on your company. You made the leap, congratulations! But this is only the beginning… if your money in the bank is coming from healthy revenue (selling your product) it’s a positive sign of financial sustainability, if your salary is paid

Sometime in 2005, I was walking to the West side of Achimota School with Reverend Baiden, now Very Reverend Baiden, when I expressed my mouth-watering desire to purchase waakye across the street. Students weren’t allowed to do that; I believe they still aren’t. Surprisingly, she didn’t refuse. She only asked if I am used to ingesting rice laced with mucus and phlegm that the seller probably wipes from the snout of her young infants. I wanted to rebut that the seller washes her hands, but it was too late. I was already horrified by the mental image skillfully painted by our student counsellor. I had never thought of anything like that before concerning waakye. Very Reverend Baiden stopped then walking, looked me dead in the eye and asked, “should I buy some for you?”. I sheepishly said no. That moment stuck with me. Till now, I have trouble buying food from the streets. Very Reverend Baiden successfully triggered my brain to not only see the shiny part situations but to also realistically analyse the associated dangers. The keyword there is “realistically”. I plan to deploy this technique on Maxie as I raise her; oh I think I have a couple of scenarios where this will come in handy. Because it worked on me so so well. I have since thought about the waakye seller. Yes, I have thought about a waakye seller I didn’t even meet for 15years and counting. I didn’t know her. I wasn’t there when she was cooking but I queried myself as to why I instinctively trusted her to nourish me. Nourish me with what? Something that looked like waakye?? I didn’t think to ask her for her credentials or FDA certification. She had successfully convinced the public and me to give her money in exchange for food and yes there was a short queue waiting to be served. I am not implying malicious intent on her part. I am only detailing how I ended up breaking down a simple urge to buy waakye. Think starkly elementary and ask yourself: why do you buy food from where you do? In this article, I am trying to relay a few of the thought processes I’ve had over the years on what it means to me to own a business, a successful business. There are many definitions of “success” when it comes to owning a business. Before we go into that, don’t wander too far off on the spectrum of what constitutes a business. Almost all philosophies are not without their exceptions. Kindly bear with me. Keeping in mind that the aforementioned waakye seller has been living in my head rent-free for a decade and a half, I often wondered how I could do that. No, I didn’t want to sell waakye by the roadside. But I did fanaticise about having a business that gets to the point where people would walk in and voluntarily pay for our business. The kick is from the “walk in voluntarily” part. To me, that’s when you HAVE a business. When we considered owning a business, I told my team we absolutely have to ultimately aim at getting the public to come to us with little or no effort. Because it would be at that point that I would consider us successful at building a business, especially if we achieve it without conventional marketing methods. Good marketing begets business. So does targeted lobbying. So does nepotism. The list can be long. But customer recommendation and good reviews are cheap and effective ways that can get your business to be the preferred choice in your field. How do you get Kwame and Akua to think of your business first when they consider procuring a service you can provide? In other words, how have I been garnering, slowly but surely, the amazing powers of that waakye seller of 15years ago, who got me to instinctively choose her against my better judgement? The purpose of the below is to promote dialogue on the subject matter, as I always have with articles on the Macroeconomic Bulletin.  Let’s discuss. BRAND FAMILIARITY: Familiarity is a very powerful tool. In the 1960s, a research psychologist named Robert Zajonc discovered that when people are repeatedly exposed to a certain stimulus, they start to react favourably to it. He called it the Mere Exposure Effect, and it works. It works really well. When MTN started out in Ghana, it was really literally everywhere you go in every sense of the word. I literally couldn’t drive for 30 minutes without seeing somewhere and somehow that bright yellow box with the MTN initials in it. That consistency I believe played a vital role in them being so ahead of the other telecom companies in many respects. We engage the brands that we trust. We trust the brands that we’re familiar with. We’re familiar with what we see every day. Get it? In my own experience, even before we figured out the business activity we’d eventually be about, we got “MAXWELL INVESTMENTS” boldly plastered on the top of a storey building on a busy, major highway about a year before we moved in. Why? Frankly, I wanted taxis and trotro’s to stop there. I wanted all the mates to say “Maxwell Investments! Maxwell Investments! who wants to alight at Maxwell Investments!” … then one day, I was told that it had started happening. That day, we jumped around like little kids. It doesn’t happen any longer because there’s one building that got erected next to ours later, and yes, it’s literally blocking our shine but you get the point. EXTRAORDINARY CUSTOMER SERVICE: Human emotion is a very important factor in what we buy. Even when emotion comes second, there will be many others that will give you the efficacy you seek and at that point, emotion jumps in again. People like people they like; it’s that simple. People gravitate to those that make them feel warm. There’s a saying that people will forget what you did but never forget how you