Africa is a land of many entrepreneurs. Little wonder the continent is ranked as one of the most enterprising globally, with Uganda, and Nigeria topping the list.

Sadly, however, it is also home to so many failed entrepreneurial dreams. Many reasons account for these failures, but from our research, Start-ups in Africa, have a greater chance of prospering if we get the puzzle right. The following are essentials for your consideration.

Business idea

This is the most important of all the Start-ups puzzles. And in determining the business idea, ensure that it is commercially viable with adequate customers that require your solution and are willing to pay for it. That way the sustainability of your enterprise is almost certainly guaranteed. To assess its viability, break it down by answering why you want to start that enterprise. What is unique about it, is there a demand for it, is it a new product or service, or are you monetizing skills gained over time? If you do not get the business idea right, you are wasting your time and resources. Remember it is not about your personal desires or interests. Customers only pay for solutions that come from unique business ideas.

Location and marketing

Deciding where to locate a business is critically important for any startup’s success. Location affects the costs of production, sales, and the kind of employees you can attract and retain in the enterprise.

For instance, if you are into selling wedding gowns, it is important to know that this is more of an urban business. Do not set it up in a village setting just because you want to cut down on rent. Equally, if you intend to start a low-income customers-focused restaurant, it is best to choose a place where there are factories, companies, schools and not a residential zone. Location decisions are so critical in the success or failure of every enterprise. Get it wrong and your business is long gone. It is best practice to consult or conduct a survey on where to locate your business before deciding where to locate your business.

Pricing

Another essential aspect that every startup should pay attention to is the pricing of products and services. Pricing is not straightforward as some people may think. At the beginning of the business, as an entrepreneur, ensure that the price is not prohibitive to customers. Price should be manageably low as a market penetration strategy to meet your cost of production and guarantee a small profit. Do not aim at getting rich in one day, else you will get crushed out.

Staff

Recommended article: Walk the Entrepreneurship journey with these ideas

A startup is only as successful as its employees. Yor teams’ dedication and ability to take care of customers, innovate low-cost business operations or invent new services and products will determine the success of the business. Little wonder why entrepreneurs worldwide ensure that they take care of the interests of theirs staff with the expectation that they in turn will replicate care to customers leading to the business’s success.

Therefore, when you start your enterprise, ensure that you recruit success-driven employees, with the right customer-focused attitude, especially in the infancy of the business. Do not compromise on this, else you spell the demise of your enterprise.

Frugality and Innovation

Majority of Africa’s start-ups are cash trapped. Production costs are generally high, and, in most cases, interest rates from lending institutions usually are high. With these constraints already, particular attention must be paid to how much a business can minimize production costs through innovation and prudent cashflow management innovations. Simply put, find a way of doing more with less as a start-up entrepreneur.

This is important because you will soon come to realize that as the start-up progresses to another level, the financial needs become greater compared with its needs at the initial stages. Saving every dollar will help during that sunny day when you need more capital to invest in the business.

These certainly are not an exclusive must-do list to succeed as a start-up entrepreneur, but it can give you a good start when carefully followed.

If you have not yet registered for the Career and start-ups Intelligence series, then this is the time to do so for the September edition.

Register here.

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