Creating a Lean start-up in a tough African economy: Part One.

They say starting a business is best done in a rough economy, its a notion that’s hard to believe by some but is by revered by others. In Lagos, Nigeria, technological start-ups have been on the rise with the emergence of Yabacon Valley, its not hard to tell which famous tech hub is being coined here.

As with all entrepreneurs and wantapreneurs, we are sentimental about our dreams and aspirations. There is a common tendency to believe we have the greatest ideas and strategy but in the end, what good is an innovative product with no paying customer? Majority of entrepreneurs in Africa employ a hit or miss strategy, developing and launching products and services without first understanding who they developing the products for and if there is a large enough market for it. Two key words every wantapreneur should be aware of when seeking what to pursue is scalable and repeatable.

In this series, I will be employing the Business Model Canvas to my startup, a technique fathered by Alexander Osterwalder, a Swiss business theorist. It touches on the key aspects any new or existing business needs to consider when making critical decisions. It is commonly believed the business model canvas replaces the business plan but in reality they are compliments of one another. The business model canvas allows for focusing on the present and creating a product which is in demand through a fast paced iterative process.

Following the Business Model Canvas doesn’t guarantee for success, other factors come into play and depending on the type of market being pursued, whether its a new market, existing market, cloned market or redesigned market. But what the Business Model Canvas does cleverly is allowing focus, focus on what we are providing and to who.

So how do I use the canvas to help position my start-up on the right path? For starters, I have a service which I intend to offer to consumers and it is one which I believe to be scalable and repeatable but how do I know if there’s a demand for this service? or if I have the right value proposition? or if I am targeting the right customers? The first step is to create a persona of who you intend to be a user and is generic to the other customers in the same customer segment.

The persona I created is a 33 year old man, named mark. He works in the banking industry and goes to work Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. He earns between ₦120,000 and ₦500,000 per month and loves to relax on the weekends with friends and family. Due to the demanding nature of his work he has no time to handle some important activities when he gets back from work. By creating this persona I have been able to make hypothetical guesses on what Value Proposition Mark will be interested in. The only issue here is i am guessing, There’s a 99% chance i’m wrong with the created persona so my next step is to perform a primary customer research and validate if my Value Proposition is inline with the Customer Segment created.

By next week, I would have completed the customer research and decided if I need to adjust my Value Proposition or targeted customer. This forms the foundation of what my next decision is, whether I continue working on the intended start-up or I need to pivot to something else. By the end of this series, I will be disclosing the service offered and what my observations are in regards to the current state of the African economy and African market. The entrepreneurial journey is just getting started and the ride is sure to get bumby so buckle up!