Building A Thriving Business (What's at the VERY CORE) Pt 17


Africa is the next growth region. Like China was in the early 2000’s, Africa is primed for the next economic boom. With a 1.2B consumer market, of which about half are under the age of 19; Africa’s working population will surpass that of China in 6000 days. So, as a big firm, you should be looking to take your place and increase your footprint in the major cities of Africa, starting from those which are growing nicely, such as Addis Ababa, Nairobi to vulnerable growers like Lagos and Luanda. And the transition will be smoother than China, as the region is an eager adopter of digital and mobile technology. With over 120m users of mobile financial services, and 636m smartphone connections by 2022, entrepreneurs have an opportunity to leverage the rising mobile data traffic to address untapped markets and unmet needs.

Africa's Next Baobab

To become the next big firm, Africa’s next baobab; you as an entrepreneur need to think long term, while solving the short term needs of your business. It means you need to be planning for how your business will look like in the future, while running the current business. This will only be possible if you are solving a real problem.

Going From Zero To One

Peter Thiel, silicon valley investor, said, to go from zero to one, you have to be thinking about, what important problem do people seem to have a blind spot about or not be thinking about? What contrarian truth, do most people disagree with you on? The late Steve Jobs was an advocate for touchscreen phones, at a time when phones with keypads were a popular trend.

Next, concentrate on getting a large share of a niche market. That means the solution you’ve provided should be focused on serving a niche market, NOT a big market. This step is necessary, as it allows you to iterate your product, if required, without huge consequences. Focusing on a niche market, will give you proof of concept, that your product or service is viable and your business model is profitable. 

 With this confidence, you should then aim your sights on BECOMING a monopoly. Jack Ma has this popular phrase, you don’t have to be the best, you just have to be the FIRST. It’s not an extremely factual statement, but his point is that, if you establish yourself as the first in any market, it’s easier for you to become a MONOPOLY.

How To Become A Monopoly

Create a defensible market position for decades by either creating a strong brand (ex: Tesla and Apple’s strong association with luxury goods), proprietary technology (ex: Google’s search algorithms), large network (ex: Facebook’s user size ensures people don’t leave the platform for a smaller and less valuable network), or economies of scale (ex: Amazon and Walmart sell a massive number of items, which lowers their fixed cost per item and allows them to out-price smaller competitors).

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