One of the most powerful strategies you can take when thinking about profitable business ideas and concepts for Africa is to look out for growing market trends. Certain market trends may look roughly the same across the continent, others look very different in Uganda from how they appear in Nigeria, but the key point is: you want to tap into a clearly growing market dynamic to increase your success rate!
The good news for you is that Africa has many such opportunities to offer – it’s an emerging market after all. However, while some trends may be very obvious to us, yes, agricultural production will grow as people need to eat, or they seem hard to access (you may not be planning to open your own copper mine any time soon), other trends are less likely to be so evident. But as always, I love pointing trends out to you. So let’s dive into one that screams for input, and that is:
Africa Business Management
Wait.
Don’t brush it off suggesting you have nothing to offer in this regard. You may think you have not even started your own business, how will you know or even be able to help manage anyone else’s. I don’t blame you, coming originally from an international development and not a business background that would have certainly been my reaction not so long ago. But the truth is that this area of business management provides ample opportunity for you to start a successful Africa business, so bear with me!
I will tell you how in just a minute, but I really want you to understand first how big the market really is.
In a new report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), The Africa Business Agenda, which they conducted among the CEOs of 200 companies across 18 countries on the continent it became clear that over 50% of African companies are planning alliances and joint ventures with other companies, many of them foreign! Now the huge problem is that they have to increase their standards, so they can become competitive both within Africa and internationally.
In fact, when I researched private Africa equity firms last year, many of the CEOs insisted that neither opportunities nor a shortage of funds for Africa were the reason for the rather slow or challenging progress with investments, the real pressing issue was not the lack of money, but that these equity firms were unable to find partner companies locally that met certain management standards.
In short: The majority of Africa’s companies are in poor shape. And if they want to remain competitive, find partners, or even investors, they need to get their acts together. It’s that simple and that it is exactly the ground on which you would market your business.
In general, business management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization across various areas, so it can achieve its desired goals which are usually directly linked to increasing efficiency and ultimately revenue.
And here are some business ideas and what you are able to offer in the market:
1. Sell Africa Business Management Training the Smart Way!
Open a management training center and offer intense short-term courses targeting senior and mid level staff at African companies. You can hire or employ trainers to be able to train more people. If you find it difficult to find or afford large enough office space or you want to simply save the expenditure to increase revenue, you could run the training modules at the companies. It would mean smaller groups (staff of that particular company), but may be a good way to get your start up going and growing.
You could then offer and sell your training courses online as well, which would allow you to make an income each time a person downloads it without you needing to be present. It’s called passive income and can be very powerful and convenient when done right. It will work if your product (in this case your online course)offers high value, is neatly packaged, and marketed properly.
Or what about computer training for a particular expertise? Some of us may have unique computer skills and we are not even aware of it. Professional designer programs, creative animation, statistics, data processing, online accounting- all of these skills are rare to find in Africa. If you are a real pro then you can build a real business niche for yourself.
2. Make money with Africa Management Recruitment & Staffing
Sometimes, African firms don’t want to train the staff they have but simply employ managers with a proven track record. Now you may have heard my story when a Managing Director of Barclays Africa recruited 2 African professionals from the Diaspora during an Africa talent & business exhibition in London on the spot! She did so in front of the audience during a site seminar and declared “we need financial experts and more of them- you guys are hired.” There is a huge need for African senior and mid-level staff and if you simply facilitate the recruitment process, you receive a commission of around 10% for each placement. And be aware, these kind of positions in Africa get internationally competitive wages! So you can easily end up with a commission of US$ 5 – 10,000 for a placement. Now make just three or four placements a months with little expenditure…..yes, exactly, amazing maths!
3. Design Company Management Software and Sell it Across Borders in Africa
The concept is straight forward yet so powerful: Design a software that African companies can use to improve their efficiency – online HR, book keeping and accounting for example. You then sell the access to your software and customer service at a monthly rate. Your income can increase exponentially – again without needing to put the work in each month to earn this amazing revenue, because your business sales process has been automated! If you want to know what I mean, you need to read the amazing story I featured in a blog post: How A Ugandan Returned From The US To Build A Successful Business In Two Years. Titus, returned from the US in 2012 build a simple business management software and is now serving over 600 companies in Uganda with plans to expand regionally.
4. Hold Marketing Academy Conferences
If you have marketing background you are certainly familiar with this: Some of the world’s renowned marketers earn millions during their high-profile marketing events and online mastery courses. And other trusted marketers who have not risen to so much fame, still make an amazing profit by doing the same. Africa needs marketing skills and marketers, now you go out and become the African version of Jeff Walker and the likes!
5. Open a Copy Writing Business Serving African Companies
Those of us who have worked in Africa know that you may never get a response to that e-mail you wrote. Phone calls can go a long way in Africa, e-mails often disappear in a black hole. But written communication is important and goes far beyond e-mail exchanges and if African companies want to partner with Western businesses or investors or promote their companies locally and online, good copy that reflects a professional image is a must. This is where you can tap in, and you could use the help of freelancers to grow your business reach.
By the way, you can get the best summary of Africa a variety of interesting market trends for small businesses in my monthly Africa Business Intelligence – sign up completely free for it in the side column if you have not done so yet.
The concepts above are just a few ideas how to tap into this fast growing trend of business management proficiency in Africa – it’s still early days, the demand is huge and the market peak has not yet been reached, so it is the perfect time for you to get ready.
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I am wondering are “we” who are promoting various idea of self starting business opportunities, understand to need to translate these idea into understandable vocabulary for the minds of those that may new to “”business”. As a 40 year consultant and organizational analyst even those that are not new “start ups” flounder due to poor understanding management principles. I the absence of clarity of goal and market identification processes successful failure is assured.
Needless to say, one that expects to search a “dream” that has been translated into a goal can experience a terrific emotional set back due not succeeding the first time.. Many are attempting to succeed where there is little or no government regulation and administrative infrastructure. Many will lose substantial revenue as gamble toward success. How can there be more assistance and guidance toward the novice with a newly conceived idea that requires a quality of persistence that many veterans have failed at many times before reach a successful result? I am here wanting to aid and I wish to know your views. I await your replies.