So you want to become an African entrepreneur, but you are still confused about what kind of business to start? Or you are based in Europe or the US, and the whole issue around risk and the large required capital investment worries you?
If you have followed me for a while, you will know how serious I take 'personal alignment' – and with that I mean to bring your personal circumstances or preferences into sync with your African business concept. I think it is an important success factor. There is no point in choosing something that either worries the hell out of you, inhibits you from getting started, or that requires millions to set up if all you have if your confidence.
Finding the right business model is the clue. Something the local market in Africa wants AND you can deliver within your current context. There will always be opportunities to grow, expand, and challenge yourself later. But getting started is key.
So today I am happy to introduce you to a new start-up story that describes that process wonderfully. Please meet Maria Makanjuola (image to the right) of Sweet Cake TV who, in April 2015, decided to turn her passion of cake baking in the UK…to an online business teaching women in Nigeria who want to start their own cake-making ventures.
1. You started an online business 'Sweet Cake TV' – please tell us a little more about your business and who you are targeting ?
My business, Sweet Cake TV, is an online baking, cake decorating and cake business. It is a platform for those who want to learn about baking, cake decorating, and how to run a successful and profitable cake business. We are targeting amateur female bakers and semi-professional bakers who want to start or run a cake business in Africa. I started with Nigeria, but plan to expand my outreach into other markets on the continent. Sweet Cake TV allows passionate bakers to access world-class professional instruction and get access to free business mentoring. One of the major missions of the business is to economically empower women in Africa through entrepreneurship, and with such a low barrier to entry, the baking and cake decorating industry is perfect for that.
2. What happened before you started the business? What inspired you to get started and why did you decide that cake making in Africa combined with an online model would be right ?
Before starting the business, I started our group on Facebook specifically to get to know the people who I wanted to serve. I also needed to build an audience for my business. It was important that I understand what their needs were and how I could develop a business model to fill that need. I was inspired to start the business because I like cake decorating and it is my passion, I wanted to turn that into a bigger business. In addition, I am also passionate about helping African women live better lives through making better choices, and for that their economic empowerment is the key. Hence the decision to teach them how to start and run their own business and with my own experience in the cake industry and my background in Food Science and food business development, it made perfect sense to start my business.
3 Which problem are you solving for your target market and what has the feedback been so far ?
The online education model was requested by the members in the Facebook group. They wanted a way of learning cake decorating that was convenient to access, more affordable and also international because they believed that the tuition available locally is not comprehensive. I did consider teaching workshops in Nigeria, however the cost would be too expensive for a lot of members and also limiting in terms of the numbers that can be taught at a time so the online distance learning model was a better proposition. For now at least.
The feedback has been phenomenal as can be seen in the testimonials on the website and the reviews on Facebook. The Facebook group now has over 20,000 members and it has grown organically through word of mouth where members were telling their friends about it. It is a pleasure to know that it is making a difference in the businesses of the women in the group and to know that they are on the road to economic empowerment. Sweet Cake TV is the first platform offering baking, cake decorating and cake business mentoring to the African market and the first to have a clear mission/vision of female economic empowerment through accessible education and people are excited about this development. Plus we are the first to offer free cake business mentoring as standard to all our members.
4. Please share some insights into the avenues you use to generate revenue as an African entrepreneur? Are you providing services or products?
Revenue is generated through an annual membership which is significantly cheaper than what a student would be expected to pay for a live attended class. We plan to extend our product and service offering in 2017 to suit the needs of the current members and generate more revenue.
5. What is your vision for Sweet Cake TV in the next 5 years?
In five years, we want Sweet Cake TV to be the premier and the best platform for practical online education not just in baking and cake decorating but also in other vocational areas specific to African women. We predict that the business will also be an avenue for women in Africa to showcase their gifts and talents to the world and build strong and profitable businesses. We plan to feature many talented external tutors on the platform and create an online marketplace where other instructors can sell their own classes to our audience.
6. What is your advice to those based in the Diaspora who postpone their Africa business dreams due to lack of finance, lack of time, worry, or because they think they cannot relocate?
My advice to others based in the Diaspora is that there will never be a more perfect time to start a business in Africa than right now! An online business model works for me because I knew that I could not relocate back to Nigeria right now, but I wanted to do something to help women back home and also to contribute the Africa rising narrative in my own unique way. Getting to know my audience was the single most important thing that I did before starting my business and social media played a major part in building the relationship that I now have with my customers and prospective customers. This alleviates the worry that comes from ignorance about the market and it helped me design a service that is based on what my customers actually need and not what I think they want! I understand that many people in the diaspora think they cannot start a business because they have no funds to invest, however I can say it cost me nothing to start the group on Facebook and to advertise my group in other groups to get the initial members. I added 28 of my own friends to the group that I started and a year later, the group is over 20,000 strong with active members. Gradually, I built Sweet Cake TV with small investments month by month and I am still investing in it on an ongoing basis.
My final advice is that if you are serious about starting an online business in Africa, know who you want to serve, play to your existing strengths and experience, build your audience and spend time to get to know what they need and if they will pay for a solution to their problem and most importantly how much they will pay for it. Always keep an ongoing dialogue with your customers and prospective customers and because they will not have an opportunity to see you face to face, always deal with them with integrity and in a way that will inspire their trust. Trust is everything!
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