5 Reasons Every African Entrepreneur Needs to Learn Design Thinking

At a glance, design thinking may not feel relevant. What does it have to do with improving sales and beating the competition? Simply, everything.

The hard truth about business is that if you are not moving, you are losing. Will Rogers said it best: “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” It’s important to reflect on your business and see if you are continually growing. One of the tools that help you do this is design thinking.

So what exactly is design thinking? It is a process of creative thinking. It is a guided system that helps you use customer insights to understand market needs, find creative ways to solve them and build a product or service inspired by real needs. 

In other words, design thinking helps you to solve a problem that actually exists, not just a problem that you think exists.

Design thinking can lead to insights that you’d never gain in other ways. Here are the top reasons why you need to learn design thinking methods today. 

1. Understand the Market Needs

In the words of one of the participants from the 2020 design thinking course offered by the AWEC Business Academy, this approach is critical to your business success. 

“I realize that design thinking is an integral part of any business's success and sustainability. It is critical for an excellent customer experience.”

When you understand the real customer journey and needs, your business processes or service gaps become clear. Taking the time to gain this understanding gives you a distinct advantage over your competitors. 

2. Explore Creative Solutions for Your Customers

The best customers are repeat customers. They often spend more and bring their friends as well. Since customers like to do business with you if they feel special and cared for, it is essential to keep improving your products and services’ quality and thoughtfulness. 

One of the design thinking course participants shared that she felt energized by learning how to think about her business differently, saying “The activities pushed me to think at levels I've not done before now. It stretched my mind, and I did a whole lot of reading to understand even more. I haven't thought about my business this way before, and I enjoyed it.”

3. Build a Business That Solves a Real Problem in the Market

Is your business solving a real need? That is a hard question that every entrepreneur needs to answer. Some companies fail because they sell something that no one wants. Learning design thinking helps you realize this fast enough to tweak your business to solve a need that exists. 

Every business type can benefit. For example, an online shop owner from Nigeria had this to say after learning design thinking: 

“We have a variety of customers buying different things on our online store, and so, we encounter different personas. Design thinking helped me understand them, their differences and preferences and a better way to serve them and meet their needs.”

Learn how the market needs to be served and create a business that meets that need. 

4. Get Unstuck in Your Business.

Inertia is your worst enemy in life and business. Staying still and not innovating or improving will often leave room for other competitors to surpass you. Design thinking helps you get unstuck from old ways of thinking and open your mind to a new perspective. 

“I was feeling somewhat stuck in my business, and I needed to re-strategize my approach to acquiring and retaining customers. This course came at the right time, and it helped me understand my clients better than I used to.” 

You, too, can get unstuck. Business growth is never accidental. It’s a result of intentional effort and attention to making the customer happy. Design thinking gives you the tools to do so sustainably. 

5. Gain a Global and Regional Perspective on Business

Business does not happen in a bubble. The beauty of learning design thinking is that it exposes you to best practices in other industries. When you learn it at the AWEC Business Academy, you get the privilege of learning from amazing women and businesses from all over Africa. Where else can you get that kind of insight? 

One participant said, “I honestly learned a lot, and the best part was understanding that even though we may be in different countries, we still experience the same issues in business. It helps put you at ease and understand that what you are going through, most business owners have gone through it, so you just have to persevere.” 

The best investment in your business is knowledge. Don’t miss out on the latest AWEC Business Academy course on design thinking. Register here for the March course, Applying Design Thinking to Satisfy Changing Customer Needs.