AWEC in Action: Business Clinic Pro
The AWEC Business Clinic Pro custom matches business leaders and industry experts from across the globe with AWEC alumnae seeking solutions to challenges they are currently facing in running their businesses. Since many of the challenges faced by our alumnae are common entrepreneurial challenges, weβre sharing an inside look at some of the conversations that took place last week between AWEC alumnae and our incredible volunteers to share this valuable knowledge!
Expert Tips: Funding Strategies and Time Management Tips
Eugene Mutiso is an Investment Analyst at Enza Capital, a private venture fund in Nairobi, Kenya. Alumna Justina Omenihu is the Lead Strategist at Topnotchers Hub, a digital marketing and advertising agency in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. She is seeking to raise funds to acquire in-house equipment. To appeal to investors, Eugene says that the key is to sell the narrative you create. Demonstrate to investors the benefits and opportunities of working with you. Visualize this in a strong pitch deck that communicates your business as a solution to a problem in the market. Eugene encourages anyone looking for funding to target a mix of different investors.
Alumna Salome Mumba runs Salmos Farms, a broiler chicken production business headquartered in Lilongwe, Malawi. Originally, she was looking for advice on how to raise capital. Through conversation with Eugene, she realized that she struggles with time management. In addition to running Salmos Farms, she also has a full-time job, so finding time to train her employees is difficult.
Eugene made it clear to Salome that having a reliable team is an essential and necessary investment. He advised that delegating work will save her time in the long run. Hire a consultant to train your team: the cost of one consultant is a one-time cost for long-term gains. Your team will then be able to train new team members as they are onboarded.
Expert Tips: Responding to Hyperinflation & Staying Afloat
Doris Ahiati is the CEO and co-founder of Crescendo Consult Ltd, which provides a range of advisory and coaching services, including financial planning and investment advisory, among others. Doris also serves as an AWEC mentor. Alumna Patronela Matereke runs BPT Group, a wholesale/retail of liquefied petroleum gas located in Harare, Zimbabwe. With the current hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, the volatility of the market presents many financial challenges for business owners. Doris recommends:
Monitoring the market regularly;
Review projections;
Compare to market trends.
Likely you will have to increase prices to keep your business afloat: be transparent but honor your promises. Your customers will pay your prices to enjoy the value you have promised. Doris further advised Patronela to:
Prioritize expenditures in times of volatility;
Identify areas to reduce;
Substitute and even eliminate spending by evaluating her operations and processes.
Cohort 5 alumna Adeline Sede Kamga runs FabAfriq Media Group, a public relations firm in Douala, Cameroon. She wants to effectively relinquish control of certain areas of her business without sacrificing quality. Doris emphasized how the value of a strong team that you can trust to execute your vision is critical. She further advised Adeline to communicate her value proposition to the team to get their buy-in. If she canβt or doesnβt want to attend every meeting, she should create a reporting and check-in process to stay up-to-date on continuous projects. A team you can trust is a team you have effectively trained, so it is critical that you have strong documentation for every aspect of your business.
The AWEC Business Clinic Pro is a chance for AWEC alumnae to discover solutions by getting to the heart of the challenge at hand. Oftentimes, the initial challenge presented is not the cause, but rather, an effect, of the actual problem. You can mitigate currency fluctuations by identifying cost-cutting measures by evaluating your operations and processes. Time management can be addressed by hiring the right team. Delegating your workload can be addressed through strong documentation and communicating your value proposition to your team. Solutions will likely never be surface-level, and it is essential to dig deeper into the underlying causes.
Interested in sharing your industry expertise with AWEC alumnae? Send us a message at comms@weareawec.org. Our next Business Clinic will take place on Wednesday, 29 November at 1 pm UTC/8 am ET. You can sign up to be an expert or recruit friends youβd like to introduce to AWEC by filling out this form.
