Do you dream of starting your own small business in Africa? Do you want to make a difference in the world and be an entrepreneur? If so, congratulations – this is exactly what we are talking about. Starting a small business has never been easier than it is today with all the new technologies that exist. It doesn’t take much capital to get started either. This blog post is aimed at anyone interested in starting up a small business in Africa with limited resources. To find out more about what it takes – read on!
Table of Contents
How to Start a Small Business in Africa using Little Capital
Decide on the Business you want to Venture into
“If we tried to think of a good idea, we wouldn’t have been able to think of a good idea.” said Brian Chesky. “You just have find the solution for problem in your own life”. If you’re looking for a way to expand your solution-based mind set and become the boss of an innovative small business, then starting one might be great option. If this sounds like it’d make sense in your life, start on that path today!
Did you know that there are many small business ideas out there to start from home? This article suggests three of the best small businesses that can be scaled up as your customer base grows.
1. Garbage Disposal
Hasnain Noorani, the CEO of Pride Group in Kenya believes that garbage disposal could be one of Africa’s next big industries. In Africa, one of the biggest challenges is hygiene. This issue has become so prevalent that it must be addressed immediately. The amount of garbage collected each day in Africa is simply horrifying and needs to change as soon as possible!
2. Agriculture
Africa is a great place to set up an agriculture business. Africa exports agricultural products, such as cocoa and coffee, making it the perfect location for dairy or beef cattle investments. You can also invest in fish farming since Africa offers abundant resources of fresh water bodies like rivers and lakes ideal for aquaculture ventures.
If you’re looking for an imported product that’s highly sought after but has high margins when exported (like eggs), consider poultry farms with egg-laying hens; they’ll be easy to manage while providing good returns on investment through exporting their finished goods!
3. Training Employees
African universities are graduating students in droves, but the vast majority of these graduates don’t have enough skills to join the job market. Meanwhile, many current employees need training and development courses to keep up with changing technologies or industry standards.
This creates a huge demand for professional skill-building programs across Africa – an opportunity you can jump on by starting your own business! Some examples include safety trainings compliance audits on HIV/AIDS education in workplaces, monitoring & evaluation consulting services M&E ), computer lessons such as Excel spreadsheets, digital marketing and front office operations management (i.e., running offices).
4. Be Slow to Hire
With the economic downturn, hiring staff has become a luxury only for those with deep pockets. If you’re running a small business and can’t afford to hire right now, it’s time to reconsider your strategy. Hiring new employees is a long-term commitment. If you’re not in the right financial situation to do so, it’s best to hold off on hiring until your small business needs more help than what current staff can provide or has enough money coming in from sales and other revenue sources for an extended period of time.
5. Select your Market
Target marketing is a more efficient way to reach potential clients than general or broad targeting. Targeting homeowners, or stay-at-home moms may seem like an effective tactic in the short term because it targets such wide groups of people. However this type of large scale advertising can be costly and time consuming with no guarantees that your intended audience will engage with your brand at all.
Moreover, a generalised form of target marketing will cost you money without generating any return visits from these consumers which means that your advertising dollars are wasted with no results. For this reason, market towards specific markets for greater efficiency and effectiveness by focusing on one group rather than several at once since they’re likely to be interested in what you have to offer!
6. Pick your Business Location
Before you start looking for a business location, it is important to have an idea of what your budget will be and the type of facility that fits into this range. You need to give some thought as well about how many people are expected in your small business on any given day because having too much or not enough space can affect profitability.
When starting a small business, many mistakes can be fixed later. However, picking the wrong office might make things impossible moving forward because it will affect your ability to operate successfully in the future. Careful planning is needed when selecting a location for your first workplace so that you don’t have any issues going forward with operations and other decisions related to running this company well as a whole.
7. Prepare for Growth
So, you want to start a small business in Africa? While it may be challenging at times, there are many ways for you to make your journey easier. Making connections with people who have experience and knowledge of the industry is one way that can help out tremendously! Not only will they offer wisdom when needed but also maybe even some resources along the way. Remember not everything has to come from within; others’ experiences could bring great value too!
You have just read the steps to starting a small business in Africa using little capital. This article should be helpful for those who want to venture into entrepreneurship but don’t have the necessary financial resources. If you are hesitant about starting your own business, we encourage you to take advantage of this free guide and let us know how it goes!