First Thursdays

Speakers:

Aisha Raheem-Bolarinwa. Founder Vision Director, Farmz2U

1. You need a proper understanding of your target market, in order to develop a good solution.

2. Understand the pain points of your users or customers and create solutions they can easily access.

3. Whilst trying to make profit, keep your customers in mind and develop what they can afford.

Nick van der Velde. Project Manager, Bopinc.

1. To attract low-income consumers, your product needs to be understood, desirable, easy, and rewarding.

2. When offering relevant value propositions to your customers, design an integrated behavior change campaign and leverage digital avenues.

3. Make your business rewarding by leveraging partnerships that are very useful in meeting the demands of your consumers.

Authors:

Lelemba Phiri - Operating Partners, Enygma Ventures

1. Equity can be taken at any stage of your business.

2. Equity shouldn’t be taken to acquire assets( a one-off thing), it is key that equity is taken when you have plans to scale(size) your business.

3. The longer you wait and grow your business without equity, the more your business becomes more valuable. Grow your business before inviting an investor.

4, Before you take equity, you need to consider;
i. The stage of your business
ii. What you’re using it for
iii. How much you need 
iv. How long before the investors exit?

5. Sales are the best type of financing for your business.

6. An equity investor will like to see your;
i. Business profitability
ii. Future projections for your business
iii. Market share- how large the market (global )is able to get and how much of it you’re able to access
iv. Risk
v. Debt. The amount of debt you have affects your valuation. The more debt, less valuation for your business 

vi. Traction - the evidence of having achieved something over a period of time.

Lombe Lumbwe - Investment Manager, AgDevCo

1. When sourcing for debt financing be critical in specifying what the debt is for. 

2. Debt shouldn’t be taken if you’re just starting to grow your business, other sources of financing such as crowdfunding from family and friends, grants, or angel investors should be considered.

3. A more mature business will be able to get debt easily than a new business because it has proof of viability.

4. Mitigating risks in agriculture can be difficult.

5. Debt financiers would like to see the following in your business:
i. Reliable access to water and energy 
ii. Land access
iii. Good Product 
iv. Reliable Team 
v. Skillful entrepreneur 

6. Management is key - before you present your business, have a business model that works, i

7. You have to be a credible person and a person of outstanding character because debt financiers will do a background check on you before handing out loans, 

Speakers:

Myriam Sidibe - Founder and Chief Mission Officer, Brands on a Mission.

1. Health and wellbeing are the Foundation of Social Justice.

2. Building business brands is an opportunity to solve the nutritional crisis.  To drive a brand, we need to build brands based on what we can grow in Africa. It is important to focus on how to match business, nutrition, and public health in ways that promote positivity and growth of the economy.

3. Since Health trends are becoming more popular, it is vital to be true and authentic in terms of quality.

4. Brands on a mission are brands that not only stand for something but are concerned about who they stand with.

5. Brands on a mission are brands continually thinking about changing the system and keeping the focus on what is attainable.

6. Brands on a mission are brands that measure the impacts of the brand on the consumers.

7. Brands on a mission are concerned about getting quality, hygienic and edible ingredients.

8. Consumers are the best resources.

9. In order for a brand to achieve its mission and goals, an entrepreneur needs to identify a need and think to create a product that will be profitable because there are many investors willing to invest in enterprises with a mission.

10. Globally, people are coming to take away what we take for granted.

11. The best thing we can do is to grow food naturally and back on our plates. We need to value our local foods and look for ways to make them healthier.

Hakeem Jimo - Co-founder and CEO, VeggieVictory.

1. Plant protein is more effective than Animal protein.

2. The modern diet needs to be more quality. Since People are concerned about health in Africa, interests in proteins have been encouraging. That is why new products need to emerge and more brands need to look into capitalizing on what we can grow in our Continent.

3. As entrepreneurs, along with the mission the brand represents, the business needs to be profitable.

4. Pricing plays a vital role in developing a product.

5. Food is a big business.
The continent is doubling in population and we need food.

6. The better the product, the more customers are kept. We need to find out how to develop products that aid quality living and good health and create awareness of the benefits of these products.

Khadija Mohamed Churchill - Founder and CEO, Kwanza Tukule.

1. Transparency and control of the products are vital in gaining the consumer's trust.

2. The use of technology has made it possible to easily meet the demands of the people by having knowledge of available stocks and providing real access to the products in demand.

3. Customer database is very essential as a means of reaching out to customers when new products are available.