As reminded by Billy Ocean’s track title “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”.
That should be the spirit of our entrepreneurs in these complexities that accompany running of our successful businesses.
We used to get into a halt in the previous but now we have developed a soldiering spirit by going back to the drawing board to re-strategies better ways for achieving the set vision.
In this edition we share some common complexities as experienced by most entrepreneurs so as to find some simplifying mechanisms as we grow.
A business plan should be the main guide not only in setting up the business but also for continuous monitoring and adjusting necessary cog for sustainability.
Sure Rome was not built in a day as the adage goes. Having a business plan makes it easier to reflect and re-configure from time to time.
The reason being that it is not only a blue-print but a monitoring tool which informs some of the critical value chain and business canvas matters.
As with the former some critical areas concerning inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales.
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These cogs are important in assuring a smooth run of any entrepreneurial business.
They have their supporters which include human resources and information technologies.
In order to overcome entrepreneurial complexities these should be well connected at the inception of the business and continue to be adjusted as changes come.
That is the same with the latter a business canvas model which becomes an informer of the markets surrounding a business idea, its operations and how to reach the customers.
As a refresher some of the key components are customer segments, relationships, value proposition, key partners, resources, revenue streams and cost structures.
These are usually ignored as some of the repeated academic philosophies by our entrepreneurs yet they are the same that help in moving the business from complexity to simplicity.
Going forward we should then be reminded that we usually do not own markets whether regionally or globally by we exist where others have a share/belong.
This in another complexity in running entrepreneurial businesses as we should always develop/innovate better if not unique ways of being above the rest.
It means that market research should not be just in the early stages of starting an entrepreneurial business but continuous into all stages of a business growth.
In fact marketing is the central nerve that controls the life of an entrepreneurial business. It shocks that some of our entrepreneurs do not have a strongly well supported marketing function in their structures.
Marketing is not about having a department as part of the organogram but one that is equipped with global connectors whether through people or technologies that have a 360 view of trends, innovations, expectations and all the times in touch with the targeted customers.
In this way the entrepreneurial business will be able to overcome some marketing concerned complexities through serving the best quality so as to be a brand of choice from one generation to another.
Co-ordination of activities is another complex matter within the operations of our entrepreneurs.
That is when everyone is doing something, but not aligned to the vision that was set at the inception. Most entrepreneurs run a one man show in the form of controlling.
It is a limited approach to real success as businesses are run through teams. You cannot be everywhere as the founder and owner of a business.
There is need to apply an Octopus approach which is “the leader of an eight-person team”.
That is when you hire highly qualified, more experienced and well-coordinated people to help in achieving the set vision and generational success of your business.
Most of the times we take short-cuts in this perspective and view highly qualified individuals as an expense/liability to the business.
In the contemporary human resources management people are assets even in the advent of technology like artificial intelligence (AI).
Lastly as aforementioned we do not exist in a vacuum. Doing business requires a multi-partners/stakeholder approach.
This means that most complexities are not resolved by us on our own but through others.
It then calls for strategic alliances by the entrepreneur.
Where you are always seeking for business strategic partners to help not only in sharing the vision you have set but also to bring in new innovations, lines of business and meet some global expectations by relevant bodies for sustainability.
These are just some of the key complex matters as discovered in the journey of enterprising so let us reflect as we map a way forward.
*Dr Farai Chigora is a businessman and academic. He is a senior lecturer at the Africa University’s College of Business, Peace, Leadership and Governance. Also a global business modelling practitioner. His doctoral research focused on business administration (destination marketing and branding major, Ukzn, SA). He is into agribusiness and consults for many companies in Zimbabwe and Africa. He writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted for feedback and business at fariechigora@gmail.com, www.fachip.co.zw, WhatsApp mobile: +263772886871.
