Promoting Impact Tech : Tips from Tech Expert Mr. Adam Mbyallu
Adam Mbyallu is the Co-founder and Managing Director at Sahara Ventures, a Business Services company that focuses on using ICT and innovation to create impactful projects for the community. Adam has worked with over 1,000 Startups across the region through their Venture using his through expertise of project management and execution. Sahara Ventures is on a mission to build a stable innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa through consultancy and investment. With a long-term vision to become Africa’s largest consultancy and investment firm, Sahara Ventures believes that the best way to solve a problem and create an impact is by building a business around it. Through its projects and acceleration programs, such as Amua Accelerator and Mawazo Challenge Accelerator, Adam and the Sahara Ventures team works hard towards accelerating startup growth in different sectors, including the SRH, general health sectors, tech-ecosystem, agriculture chain and more. In addition, the company is involved in other impactful projects such as Data Zetu, funded by MCC/PEPFAR, and Hatua Project, funded by MAVC/HIVOS. As the Managing Director of Sahara Consult and a project manager for Amua project, Mr. Adam Mbyallu brings his expertise in project management and a passion for building a stable innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa.
Emotional Intelligence: Emotional Intelligence is essential in the startup ecosystem, as it helps to navigate through the rough environment and manage relationships with team members, investors, and customers. While high IQ can be beneficial, individuals with low EQ may struggle to connect with others and create meaningful relationships. Startups must prioritize emotional intelligence to foster a positive work environment and increase the chances of success. EQ can be learned at any age.
Partner with the right Skills: Identifying the key skills required for your startup and partnering with experts in those areas can lead to a more successful business. Building a strong system and structure is also crucial for aligning all activities with your business goals. By doing so, you can optimize resources, streamline processes, and increase overall efficiency, which will help you achieve your objectives more effectively.
Solving a researched Gap/Problem: Understanding the problem a startup is trying to solve is crucial to its success. Without a deep understanding of the problem, it’s difficult to come up with a viable solution that meets the needs of the target customers. Many startups make the mistake of assuming they know what their customers want without taking the time to do proper research and gather insights. This can result in products or services that miss the mark, leading to failure. It’s important for startups to conduct market research, collect data, and gain insights to better understand their target audience’s needs, wants, and pain points. This information can then be used to develop a product or service that addresses the core problem effectively. By understanding the problem and the target audience’s needs, a startup can create a solution that has a greater chance of success in the market. Therefore, it’s important for startups to invest time and resources in understanding the problem they are trying to solve before developing a solution.
Team Work and Common Vision: A startup’s success heavily depends on the quality of the team behind it. A team that shares the same vision and passion for the startup’s mission is more likely to overcome any obstacles that may arise. When team members are committed and dedicated to achieving the company’s goals, they are more likely to work together to find creative solutions to problems. On the other hand, a team that lacks passion or has conflicting visions will struggle to work together cohesively and may not have the drive needed to overcome obstacles. In such cases, the startup is at a higher risk of failure, as team members may lack the motivation and dedication necessary to see the venture through difficult times.
Identify Enablers that Skill up Startups and leaderships: Identifying enablers that skill up startups and leaderships means identifying the resources and support systems that help to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to run a successful startup. Identifying enablers is important because it helps startups and their leadership teams to recognize the factors that contribute to their success. By identifying these enablers, startups can understand what they need to prioritize and invest in to grow their business and achieve their goals.
Learning Vs Mentorship: Leadership and intelligence are two separate qualities that are often confused in the startup world. While intelligence is important to bring innovative ideas to the table and establish a startup, not everyone with intelligence can be a good leader. A successful startup requires a team that has a clear vision and direction, and a leader who can effectively manage and motivate the team towards that vision. It’s important for startups to recognize that leadership requires a certain set of skills and qualities, such as communication, empathy, and the ability to make tough decisions, that not everyone possesses, even if they are intelligent and innovative. A leader who has ego can be detrimental to the success of the startup, as it can lead to a toxic work environment and hinder collaboration and growth.
Financial Discipline: How a startup uses its money, records its transactions, and structures its financial systems are all critical components for building trust and integrity. Without clear books and financial systems in place, a startup can easily lose track of its finances, which can lead to significant challenges down the road. Discipline is necessary for ensuring that a startup’s financial operations are well-organized, transparent, and aligned with its goals in ensuring its long-term viability and success.
Have metrics of Measuring Success: Having metrics for measuring success is crucial for any startup. However, the key to effective measurement is having a clear business strategy in place. A business strategy helps to define the goals and objectives of the startup, and guides the development of the metrics that will be used to measure progress towards those goals. Without a solid strategy, startups may struggle to determine what metrics to track and how to measure success, leading to confusion and inefficiency in their operations. Therefore, it is essential to have a strong and clear business strategy to guide the development and implementation of metrics for measuring success.
To read more about our reports featuring Startups in Tanzania https://bit.ly/ImpactTechTZ2021-Report and http://bit.ly/TECHTZ2022