Promoting Impact Tech : Tips from Tech Expert Ms. Rose Funja
Rose Funja is an engineer, social entrepreneur, and founder of Agrinfo Company in Tanzania. With over 15 years of experience working with communities, Rose focuses on using digital technologies to solve community challenges. Agrinfo specializes in using drones and data technologies to provide decision support systems and training for the telecommunications and agriculture sectors. Rose has worked with We-Robotics and the International Food Policy Research Institute on a pre-harvest loss research project using satellite and drone imagery. She is also a co-founder of Impact Hub Dar es Salaam, a community center for entrepreneurship and business development. Rose is a 2020/21 Tutu Fellow, a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow, and an alumnus of the International Visitors Leadership Program. As part of the program, she was invited by the US State Department to join 50 women in science for an exchange program in Washington DC and to network with women at NASA, JPL, MIT, and Walt Disney. Rose holds a Master’s degree in Engineering in Information and Communication Systems from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and Information Technology from the University of Dar es Salaam.
Customer acquisition: Investing in customer acquisition is essential for growing your business. Consider various marketing strategies to reach and engage your target audience. It creates a positive customer experience. This can be achieved through personalized communication, providing excellent customer service, and addressing any concerns or issues quickly and effectively. It builds brand awareness, increase sales, and create loyal customers who may become advocates for the brand.
Resilience: Articulating your solution’s value proposition is crucial for differentiating yourself from others in the market. Ensure that you can succinctly explain your problem and how your solution differs from others. This will not only make your startup more attractive to potential customers, but also give you a competitive edge over other players in the market.
Unique value proposition: Articulating your solution’s value proposition is crucial for differentiating yourself from others in the market. Ensure that you can succinctly explain your problem and how your solution differs from others. A good value proposition should clearly and succinctly explain what problem your solution solves and how it differs from other solutions in the market. This is important because customers have many options available to them, and if you cannot differentiate your solution and clearly explain its unique value, it will be difficult to capture their attention and convince them to choose your product or service over others. By understanding your competition and industry trends, you can identify gaps in the market that your solution can fill and develop a value proposition that resonates with your target audience.
Lean business planning: A poor business plan focuses on the essentials and is flexible enough to accommodate changes as your business evolves. It should outline your goals, strategies, and financial projections concisely and straightforwardly. A good business plan is concise, well-structured, and includes a clear description of the business idea, target audience, marketing strategies, revenue streams, and financial projections. It should also outline the potential risks and challenges the business may face and provide a contingency plan to address them.
Funding: Securing adequate funding is critical for growing your business. Consider all your options, including angel investors, venture capital, and crowdfunding, to determine the best fit for your needs. It is important to carefully evaluate each funding option and determine which one aligns with your business needs, goals, and vision. This can involve assessing the amount of funding required, the cost of the funding, the level of control and ownership you are willing to give up, and the potential risks and benefits associated with each option. Ultimately, securing adequate funding is critical for startups to achieve growth and success, and exploring all funding options available can help you find the right fit for your business.
Minimum viable product: Developing a minimum viable product (MVP) allows you to test your idea and validate market demand. The focus should be on creating a basic version of your product that showcases its core functionality. Developing a minimum viable product (MVP) is a key step in the product development process. It allows you to test your idea with a small subset of potential customers and receive feedback to validate market demand. The MVP should focus on creating a basic version of your product that showcases its core functionality, and doesn’t need to be perfect. This approach helps you save time and resources in the early stages of product development and can help identify potential issues early on. It also allows you to quickly iterate and improve your product based on user feedback.
Iteration and improvement: Continuously gathering customer feedback, analyzing metrics, and using the data to inform your decisions are critical to success. Regularly updating and improving your product and business model is crucial for staying relevant and competitive. Analyzing relevant metrics such as user engagement, retention, and conversion rates can help identify areas that need improvement. Using this data to inform decisions can help you make informed choices that align with your business goals.
Market knowledge & Industry trend awareness: It is critical to deeply understand your target audience, the competitive landscape, and industry trends. This will inform your strategy and ensure you create a product that meets real needs. By deeply understanding the needs and pain points of your target audience, you can develop a product that provides real value and meets their needs. Additionally, it allows you to identify gaps in the market and differentiate your product from others. Stay informed about the latest advancements in your industry, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes that could impact your business. This will help you make informed decisions and stay ahead of the curve.
To read more about our reports featuring Startups in Tanzania https://bit.ly/ImpactTechTZ2021-Report and http://bit.ly/TECHTZ2022