The Bizna Talks Season II premiered with a larger promise and enterprise than the first edition. An offshoot of the business news franchise Biznakenya.com, Bizna Talks is a platform that seeks to pave way for great entrepreneurs in the market.
Season II is on cue, with Maina Chege as the host. An engaging and quite ever-green business presenter, he debuts the show on high gear with the season’s first guest as Vimal Shal – Chairman, Bidco Africa. The business chat and to-and-fro is fluid. An easy-to-follow banter, articulate engagement.
CEO Vimal Shal is indeed an entrepreneurial trail-blazer. He offhandedly narrates his journey, starting from scratch – grand with ideas (and, a bit of family money). It’s clear that he has a strong grasp on basics of his business, seeking ways to grow it to a global standard.
Prodded by a question on the challenges he’s faced off the government’s influence on the average start up, Vimal Shah cites taxes and extreme licensing requirements. He asks that the government exempts all startups from all taxes and licensing from local and national government till it makes a revenue turnover of at least Kes30m.
These are the five main points that an entrepreneur may find useful from Vimal Shal’s interview on Bizna Talks.
- Start small
Vimal Shah talks of humble beginnings, when he took over the business. A grand idea notwithstanding, there was need for baby steps. The end result projected a dream to dominate the agri-business, textile and oil business. It’d however, need a calculated approach. Research pinned down need to create an agri-business foundation first.
In this regard, Vimal Shah first sought to fund and empower farmers – for the farming of the signature crop – cotton. It involved pitching business ideas to different financiers, then mass-leasing of land and provision of materials needed.
Start small, and grow.
- Quality with a Price Advantage
As the plunge into the market happens, an entrepreneur has to find a niche. CEO Vimal Shah advises entrepreneurs building new startups to first create a name for themselves in the market.
Chances are, the market is flooded with products similar to what you are producing. What then makes you special? To build his brand, Vimal Shal pushed for quality, with a price advantage. Keep the quality, but slash the initial price offering.
It’s the Donkey Fable doctrine. Get your head into the market tent – the rest of the body follows!
- Create New Channels – Competition
An entrepreneur meets a distribution hurdle. While your plant churns out the product, what makes it attractive, business-wise? The market is stable, with similar product.
CEO Vimal Shah reveals his trick. In the initial days, he’d branched into making soaps, and cooking oils from the seeds accrued from the cotton production. He’d offer stock consignments to wholesale outlets at no initial payment. He’d ask for payment, if – and when sales happen! It worked!
Be ready to take risks!
- Create Needs/Consumer Driven
As an entrepreneur, be ingenious. Create needs. Find innovative ways to drive consumers to seek your products. Make them trendy, funky – not just basic.
An apt example? CEO Vimal Shah cites the entrance of the mobile phones into the market. At the time, no one knew they’d need most of the apps they use now on a daily basis. The minds behind the Android mobile phones, have created the needs. While the company would make the ordinary bar soap, CEO Vimal Shal mentions someone introduced the ‘perfumed’ version – business grew ten-fold!
Come up with consumer-driven needs!
- Governance/Longevity Goals
As a startup business picks, the ambition is to make it evergreen. Will the outfit outlive the entrepreneur’s life span? Can your business run in your absence? It starts with governance details, to lend life to longevity ambitions.
A startup has various levels: Operations, Management, Director & Shareholder.
An entrepreneur may handle all levels in the beginning. As it expands, there’s need to delegate. It’s always great to outsource think tanks, for a different perspective. Empower staff, and make appointments based on individuals who add value to the business. A cosmetic board, for instance – will stagnate the startup’s growth.
Click here to follow Bizna TV on YouTube, to get the latest interviews, and business leaks.
