Anakazi Center, Lusaka Chapter
The shade of a beautiful tree, a calm breeze, and the vibrant, melodic chatter of inspiring women business owners?! That’s my kind of afternoon!
In August, I traveled to Lusaka, Zambia and had the privilege to lead a “Plan Your Success” workshop for women business owners for the Anakazi Center for Women’s Empowerment and Development, an organization URG supports. “Anakazi” is a Zambian term that means woman or sister. The workshop was a component of the Center’s passionate work to facilitate the economic and social empowerment of African women through business development and advocacy.
Plan for Your Success!
In Africa and right here at home, there are some universal considerations to pave the way for business success. Participants who attended the workshop were encouraged to do the following and you should take note as well:
- Conduct thorough market research – Know your customers, where they spend time on- and offline, what excites them and what gives them a headache. From this, you can tailor your products to enhance their joy or lessen their pain point, and know where and how to reach them via advertising.
- Understand your powerful “Why” – Your motivation, values or passion for your life and by extension your business. Know your competitive advantage and unique value proposition, which is why someone should do business with you and not your competitor.
- Track, track, track: Assess the inputs into your business (time, money, advertising efforts) and your output (number of customers, average daily billing or income) in order to determine your return on investment. If you’re spinning a lot of wheels and not garnering the type of income you desire, having a grip on these numbers can help you strategize how to more effectively reach customers and increase your profits.
This type of deliberate reflection and analysis allows you to make well-informed decisions that can get you closer to your business goals versus hoping and wishing that success will come to you.
Let us inspire you. Find a shady tree, grab your laptop and get to work! Need a guide? Schedule a consultation and we can do it together!
