ALAT by Wema hosted the second session of the ALAT Talk Series on Thursday, August 26, 2021 and it featured gems that startup founders can learn to build their brand.
The Talk Series themed “Developing and Sustaining the Startups of the Future” featured guest speakers, Tomiwa Aladekomo, CEO of Big Cabal Media; Adaora Mbelu, Founder of Lumination Global Network and Femi Akinfolarin Head of Corporate Strategy at Wema Bank.
All three speakers shared their experiences as industry experts and gave tips to building and sustaining startups that could withstand the unique Nigerian ecosystem.
As a founder, here are some things you can learn
1. Find what you are good at: Before building a startup, discover your niche or what you are good at and build on it. According to Tomiwa Aladekomo, “it is important to find what you are good at and develop it while building a startup. I found I was pretty good at certain things. I could sell, I could package, but I didn’t have a proper network.
“As a startup, you need domain expertise, to get a proper understanding of consumers’ problems.”
However, if you don’t have the expertise, you can always get experience by working with companies that provide similar services to have field knowledge and understand how the system works.
2. Branding revolves around the promise your customer can get from your product: While you are trying to position your brand, remember that your customers are focused on brands they can trust. “Your brand is not your logo, it is not your ad. Startups make that mistake when starting out. The brand is actually the fulfilled promise your customers get from your product,” says Adaora Mbelu, Founder, Lumination Global Network.
She added “Understand people to people relations. When we go to business school, we are taught about B2B or B2C, but the brand marketing space has actually moved from that. We are in an era of P2B. People buy into extensions of themselves. Their interaction with your brand is a means to further tell a story about themselves.”
3. Tech is important in your customer experience: In this age, it is hard to run a business without incorporating tech. Tech advances make it easier to interface with the customer. Femi Akinfolarin, Head Corporate Strategy, Wema Bank further explained that “Technology helps small businesses in various ways by providing a channel for feedback, building a multichannel approach and helping with analytics so that incorporating owners can understand what their customers want.”
As a founder, you need feedback from your customers on their experience to help you build upon what you have.
4. People need to believe in you before investing: One thing all our guest speakers could agree on was how difficult it was to get investors. Especially during the early stages. Adaora said, “Your products or ideas might be great, but investors also want to know about the person as well. What is your story as an individual and what is your story as a brand.”
Tomiwa Aladekomo also added, “You need to be able to build a product and find some traction before getting investors. There has to be a proof of demand and a capacity to execute.”
A side note is that your family and friends should be willing to blindly invest in you. If they aren’t, then you need to rejig your entire plan.
To watch the entire session click here.