How SMEs can leverage Internet

Seen against a backdrop of high youth unemployment, creating jobs in Uganda is a government priority.
However, mobile network providers such as Vodafone Uganda have also had a hand in easing the situation by making ICT more accessible to more people especially youth.

New technology is providing useful avenues for young people to start their own enterprises and compete with bigger and more established businesses in certain niche markets.
Uganda’s services sector has seen a spate of novelty products tailor-made for targeted customers and inspired by the digital revolution. The development of software applications has grown from nothing a couple of years ago, into a serious and lucrative business.
According to the African Development Bank, the working-age population in Africa is expected to grow by close to 70 per cent, or by approximately 450 million people, between 2015 and 2035.
If current trends continue, only about 100 million of these young people will find stable employment. The rest will try to go it alone either in the formal or informal sector. This is not easy, but very essential for enterprise development in Uganda. With growing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Uganda’s economy will grow stronger and more integrated. SMEs can become key providers of future employment because starting business now is much easier than say two decades ago.

Although the challenges remain immense, having a smart phone, laptop and being tech-savvy are added advantages. Young entrepreneurs are usually financially strapped and inexperienced, but possess drive and ambition. What they crave for the most, is gaining access to a stage on which they can prove themselves and attract investor interest.
A business plan is mandatory. But you can lower overhead costs, because current technology has, for instance, diminished the importance of writing and posting physical letters.

Internet penetration in Uganda is just under 40 per cent. According Uganda Communications Commission, internet users are nearly 12 million, but still climbing as sales of cheaper smart phones increase.
Meanwhile, GSMA says the total number of smart phone connections in Africa is forecast to more than triple over the next five years, rising from 226 million in 2015 to 720 million by 2020.
Lower smart phone prices are allowing users to access the Internet at unprecedented levels and consequently, there has been a continued burst of online businesses.

Operators are also offering a variety of packages to suit the needs of their customers with special attention to SMEs. This is because with the internet, SMEs can perform better but much depends on service providers.
Very much aware of this, not long ago, Vodafone and Afrimax Group, (a 4G telecoms operator in sub-Saharan Africa), teamed up to make sure the internet services they provide are exceptional.

Cost
Internet is a cost-effective tool that can make a business more productive and profitable. Emails can help businesses to streamline operational activities, communicate more efficiently with customers and generate new ones.
Other online networking tools such as discussion boards, chat rooms and social networking sites like Facebook also help businesses to reach customers. Using Internet communication tools effectively, business owners can keep up a continuous dialogue with customers and prospects.
Whether you are a one-person-company or a large corporation, it is easy and inexpensive to define your chosen image with the internet. For example, a good website improves the effectiveness of other advertising, because many customers who see your company’s advertising will evaluate your company’s products and services online which allows for rapid feedback.

The internet keeps opening up vast opportunities at relatively low cost. This is something Uganda’s young entrepreneurs have found rewarding. But it is also best to create an internet strategy that fits into and helps drive your larger marketing and business plans.

Hurry Mugisha is the head of SME, Vodafone Uganda.