Making that business work in uncertain times

Last week, nine business leaders including entrepreneurs, executives and policy makers threw their weight behind talks to interrogate issues driving these times of uncertainties and formulate suitable tactics to shape the future.
Questions on how to ride the tide amidst uncertainty were at the centre of the discussion in Kampala.

From how one can develop strategic visions about where their business can attain sustainable competitive advantage, the future of businesses with the constant technological disruptions, to what role technology will play in enterprises formed the largest part of the discussion. Others queried whether there will be jobs with today’s artificial intelligence plus social networks as well as the essential differences between today’s business leader and the leader of the future business in times of great interconnectivity.

Remaining relevant
Mr Emmanuel Dei-Tumi, chief executive officer Human Capital International, believes the journey into being relevant as a business and being at the top, as has been the norm in the past, has suddenly turned into a very highly competitive race.
For him, it is an unusual race where only business leaders with the capacity to embrace change, creativity and the right leadership strategy to carefully navigate their ways in these uncertain times to serve the customer with speed and deep sense of customer appreciation mix, can prevail and continuously amaze the modern customer.

Assets you need
At the summit, business leaders agreed it is tough to run an enterprise today but that it should be a good lesson for those in management.

“This is the era of creative destruction. Today, a company is up and the next it is down. The times when a manager can tell that he is going to have a particular market in a certain sector are gone. We are living in times marked by innovation, interconnectivity, where intelligence and skills are assets,” Mr Dei-Tumi noted.

Rapid technological advancement, increase in knowledge and globalization, Mr Dei-Tumi, said are the forces driving businesses to be active players in the local and global economy.

However, companies that are refusing to embrace these forces continue to solely rely on directors and shareholders to plan for their companies. There are fears that businesses run on such a mindset could have no place in the future market.
“I can guarantee you that business will fail because it is pivoted on experience and not imagination. The future is not just dependent on expertise but rather, it will be driven by men and women with imagination,” Mr Dei-Tumi said.

He recommends businesses shift focus to customers.
“Whether or not you are going to increase the assets of the business is nothing dependent on the size of the pocket of the customer. We are dealing with an enlightened customer who has alternatives. So if you do not meet the needs and differentiate products to the customer, they will move to the next alternative,” he said.

Innovative leadership
Former NTV managing director Aggie Asiimwe Konde spoke passionately about innovative leaders. Admitting that turbulence means opportunity, she challenged business leaders to set aside appropriate teams that solely concentrate on finding new solutions to problems in these uncertain times.

“You must have teams that spend their time without a target or customer to see and their business is to mine data, identify social problems out there and bring one good thing to the fore because if 10 per cent of your monthly revenue does not come from new innovations every year, you are in trouble,” she said.

Ms Konde warned enterprises that do not rethink their management styles.
“This business of having officers, supervisors, managers, directors and then chief executive officers is killing ideas. It is time we tap into our best talent and allow it to think about the big problems and create possible solutions that can be reverse innovations in Uganda and go to the world,” she said. She suggests that entrepreneurs should also harness collaborations with teams in the diaspora.

The business leaders agreed that the fabric of the government policies is certainly not supporting entrepreneurship.
“It needs to factor in entrepreneurs in that if someone has not gone to school, we who are employing people give him apprenticeship so that he can learn on job and give him five years to be able to do something,” Mr Acheampong said.

Environment
Mr Joseph Atta-Mensah, a policy advisor, thought that it must be understood that the private sector has a role to play but an enabling environment must be present.
“The government has to provide infrastructure, regulatory framework to allow the businesses to function,” Mr Atta-Mensah said.

MINDSET
Commenting on the future entrepreneur, Ghanaian business coach Benjamin Acheampong suggested changes to the attitude of the African business person.
“The reason as to why the African man is not getting capital is because he wants to be the boss. What do you lose if you come up with an idea, look for at least five people, share the idea with them, sign intellectual property, find a lawyer to agree and let everybody bring money to invest, build the business over five years, share the profit, and sell it and start another one,” Mr Acheampong said.

HOW SHOULD YOU REMAIN RELEVANT TODAY?

Today, a company is up and the next it is down. The times when a manager can tell that he is going to have a particular market in a certain sector are gone. We are living in times marked by innovation, interconnectivity, where intelligence and skills are assets,”
Mr Emmanuel Dei-Tumi, chief executive officer Human Capital International

You must have teams that spend their time without a target or customer to see and their business is to mine data, identify social problems out there and bring one good thing to the fore because if 10 per cent of your monthly revenue does not come from new innovations every year, you are in trouble,”
MS Aggie Asiimwe Konde Former NTV MD

The government has to be in there to provide infrastructure, regulatory framework to allow the businesses to function. In Africa, businesses will have to come in and they will have competition. If you have different ideas competing, the best comes out,”
MR Joseph Atta-Mensah, policy advisor