Merry Christmas and a great New Year ahead from Tekedia Institute. Thanks for your partnership and support in 2021. 2022 will certainly be greater.
Innovate, Grow & Drive transformation. Capture emerging opportunities, and digitally evolve your business or job, turning disruption into a competitive advantage. Master the concepts of building category-king companies, and advance.
Merry Christmas and a great New Year ahead from Tekedia Capital. We expect 2022 to deepen this age of entrepreneurial capitalism as we support innovators and our members bring capital to build the NEXT Africa. Abundance in the future.
Early stage investing in technology-anchored startups and companies. Our opportunity antenna and grassroot connections with innovators enable us to see patterns as they develop. We invite you to partner with us as we nurture and build category-king companies in Africa and beyond, and in the process advance citizens, communities and nations. At Tekedia Capital, we fund the foundations of the NEXT African economy.
From the conception stage of any product, idea, or solution, one thing that every expert agrees is that the market needs to be defined. There is someone you think needs your product, or wants it enough to spend money on it. It is the only reason you will have a business anyway, so it has to be defined before you even get started.
Now, to the question of who the customer is.
Picture this. A young intending entrepreneur comes up with the idea of a travel booking app where people can book their bus, or tricycle ride at least 30 minutes ahead and has it pick them at their doorstep. Now, he is pitching to an investor and has to answer the question “Who is your customer?”
“Everyone will need this product,” he says. “The school child, the worker, the self-employed, the business owner even takes a public transport sometimes. Everyone who needs to move from one place to the other is our potential customer. On a daily basis, everybody moves from one place to the other, so everyone is our customer”
How realistic does the reply sound? Not very.
You cannot enter a market with your solution by targeting anybody and everybody that comes your way. Even if you are selling water, it is not everyone that will buy what you sell. Some might prefer sticking to the brands they know. Some might want to try your product out if there is a unique proposition your product brings to the table.
It is very dangerous to go into the market targeting everybody, but this is a common mistake among inexperienced people who want to move into the entrepreneurship space. Oftentimes, the person is so in love with his idea and sees it as very valuable and he thinks also that every other person will find it valuable. While this feeling might drive passion, enthusiasm, and effort, it is not enough to get you into the market with your product or solution.
If you listen to some founders talk about their product, you could hear something like “our ideal customer is the tech-savvy millennial who is looking for a faster way to get his research assignments and school work done” or “this insurance product or pension product is targeted at a middle-aged man and woman in this region, who are looking for valid plans and financial security for their retirement years”.
Now, these are more specific and it helps the product development team in deciding and building the features of the product. It helps the sales and marketing team in deciding on their strategy. It is a simple task that makes all the difference. You can guess that a product designed for the middle-aged will definitely have a different feel to it compared to one designed for the GenZ or the Millenials.
As a company, you could have a general vision, but products that will be launched into the market have to be targeted at a specific kind of customer. For instance, after defining your company vision, you can research, develop and launch out specific products for the identified market segments you wish to serve.
I was to end the year 2021 without naming any business leader in my yearly Tekedia Businessperson of the Year. The fact is this: while there was effervescence here and there, there was no clear person in Nigeria I would have bestowed the honour for 2021.
Sure, the startup founders raised money. But generally, as a village boy, I have never used raising money as a demonstration of broad excellence. I see it as I Owe You to investors, and until there is a great exit, I do not anoint anyone. And I think I am correct: old Konga raised close to $100 million and still “failed”!
So, with the startups out, I waited to pass this Tekedia tradition. But magically, the Union Bank acquisition by Titan Trust Bank came from nowhere. And I felt that any human who orchestrated for a two-year bank (not sure I have ever said Titan Trust Bank before) to acquire one with more than a century of tradition should be unique.
After doing all my research, I have found the businessman behind the deal. Cornelius G. Vink (MFR) is the Chairman and Founder of TGI. TGI is a conglomerate and an investment powerhouse. It is not new in Nigeria but buying Union Bank is a clear ascension. TGI itself is owned by Vinc Corporation which is a foreign company.
Vinc Corporation controls about 24 companies in the expansive conglomerate empire, out of which Chi Limited that was recently sold to Coca Cola for $1 billion. This company is in every sector.
For that, Cornelius G. Vink (MFR) is Tekedia Businessperson of the Year 2021.
Titan Trust Bank Acquires 89.39% Majority Stake in Union Bank Nigeria