More and more international American companies are entering the African markets in recent years. It has definitely increased the level of competition for the local startups in Africa. An American giant company like Facebook clearly has more resources and investments than a local startup in Africa.
However, it is noteworthy that all the socio-economic developments in Africa can be brought about only by promoting tech startups that come from the young African innovative minds. Only if people have money could then enjoy life’s luxuries, like trying out their hands at online gaming, after reading the Bet9ja review.
In the light of a World that is dominated by giant companies like Facebook, African Tech Startups can still succeed in building their their brands if they keep the following strengths at the forefront:
- Better Understanding of the needs of people
The biggest advantage that African startups have over Facebook is their understanding of the needs of the people since they grow up in the same society. It is true that the world is shrinking in a globalized context, but there are still some fundamental needs that can only be understood and fulfilled by the local people. Therefore, the young Africans need to be attentive towards their society to come up with innovative geography-specific startups. These kinds of startups are bound to achieve success.
- Cultural Sensitivity
African startups are also more likely to succeed if they are careful about cultural sensitivity. American or any other international company might end up hurting the sentiments of people, and that might backfire. Therefore, African startups can succeed if they take care of the culturally sensitive issues and work around it.
- You Know How the Market Works
Marketing as a term is very commonly used in daily life. What does it mean exactly? According to Dr. Philip Kotler, American marketing author, consultant and professor, marketing has different definitions when viewed from different standpoints and times in history. The simplest and oldest meaning of marketing is that marketing is simply selling all the products that a particular company produces to whoever will buy the products, to anyone and everyone.
A more sophisticated definition, which came up later, is that marketing exists to find needs which haven’t been found yet, and to fulfil them. Looking at marketing from a philosophical point of view, it may be said that the true purpose of marketing lies in lifting the standards of living of the people around the globe. To sum it up, marketing involves gauging the needs of the people and finding attractive solutions to those needs.
As a local African startup, you can have the edge over giant conglomerates like Facebook simply by knowing the demands of the market and what works best for the people of a nation. Ergo, you do not have to spend a lot of time and resources on market research and the hassle that comes with it. Yet, you are bound to be successful with your strategies. Moreover, you can also easily expand across borders in the continent which would be difficult for a multinational given the difference in the western markets in addition to governmental policies.
Sure, it is a challenge for African startups to flourish in a world dominated by Facebook but they still have a competitive advantage if they play to their strengths.
