[TEXT: Young African Leaders Initiative Online Training Series]
[Saran Kaba Jones] My name is Saran Kaba Jones,
[TEXT: Growing Your Startup Learning Objectives 1. Learn the key to growing your startup and getting to the next level. 2. How to raise additional funds. 3. How to move beyond your comfort zone.] and this is Growing Your Startup.
In this lesson you will learn
the key to growing your startup and getting to the next level.
You will also learn how to raise additional funds,
and how to move beyond your comfort zone.
[TEXT: Saran Kaba Jones, Founder & CEO, FACE Africa] Many small businesses struggle to achieve growth, and
more than a third of all startups fail within two years.
For those of you who have built a successful small business,
[TEXT: Know how to grow your business] you want to know how to grow your business
and when to grow beyond its current level.
When is the right time to expand Your business?
Growth is key to the success of any startup,
[TEXT: Best type of growth is carefully planned out] but the best type of growth is one that is carefully
thought through and planned out.
Sometimes growing too fast without proper planning can harm
and even destroy a business.
So before you undertake any major growth
initiatives, like launching a new product
or opening a new store,
[TEXT: Understand the future of your industry] you must first understand the future of the industry.
Ask yourself whether demand for your products
or services are growing,
what your competitors are doing,
and whether you can continue to
[TEXT: Meet your customer’s demands at the same level of service] meet your customers’ demands at the same level of service.
Quality of service often drops
when businesses start expanding too fast,
which can impact your brand’s reputation.
Sometimes you need to spend money to make money.
Before expanding your business, you should evaluate whether
[TEXT: Raise enough capital] you can raise enough capital to make the jump.
Finally, never forget what got you started in your business:
[TEXT: Entrepreneurial dream] your entrepreneurial dream.
This is a new challenge for you, so it’s important to
[TEXT: Believe in yourself] believe in yourself.
[TEXT: Trust your good judgment] Trust your good judgment for when to seize
opportunities and grow.
Now, how do you grow your business?
Here are four quick ideas to help you
with your business expansion.
[TEXT: Open another location] One: Open another location.
This will allow you to reach a new demographic
and give you exposure in an area that did not
know you existed, but needs your product and services.
[TEXT: Diversify] Two: Diversify.
Diversifying your product or service line
is an excellent growth strategy
[TEXT: Multiple streams of income] because it allows you to have multiple streams of income.
When I started my organization,
we were focused exclusively on delivering water services.
We have since diversified to include sanitation
and hygiene-promotion services,
which provides different opportunities for us
to raise funds.
[TEXT: Win a government contract] Three: Win a government contract.
One of the best ways to grow your business is to have the
government as a customer.
In most countries,
the government is the largest buyer of goods and services,
and some even require their various agencies
to allocate a certain percentage
of their purchase to local businesses.
[TEXT: Expand to the internet] Four: Expand to the Internet.
Having a Web presence is an integral part in today’s
business environment.
It also serves as an online storefront
and acts as the conveyer of your business’s brand and
message to the world.
Expanding your business to the Internet allows you to
indirectly go global with your products and services.
[TEXT: Raise funds for growth] How to raise funds to grow Your business.
Getting your business to the next stage is never easy,
and you will more than likely need some capital.
[TEXT: Get creative] It is important not to limit yourself and get creative.
In addition to angel investors and traditional bank loans,
[TEXT: Crowdfunding] there are many potential sources of funds such as crowdfunding,
[TEXT: Business incubators Competitions Small business grants] business incubators, competitions and small
business grants.
[TEXT: Moving beyond your comfort zone] Moving beyond your comfort zone.
[TEXT: Networking for success] No matter which sector you are in, networking is the
fastest track to success and puts you in a
position to meet the right people
who can help you fundraise and deliver results.
[TEXT: Expand your horizon] It is important to expand your horizon
and move beyond your immediate network of
friends and acquaintances and build a wider,
global network of supporters and funders.
[TEXT: Hard work] Taking a small business to the next level requires hard work,
[TEXT: Perseverance Risk Good product or service] perseverance, risk and a good product or service —
they are all key to growing your startup.
After you've completed all the units in this course,
[TEXT: Test your knowledge YALI.State.gov] at YALI.state.gov, you can test your knowledge
[TEXT: YALI Network Produced by the U.S. Department of State] and earn a YALI Network certificate.