“Never ever make investments that are beyond what you can afford”, says Professor Bitange Ndemo, Entrepreneurship Lecturer at the University of Nairobi.

A small start coupled with a serious problem, powered by technology is the recipe for innovation and disruption. Alta Vista was the leading search engine before Google. They got complacent. Google started small, and paid closer attention to customer pain points. Platforms such as Google Scholar and Google Art came out of Academics like Professor Ndemo sending through emails to Google asking for more categorisation of search results. Alta Vista ignored such requests. Look at Google now.

Because of the 4th industrial revolution, you must start investing in data. Start collecting behavioural data on your customers to better anticipate their needs. You must also start empowering yourself with emerging technologies such as Artificial intelligence, Virtual reality, Big data etc. But with everything, start small and be clear on the problem statement you are solving for.

These technologies can enable you to leap frog industries before competition sees you coming. Virtual reality for example will revolutionise retail and shopping. What can you do with it for your business?

Prof. Bitange Ndemo was a guest at Un.thinkable roast (our monthly 10X Growth Leaders Meet-up) in July 2020. Click here to apply for membership in Un.thinkable.