There are 8 finalist in the Agrihack Talent Competition. Prior to this there were dozens of applicants with potential apps for agri. Outside of that the number of mobile content is certainly increasing throughout the Caribbean. Driving such content are the end users who demand such products. With so many new and interesting products and services available, are developers in a position to create businesses to promote and sell them effectively while simultaneously managing the technically difficult task of app creation?
Raising Captial
The CTA ARDYIS programme and other partners for the competition have realized this pivotal factor and have made steps to ensure that the budding young developers are able to effectively create a sustainable business based on their app creations.
Mckenzie Slaughter, Judge of Agrihack, founder and CEO of the Prohaus Group provided meaningful and quite sensible tips in meeting investors and the needs of business angels. (Presentation via dropbox) Apart from seeking grants, or governmental assistance Slaughter recommends that start-ups and growing businesses should harness the resources of angel investors; high profile individuals with investment dollars. This term is certainly known to tech4agri having been featured as part of the entrepreneurial world in previous posts. Some tips provided include:
- Preparation of a concise business plan of 10 pages maximum. Investors are simply not interested in reading a book!
- Evaluate your start up and know your strengths and weakness. A common but vital aspect of business management.
- Build traction. No business can function with out a solid customer base
- Ensure that solidity can also be found in a business’s management team.
At some point each business arrives at the growth phase and funding is needed in order to expand. Therefore one must prepare themselves to pitch their angle to angels and encourage investment in their business. Additionally business owners and their management team should have up to date resumes of just about anything that will exemplify their skills and personality.
This acts as a major factor in terms of trust between the two parties. Following that appropriate legal documents, well thought out financials and other plans are a must so that angels are able to understand how they can earn a return from your company. Having a prototype of your product or a true, existing example of your service certainly increase your chances.
Return of the Business Canvas
A clear global trend lies in the concise nature of any business plan. Telly Onu, CEO of Quintessence Consulting based in St. Kitts and Nevis focused on the business canvas model which was first featured as part of the Agribusiness Lab on Tech4agri.
Emphasis was placed on a ‘Lean Start-up’ version of the canvas whereby emphasis is placed on identifying your company’s customer segments, value propositions and key business activities.
Focusing on these three elements represent a great start to any business, followed by building the remaining parts of the canvas, putting things in perspective for the long process ahead of bring the business to fruition. The links to Telly and Mckenzie’s presentation above provides detail on the concepts as well as online tools to help you in your app or agribusiness development.
Stay dedicated!
Ketone lovely article! Thanks for sharing this and keeping in the know!! Really pertinent information for me
You are very much welcome!
Keron
Thank you i gaind some key points
No prob