During their latest run of meetings in Kigali to share ideas and useful strategies around the future of work, entrepreneurs on Thursday, August 11, shared ideas on what they think are the key elements that people starting in business should pay attention to in their journey of turning ideas, expertise, and knowledge into money.

This was during the latest version of the Planbpreneur Mini-Summit that gathered entrepreneurs and professionals to discuss entrepreneurship and the future of work in Africa.

During the event organised by Demilade Oluwasina, a Nigerian speaker, coach, and entrepreneur based in Kigali, Remy Lubega, a Kigali-based businessman, discussed the connection between making money and making people happy, saying the two go hand in hand.

"If I deliver those onions on time from Kimironko market, there is a profit. They (the clients) are happy, and I am happy,” Lubega said.

He explained that to make money, projects always need to be nurtured and given time to grow.

Clients’’ trust, he noted, is one of the key elements on the journey to nurture a company.

"Most of my own ideas are incubated because of the track record of what I have been doing over a period of time,” he said.

According to Nadia Uwamahoro, the CEO and Founder of Data System, a software company based in Rwanda and with a presence in Senegal, Cameroon and Kenya, research and preparation are key before starting to invest in an idea.

"Put in some research; understand what is happening, and the value you are going to bring. Then get someone – there is always someone who has money but doesn’t know how to use it, yet there is always another one who has ideas but doesn’t have money,” Uwamahoro said.

"As an entrepreneur it is your role to know where to get money from and whom to work with to get money.”

Ideas are like marriage

Uwamahoro emphasised the need for commitment to an idea if a person will be able to make money from it.

"All ideas can give you money. However, all ideas are like marriage, you need to commit to them,” she said.

Oluwasina highlighted the fear of failure as a reason many people do not get to work on their ideas.

"One of the fears that people have is the fear of failure. They always wonder; is this going to work out or it’s not going to work out? Sometimes people think that if I am doing this, people need to see me succeed at it or I have to stay with it forever. And so, people either do not start on an idea or feel the need to stay with a poor idea that will likely not work” Oluwasina said.

Oluwasina said aspiring entrepreneurs should not be afraid to experiment and pivot, as long as value is being created for users.

"What might be a failure in one idea at one stage can serve as critical lessons for working on the next successful idea,” he said.

Lubega weighed in, calling upon entrepreneurs to beat the fear by convincing themselves that they are the right people to do what they are doing.

"Unless you convince yourself that you are the right person to do that job or business, then don’t try it. The first thing is convincing yourself that actually ‘I am the right person to do this.’ Look at yourself because no one knows you better than you do. So, understand yourself, understand your strength,” Lubega said.

We failed again and again, but never gave up

Lubega said: "Most of these things that have worked for us have worked because we have failed again and again, but never gave up.”

Here, he gave an example of the highs and lows that characterise the events industry in which he works.

"Sometimes you see an event attracting a lot of people and say, ‘Oh he has made a lot of money.’ Yet, the score on the excel sheet is telling me something totally different,” he said.

For him, in such circumstances, entrepreneurs should leverage on the positive things that the public thinks about them, and reject the notion of giving up.

"The biggest monetisation is the confidence people have in a product or an invention that you have done. That is the biggest capital, because once people see or perceive it, then you have a leeway to try again to do it,” Lubega said.

One of the professionals attending the session asked about a process that one can take to monetise their ideas and expertise. 

In response, Oluwasina said: "Monetising your ideas, expertise and knowledge is about creating value that meets the needs of people. First, you have to understand what you have to offer and extract the value from that skill or expertise.

"Next, you have to align it with the needs of a particular target segment of people, and then, you need to put your solution in a format - a product or service which they can access easily, price and package it appropriately. And then, you have to sell it. Selling many times is overlooked, but it is the step that leads directly to monetisation.”

The Planbpreneur Mini-Summit happens every month. Professionals and entrepreneurs meet to network, explore collaborations, celebrate one another and explore how to be more entrepreneurial at work, in their businesses, in Rwanda and on the continent.