AfriLabs Capacity Building Needs Assessment

T H E M E 3

Sus ta i nab i l i t y cha l l enges threaten ESOs and Ent repreneur s l ong- term sur v i va l

Is the business currently profitable? (% of rating)

Product development is critical to entrepreneur’s sustainability.

10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

41%

38%

Only 20% of entrepreneurs responded to have reached a breakeven point and 38% said that they are currently making a profit. 65% of entrepreneurs made between 10%-20% of their revenues via ‘products or services’ their company developed in the last three years. Only 2% of entrepreneurs indicated that they make over 60% of their revenue through ‘products or services’ developed in the last three years. Focus groups further revealed that early stage entrepre- neurs struggle to move from ‘idea’ to ‘real products’ as they do not have the right technical expertise to develop sellable products and lack the financial capability to hire expert consultants. As evident, the lack of early stage financing and expertise contribute largely to the poor market performance of startup solutions. Over 70% of entrepreneurs generate approximately 20% of their revenue from products and services they offer. This trend further emphasizes the need to support entrepreneurs to acquire the technical expertise in product development and early market adopters for their products and services.

20%

0% 5%

Profitable

Not profitable

Breakeven

What is your revenue breakdown for your product and services? (% of rating)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

68%

65%

62%

57%

54%

20%

17%

17%

14%

14%

12%

11%

11%

9%

8%

8%

8%

8%

8%

7%

6%

6%

6%

3%

2%

Products or services that your company developed in the last 3 years

Products that you developed over 3 years ago]

Product that you are reselling or repackaging and reselling

Maintenance contracts Other

0-10 % 10-20% 20-40% 40-60% over 60%

32

N E E D S A S S E S S M E N T R E P O R T

Trends and insights from ESOs, entrepreneurs, and investors

Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator