Business card:
It’s awkward to go and try negotiating the deal with someone
without a business card to explain were you are coming from, what are you doing
in your company and just in case someone need to reach you what should that person
do. Business card tends to increase credibility from your clients. Is where you
display summary of your information like your job title and contact details,
You might say but I have my phone and I can just give out my number but in
cooperate world we don’t work that way so if you don’t have one go quick and
print one it will hardly cost you 5000 Tanzania shillings for 100 pieces at
local shops Kariakoo.
Have a bank account
I have seen this most of the time, you finish whatever task
the client as given you on time and the client are satisfied with the work
which you have done and he wants to wire you the money through your bank
accounts suddenly it is not possible to do that because you don’t have an
account in the first place. If the problem is the startup money at list buy a
mobile phone chip which will be reserved purposely for just putting your money
during your cooperate transactions wither its TIGOPESA or MPESA I don’t care,
but still you have to realize not having a bank account makes you to suffer
with customer’s bouncing cheques in banks at the same time makes you to appear
as an amateur in front of your customer most of the time.
Register your small company
It will hardly cost you 6000 Tanzanian shillings to go to
BRELA the authority selected by the government of united republic of Tanzania
to register your company name and get your name fixed in the local authorities
records as someone who is doing his business legitimately. You can also pay for
your tax payers identification number (TIN) and valued added tax (VAT) for your
small business it is not enough but it is enough to portray you as a pro in the
ICT entrepreneurship industry. In the future when the company grows a bit you
can have the partnership deed, Business license and other stuffs which will
help you get tenders from the local government, that is what people does in
order to blend in the system and get the chance to exist.
Respect your work
What you do is valuable that why people are coming to you,
if you are doing something for yourself then remember you are reflecting the
whole ICT community of Tanzania. Don’t be cheap and don’t be too demanding set
the price according to the task given. If is the website you are developing, a
flyer you are designing or even industry standard software make sure you don’t
kill the market for others . For example the website development business was
very good business but now people can’t even make good money out of it because
of too many unprofessional people in the ICT industry of Tanzania. If someone underestimates
your potential then tell him to go and find someone who can do that work
cheaply for him. Never get confused with the money go through the task you are
doing and evaluate the cost.
Contracts and agreement
Franklyn speaking most of the people they think what we are
doing is very easy because we can do it quickly and effectively and give them
the result they need on time. This reach to a point that they think the
agreement you made prior to the beginning of the task makes you to earn more
money than the task you have done. My advice is you can download or prepare
your own business contract displaying what the customer should pay you before
the commencement of the project and after if its 20 percent or 40 you just
choose yourself and indicate clearly the costs of terminating the contract and
the duration of the task just in case he didn’t provided the resources you need
to do your work on time. Believe me this will make you to be a pro and always
you will be able to monitor your projects and finish them in time. Then if you
can afford you can have a low cost lawyer by your side to view all your
agreements and contracts.
Have your own website
Dress code and confidence
Dress code is an art and you have to be the master of the
art, I don’t blame you that why in the cooperate world they have a joke “don’t
send a geek to negotiate a deal you will end up crying” lol, but it isn’t true
if you decide to change the facts. Learn to dress neatly during the time you
visit your client or fellow entrepreneur show them you mean business and that you share
mutual benefit and is not like he is helping you or giving you assistance. When
you set your terms of agreements they should be ready to respect them as you
respect theirs and just in case they don’t meet your requirements don’t
hesitate to move on to another client. This make them realize IT is not just
playing with your PC is something valuable and is someone’s career so a bit of respect
is required.
Read newspapers and
magazines, follow business news
Most of the time in the newspapers you will see small ads of
people looking for professional or advertising their skills for free just by
having a copy of the newspaper and take out the coupon you will be able to
advertise yourself. In the news you will learn new trends of business in your
local city and were the market is more demanding wither people want websites,
mobile apps or just small payroll systems and so on. You will be able to have a
chance to consolidate yourself in those areas before approaching the customers.
Advertise yourself
You have the Facebook pages, blogger pages, twitter accounts
and YouTube videos all of them waiting for you to advertise your business or your
potential and what you can do. Take your time design a flyer and post it on Facebook
instead of all day posting your girlfriends picture lol. You can create a small
video about what you do and upload it in YouTube and start share it to your
friends and ask them to share to others and so on. Through slide share you can
upload your paper works and projects you have been doing and put the links in
your info page in the social networking site you are using.
Discipline and Trust
Finish people work in time and try your level best to meet
their expectations and you will get more clients, this is the promise am giving
to you. Make sure you don’t receive the money unless you can finish the task on
time of you have someone you trust who can finish the project on time and meets
the customer requirements at the same time.
If you follow these 10 things effectively you will be among
the successful ICT entrepreneurs who are coming from the scratch to build your
business, at some point of time try to find a source of large capital which
will consolidate your business.
TECH360 Correspondent