Business Training During the Pandemic: Experiences, Lessons and Recommendations from the Stanbic Business Incubator Limited
ConsumerCentriX works closely with Stanbic Bank Uganda on both the COVID-19 Business Info Hub and the Stanbic Business Incubator. This article originally appeared on the COVID-19 Business Info Hub.
As the pandemic enters its third year, governments and the private sector reflect on the lessons learned from COVID-19. The last two years have yielded extensive data on how external shocks and crisis response can affect the business community.
Stanbic Business Incubator Limited (SBIL) has played a key role in supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Uganda, guiding many businesses through the pandemic’s perpetual twists and turns while helping them to make sense of the information overflow. To benefit from these lessons, the COVID-19 Business Info Hub will highlight SBIL’s experience throughout the pandemic in an effort to benefit the Ugandan business community.
Founded in 2018 and operating under Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited, the Stanbic Business Incubator Limited runs capacity building and entrepreneurship development programs for SMEs. In 2021 alone, SBIL managed to train over 700 business owners from various sectors and more than 4500 entrepreneurs across Uganda. Drawing from SBIL’s experience in training SMEs through the pandemic, this series will focus on the experience of the Incubator’s experts and training staff through interviews and first-hand discussions. Our readers can expect insight into different topics, including:
- A high-level overview of SBIL’s impact, responses, and opportunities for SMEs as they navigate the pandemic
- An exploration of SBIL’s partnerships and upcoming programs helps to outline what it prioritizes for members of the business development workshop.
- Reflecting on 2021’s selection of training programs, Incubator staff discuss the experience of the program’s exiting alumni so businesses can learn from their peers
- First-hand interviews with alumni and non-members help to better understand SMEs biggest needs while sharing frontline experience as they navigate the pandemic
Over the next five articles, we’ll help SMEs understand the unfolding business environment with experience from SBIL’s practitioners, managers and businessowners. Readers are likely to find business insights that will help in developing new strategies and tactics to maintain their business competitiveness while responding to the fast-changing conditions of an evolving pandemic.
Interested businessowners may be interested in SBIL’s upcoming schedule of master classes, training events, cohorts and partnership events. Similarly, readers may be interested in the Compassionate Leadership Webinar Series, which provides training through a slate of webinars. Updates on all these programs and more will be available on the COVID-19 Business Info Hub.
Ultimately, the coming series of articles provides opportunity for businesses to benefit from peer-learning and the guidance of an industry stalwart. We look forward to you joining us.
SME Response Clinic hosts webinar on Practical Solutions for Improving the Wellbeing of Women Entrepreneurs
A version of this article was originally posted on the SME Response Clinic
The SME Response Clinic held a webinar on practical solutions for improving the wellbeing of women entrepreneurs at Kigali Public Library on the 8th of December 2021. The webinar was part of the Building Back Healthier Series that was launched with a talk show on KT Radio on the 18thof October 2021 and followed another webcast on practical strategies to deal with stress held in November. The series is organized in partnership with the Geruka Healing Centre.
The objective of the webinar was to inform, inspire, and share knowledge and skills that businesswomen can use to better their wellbeing when dealing with day-to-day stresses of running a business while managing other responsibilities. In addition, the webinar dove into practical techniques for increasing psychological safety and productivity and how to optimize the workplace especially for women entrepreneurs.
The webinar featured a mental health expert, Adelite Mukamana, M.Sc., with two active businesswomen, Scovia Umutoni and Amina Umhoza. Mme. Mukamana started the session with a fantastic example to help the audience have an in-depth appreciation of mental health and wellbeing:
Our mind is like an engine of any car. No matter how good-looking the car might seem on the outside, without the engine, it wouldn’t start. The car can only move when the engine is working in full force. Think about your mental health and wellbeing like that. When something is wrong with your car engine, you look for a mechanic. The moment you feel that your mental health or wellbeing is struggling, look for professional help.”
Scovia’s Experience:
Scovia Umutoni is Founder of KGL Flour Limited, an agribusiness factory that produces maize flour – locally known as Kawunga – and animal feed. Before the pandemic, she was employed elsewhere, but she lost her job like many others when the pandemic hit. Undeterred, she decided to invest her savings to create her own business.
While exciting, it proved to be a very challenging time because once she started her business operations, Rwanda went into lockdown, putting everything on hold.
By the time lockdown was over, while many businesses were back up and running, Scovia’s target market including schools and hotels were still not operational. She started to feel frustrated and uncertain about the future. Scovia thought quickly and decided to change her approach, targeting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She has been serving customers in DRC since then, and as Rwanda has begun to recover, she has started to deliver her products locally.
Scovia believes that women entrepreneurs often face specific challenges based on the fact they are women. When she ordered a corn flour machine to start her business from a local businessman, Scovia struggled to get the machine in the agreed-upon two week period. It took engaging male friends to visit the provider with her for Scovia to get the machine two weeks later than promised. Scovia is certain that had she been a male entrepreneur, she would not have had to resort to engaging friends to help her. This is just one example of common obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs, many of whom were also disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
During the pandemic, Scovia took a step back to reflect on her businesses and to think of new strategies to improve operations. Recognizing the importance of her own wellbeing, she took a number of actions to improve her mental health, including listening to music. Her business life is not without challenges – she still faces challenges like being a woman in a male-dominated industry and travel restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic – but she doesn’t intend to stop. Scovia has learned that challenges will always exist, and what is important is to look for solutions to deal with them.
Amina’s Experience:
Amina Umuhoza is Founder and CEO of SAYE – DUKATAZE LTD, which aims to fight unintended pregnancies in young Rwandan women due to menstruation stigma. Her company provides young women with reproductive health information, menstrual hygiene management, and economic empowerment by selling products produced by young women through technology and community engagement.
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed SAYE’s operations, and like many other businesses, the company took its business online during lockdowns. This major shift in operations led Amina and her colleagues to question whether they would attain their goals, and Amina had to work hard to balance competing priorities. For instance, the company had to use profits planned for investment to instead pay employee salaries to ensure proper staffing and employee satisfaction. Choices like these have allowed Amina to ensure SAYE continues delivering on its business and social objectives throughout the challenges of the pandemic.
Like Scovia, Amina also faces challenges unique to being a woman entrepreneur. A key example is negative comments from others, including social media bullying. It is not uncommon for Amina to receive questions about plans to marry when she posts about new products or partnerships. She believes that these comments come from cultural beliefs about the role of women, but things have started to change as the government has been educating Rwandans on the role of a woman in societal, family, and personal development.
The hardest part of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic for Amina was to ensure she was strong and resilient for herself as well as for her co-workers and employees. Amina used the lockdown as productively as possible to ensure a positive mindset, reflecting on herself and catching up on important paperwork. This cheered her up, and that feeling encouraged her to reach out to co-workers through virtual platforms. Amina also managed to take care of action items she had postponed or put off pre-pandemic, which provided SAYE with new opportunities after lockdown.
Building Back Healthier:
Scovia and Amina seek to thrive as businesswomen, but this is not always easy. Both receive negative comments based on stereotypes nearly every day; for example, the idea that as women entrepreneurs they can only be successful if they are married. Adelite Mukamana disagrees with this stereotype. “We often hear that the development of women depends on a man. Scovia and Amina are true examples that a businesswoman can run her business smoothly and shine through all circumstances, and we hope they are good examples to our fellow women in the Rwandan society,” she says.
Both entrepreneurs agreed on one fact – one chooses her or his own mentality, and a positive sense of wellbeing is key to carrying on in the face of adversity. Adelite Mukamana agrees. “We act how we think, and we decide how to think,” she says.
Women entrepreneurs are typically challenged by balancing work and home life. Amina believes that marrying to a partner who supports you and who understands your vision is a crucial element for a success as a businesswoman. Mme Adelite Mukamana, both an expert in her field and a mother, advised businesswomen to not be afraid of having families since a woman is a human being that is capable of carrying out multiple tasks. She advised women to launch businesses regardless of their family lives if they’re confident they can do it. She also pointed out that men shouldn’t be threatened by women’s economic empowerment and their partners’ success but instead focus on growing together.
Visit the SME Response Clinic for tips for entrepreneurs to support their mental health and wellbeing. We also invite you to keep an eye on our social media platforms for entrepreneurs’ stories on how their businesses are prioritizing mental health and wellbeing, as part of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic challenges. You can find us on YouTube,Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Submission
Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs this March with the SME Response Clinic – Insights from Women Entrepreneurs and Leaders
A version of this article was originally posted on the SME Response Clinic
As we continue to celebrate March, the women’s history month, the SME Response Clinic is pleased to share with you a recap of some of the highlights from our engagements with women entrepreneurs and leaders in Rwanda over the past two years. Women entrepreneurs play a vital role in developing Rwanda’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and make a tremendous contribution to the nation’s economy. Join us in celebrating women entrepreneurs this month and throughout the year!
Here are some of the highlights:
Webinar on “Practical Solutions for Improving the Wellbeing of Women Entrepreneurs”
On 8 December 2021, the SME Response Clinic, in partnership with Geruka Healing Center, held a webinar featuring women entrepreneurs at the Kigali Public Library as part of the Building Back Healthier series. The webinar’s objective was to inform, inspire and share knowledge and skills that businesswomen can use to better their wellbeing as they deal with their day-to-day business activities while managing other responsibilities. The webinar featured a mental health expert, Adelite Mukamana and two businesswomen, Scovia Umutoni and Amina Umuhoza.
Interview with Her Excellency Dr Monique Nsanzabaganwa, former Deputy Governor of National Bank of Rwanda and current Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission
In July 2020, the SME Response Clinic interviewed Her Excellency Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa to understand the barriers women face in accessing information to help them better manage their businesses. During the interview, H.E. Dr. Monique emphasized the importance of not just making information available online but also mobilizing women to access that knowledge with a personal touch.
Watch the video to learn more
Learn about AMI’s Business Survival Bootcamp from Justine Ntaganda, owner of La Cornicle Hotel Rubavu and Nyabihu
Justine Ntanganda, a businesswoman who co-owns La Cornicle Hotel operating in Rubavu and Nyabihu districts, attended a Business Survival Bootcamp training organized by the SME Response Clinic in partnership with the African Management Institute. Ms. Ntanganda shared with the SME Response Clinic more about what she learned.
Watch the video to learn more
To learn more about AMI training offers in Rwanda, visit: Africa Management Institute
Celebrating Women's Entrepreneurship in Rwanda
Celebrating Women’s Entrepreneurship in Rwanda
A version of this article was originally posted on the SME Response Clinic
Women entrepreneurs represent the fastest-growing segment of entrepreneurs globally, and Rwanda is no exception. According to the 2020 FinScope Gender Report, women lead about 52% of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Rwanda (or about 420,0000 businesses). Through these businesses, women entrepreneurs are significant contributors to GDP growth and create jobs critical to people’s livelihoods in their communities and the country at large.
At the SME Response Clinic, we value women entrepreneurs’ role in Rwanda’s economic and social development. Since our launch in May 2020, we have developed content, hosted webinars, and conducted targeted marketing activities to better reach women entrepreneurs and support them in business growth despite tough times.
This month, we will focus our efforts on celebrating the role played by women entrepreneurs in developing the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Rwanda. We will highlight some of the exceptional women entrepreneurs we have encountered so you can learn from their experiences or maybe find a new business to try out!
Join us this month as we celebrate – and reach out to us to share the name of a women-led business you know and love at musa.kacheche@consumercentrix.ch!
How Fintechs Can Capture the Female Economy
Women represent the world’s largest and fastest growing financial market. They are expected to control more than $216 trillion in wealth.[1] They are also strong savers, loyal and reliable customers and better credit risks than men.[2] Yet, women are often excluded from formal financial services. Only 65% of women have a bank account, compared with 72% of men, and this gender gap is 3 times larger when it comes to use of fintechs.
While fintechs have transformed the financial landscape recently and are uniquely positioned to close this gender gap, many fintechs are overlooking the women’s market. To help fintechs embrace this opportunity, ConsumerCentriX conducted research for a study called “How Fintechs Can Capture the Female Economy” commissioned by the Financial Alliance for Women. The report lays out a map that fintechs can use to improve their conversion rates for women within each stage of the sales funnel. By addressing the unmet needs and barriers that women face in accessing the financial market, fintechs can attract and retain more women customers, reduce customer acquisition costs, and boost revenues.
Although women are generally drawn to digital financial services, there are particular drop-off points in their uptake at different stages of the sales funnel. For instance, fintechs that use tailored marketing messaging to reflect women’s needs will attract more women to their platforms as opposed to one-size-fits-all messaging. If the signup procedure is lengthy or the language is convoluted then fewer women will sign up for the service. Unconscious algorithmic bias can affect how many women get approved for loans. Once women are signed up and approved, their product usage needs to be nurtured.
Fintechs can make significant business gains by developing an intentional focus on women throughout the stages of the sales funnel. Here’s how:
- Most fintechs apply a gender-neutral approach to their marketing campaigns that doesn’t account for women’s behaviors and their differing realities. Fintechs should create gender-differentiated marketing campaigns that appeal to women and motivate them to click through the website. Our research found that by attracting as many women as men to their site, fintechs could see up to a 12% increase in revenue.
- Fintechs typically face high drop-off rates before sign up, in all verticals and across all customer segments. Many women customers drop off because the registration process is time-consuming and cumbersome. Fintechs should focus on creating a user-friendly process and demonstrating product value. Our research found that by converting women at the same rate as men, revenue could increase by 70%.
- Women customers are denied approval more often than men because the underwriting algorithms are embedded with unconscious bias. Fintechs should create a qualifying stage in the sales funnel for products such as credit and insurance and exclude qualifying criteria in which women are structurally disadvantaged but have no bearing on their performance as customers, like type of employment or education. Our research found that by removing bias in the credit algorithm, lending fintechs could increase gross margins by 20%.
- When women customers have signed up, the goal is to encourage activity by creating a sense of community and promoting organic marketing with user-generated content. Our research found that by actively engaging with registered female customers, monthly revenue could increase by 15%.
- Satisfied women customers are more loyal than men, have higher net promoter scores and will purchase more in cross-sales than men. By leveraging the positive experiences of women customers and tapping into the power of female referrals, fintechs can accelerate their organic customer growth by 50%.
While many fintechs have failed to design products that reach the women’s market, there are exceptions like Kubo Financiero, a fintech that provides loans and savings products across Mexico. Kubo posts financial education content on their Facebook and WhatsApp groups that targets their women customers and promotes personal interaction with their customer service agents by making them easily accessible through WhatsApp texting or video calls. Additionally, the company discovered a significantly higher drop-off rate during the registration process for women compared to their male peers. By paying attention to their data, they were able to increase the female customer signup rate by 14% through redesigning a more user-friendly registration page and revising the language.
“If you have healthy finances, it’s super easy to activate your credit [with Kubo Financiero].”
Lisa, a Kubo customer, needed capital to fund her daughter’s education but was looking for more than a loan from her bank and wanted access to financial education information as well. She regularly engages with Kubo’s WhatsApp groups to gain insights on her financial health. Lisa recommended using Kubo because it’s more accessible, informative and effective for her.
What’s next: Fintech investors are still in the early stages of assessing an investment with a gender-lens and many indicated that they need more evidence for the business case. This research clearly shows the value of focusing on women customers through gender-intelligent fintech design. Addressing the unmet needs of women is a win-win situation. By applying a gender lens and asking the right questions, investors and fintechs alike can capture the female economy, improving their revenue and profitability while advancing women’s financial inclusion.
Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment Mapping Tool: Spotlighting Opportunities for Impact in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where women make up the majority of entrepreneurs. But, delve a little deeper and you will find that women face steep social and economic barriers to growing their businesses. While access to finance is the key constraint, they are also much more likely to be hindered due to household responsibilities and are less likely to have the market skills to advance their businesses. Removing these barriers could unleash a huge opportunity for women entrepreneurs and boost economic growth in the region.
The European Investment Bank (or EIB) launched the African Women Rising Initiative (AWRI) to support women’s economic empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa by identifying effective environments for growth, increasing access to finance, and supporting women entrepreneurs in selected countries. The AWRI aims to strengthen women-led or -owned businesses through designing holistic, market-oriented programs, bolstering business skills, and developing gender intelligent financial services.
As a first step for the AWRI, ConsumerCentriX (CCX), as part of the Consortium with German-based technical advisory group IPC and African Management Institute (AMI), set out to identify the strongest opportunities for impacting women entrepreneurs in Africa. CCX conducted a comprehensive mapping exercise that assessed the current state of financial inclusion for women, women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment initiatives, as well as innovations in financial technology, and digital banking. Based on this exercise, the team identified countries in the region that have substantial gaps in gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, however, their macro and social environments could enable a financial sector intervention that fosters progress.
Mapping Methodology
Women entrepreneurs are not evenly distributed across Sub-Saharan Africa. The region is made up of 48 countries at varying stages of development and some places offer a more conducive environment for women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses with the support of formal financial services. In order to better understand women’s financial and economic inclusion opportunities, we created a scoring system based on 65 publicly available indicators from sources such as the Global Findex[1]. Not all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa were surveyed by the Findex which limited the comparable data, but in many cases, other indicators were able to be substituted from other sources like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Economist Intelligence Unit, as well as Citibank and Mastercard data that illustrate macroeconomic, demographic, political-regulatory, and socioeconomic dynamics within each country. Additional sector-specific datasets contributed a broader understanding of the stage of development and inclusiveness of the financial sector. We then ranked each country according to their stage of development as indicated by the gross national income (GNI) per capita and compared them based on the indicators.
The indicators were categorized into four overarching themes that tested each country’s receptivity to potential financial inclusion efforts based on their legal or socio-cultural constraints and women’s access to finance. The categories included:
- Enabling Environment: Provided a snapshot of each country’s development stage by assessing the general economic and demographic environment through indicators like conflict, debt, GNI per capita and GDP, and population characteristics;
- Women’s Inclusion and Human Capital: Assessed women’s socio-economic position including factors that influence their productivity and opportunity to build capital;
- Women’s Entrepreneurship: Analyzed the ease of doing business in each country and women’s typical role within the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector; and
- Financial Sector: Focused on the availability of financial services through different channels, the regulatory environment, and the sector’s inclusivity and capacity to serve entrepreneurs with financing.
Ultimately, the CCX team created an effective tool that swiftly facilitates benchmarking of countries in Africa (and beyond) for our work on impact consulting in women’s financial inclusion and entrepreneurship support. Additionally, the tool includes permanent links to the respective databases utilized for the mapping exercise.
Results
During the mapping exercise, 19 countries were immediately omitted from the selection process based on insurmountable obstacles to a long-term technical assistance engagement like extensive violent conflict and significant debt distress. Countries with extremely small populations were also not carried onto the shortlist due to their lack of scalability and potential impact.
In order to narrow the playing field even further, we categorized countries in Sub-Saharan Africa into five groups based on their development stage. Each country was ranked according to threshold criteria against peer countries within each group. Countries were excluded from consideration if the socio-economic challenges or gender gaps they were facing could not be realistically addressed with financial inclusion or women’s economic empowerment initiatives. To advance to the next round, countries needed to score 60-70% on average across all indicators when compared to the top country within each group.
Countries that met the threshold had significant room for improvement in women’s entrepreneurship and inclusivity in the formal financial sector that could be addressed by the areas intended for the AWRI technical assistance, namely empowering women entrepreneurs and creating gender-intelligent and innovative SME financing solutions. In other words: these countries indicated a substantial potential for growth compared to their best-in-class African peers, while also presenting a sufficiently conducive environment for impact through the AWRI support.
Based on this scoring system, a shortlist of 16 countries qualified including Benin, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Uganda.
EIB selected Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Senegal, and Uganda were selected as the four finalists. These countries have healthy percentages of SMEs t
hat are women-led or -owned, have financial institutions with existing relationships with EIB that are interested in better serving women entrepreneurs, show strong potential for growth with existing conducive regulatory and social environments and/or the opportunity to leverage digital channels to deepen financial inclusion and women’s economic empowerment.
Below is brief overview of the four finalist countries:
- Côte d’Ivoire is the business hub of French-speaking West Africa with strong prevalence of private business and self-employment with an established financial sector, fast-growing microfinance activity and strong digital uptake;
- Rwanda has high women’s labor force participation (84%) and a supportive public sector, a national financial inclusion strategy and investment climate which offers strong opportunities for digitization;
- Senegal is a majority Muslim country that has a relatively high degree of gender equality in early-stage entrepreneurship, with a high share of female entrepreneurship and strong remittances which could serve as a source of funding for women business owners; and
- Uganda is an attractive market for business investment given its stable economy, large market, and the size of its labor force with a financial inclusion strategy that is generally supportive of women’s economic activities.
The mapping exercise was successful in identifying countries in the region that are more favorable to women’s economic inclusion and empowerment and serves as a useful tool for understanding country contexts in the financial sector in other regions throughout the world.
Women in Sub-Saharan Africa face universal constraints as entrepreneurs and EIB’s AWRI program will now support organizations that can increase women’s financial inclusion by developing quality programs involving access to finance, training and other non-financial services to support woman entrepreneurs’ growth.
[1] The Global Findex is a publicly available data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments and manage risk that is published every three years by the World Bank. Data is collected in partnership with over 140 economies through nationally representative surveys.
Compassionate Leadership for Entrepreneurs Series: Leading with the Heart
ConsumerCentriX, in partnership with Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited (or Stanbic Bank), kicked off the first webinar in its Compassionate Leadership for Entrepreneurs Series on November 4th, 2021, under the theme “Leading with Heart: Adapting to a New Normal in a Tough Business Environment.” The webinar explored how the bank and other key businesses in the market adapted to the current business climate given the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of using compassionate leadership as a business strategy.
The webinar was moderated by Maurice Mugisha, a Ugandan journalist and Managing Director of Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, and the panel included Emma Mugisha, Executive Director and Head of Business Banking at Stanbic Bank, Dr. Peter Kimbowa, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Thadeus Musoke Nagenda, Ag. Chairman of Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA), and Isaac Nsereko, Managing Director of RI Distributors Ltd.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda has led to waves of lockdowns and business closures, making it impossible for businesses to continue day-to-day operations as usual. The disruptions have heavily affected decision-making, employee management, and the bottom line for businesses. All of the panellists agreed that leading with compassion during these extraordinary times has been essential. For them, this has meant listening to their employees and the concerns of their customer base, challenging the assumptions behind their convictions, and being ready to adapt to a constantly changing environment.
A few key themes emerged from the discussion:
Work together. As business leaders, it’s important to share best practices and ask others to join in utilizing compassionate leadership. If more business leaders share their knowledge on how to listen to employees and customers, challenge assumptions, and adapt quickly in a changing environment then institutions will improve, and the economy will be strengthened. In the case of KACITA, the largest trader block in Kampala, Mr. Nagenda explained that most of the shopping malls its businesses operate out of were closed during the lockdowns. KACITA approached the government and advocated for the reopening of arcades so that its business owners could continue doing business and making a living. Due to the shutdowns, the company also asked for a moratorium on rent for the business owners. Mr. Nagenda that “most of the [arcade] landlords are also traders and part of KACITA” and they began working together to find solutions.
Adapting to change is imperative. Leaders should approach challenges as opportunities to shift their ways of working. The pandemic forced many sectors to embrace change through digitization, whether that included investing in ways for their staff to work from home or making loans available to more customers through mobile banking. In the case of Stanbic Bank, Mrs. Mugisha mentioned adjusting working hours to better fit customer and employee needs and implementing changes so staff could work from home comfortably. As the pandemic dragged on, more customers began to default on their loan payments and the bank “put in place repayment extensions to relieve the customers who were affected by the pandemic,” said Mrs. Mugisha. Focusing on the mission of the business instead of the structure allows businesses to adapt to a new normal.
Trust is essential. The most valuable component of an institution is its people. A leader must build and maintain trust with employees in order to make compassionate leadership sustainable. When suppliers cut off credit lines, RI Distributors, one of the largest logistics trading companies in Uganda, focused on preserving the business through adapting their supply chain lines and establishing trust with their truck drivers by launching a number of key safety measures. First, they divested in long-term projects and focused on ramping up COVID-19 testing stations for their truck drivers. The business also hired more drivers so to ensure adherence to safer social distancing policies through a more flexible driver rotation schedule. Mr. Nsereko said; “I think it’s compassionate leadership that knows the business will [have the opportunity to focus on making] money in the future and chooses to look after their people now, in a sustainable way, in order to stay in business.”
Continue to Innovate. As institutions and leaders’ transition, make adjustments and recover from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to remain curious and willing to adapt. Continued disruption can make it really difficult to make a concrete plan for the future, but it can lead a company to develop better practices. NSSF, the largest social security fund in Uganda, launched a leadership ‘Think Box’ in order to continue to innovate and tackle the biggest challenges, particularly how to avoid layoffs and keep employees fulfilled while working from home. Dr. Kimbowa is proud of the results of these efforts – NSFF largely retained its staff, and reminds others that “firing people during hard times is in itself an admission of failed imagination [for leadership].” Continue to assess your beliefs and processes and make sure not to revert back to ineffective ways of working.
Compassionate leadership is essential in building resilient companies that survive in the face of adversity. The health and wellbeing of employees and clients should continue to be a priority for leaders in order to build a stronger and brighter future. Join us for the next instalment of the series that is planned for the first quarter of 2022.
ConsumerCentriX launches Compassionate Leadership for Entrepreneurs to support wellbeing of small business owners
ConsumerCentriX is launching Compassionate Leadership for Entrepreneurs to support small business owners as they navigate uncertain times. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disorienting effect on global health, economic activity, and our daily lives both professionally and personally. Business owners and entrepreneurs have been among those most affected by COVID-19 as lockdowns and border closures made it nearly impossible for them to continue their day-to-day operations. As small business owners work to recover from the effects of the pandemic, personal wellbeing should be a priority, as it affects decision-making, employee management, and ultimately a business’ bottom line.
Compassionate Leadership for Entrepreneurs will feature a series of informative blogs, webinars, and a local radio show that explore tools and tips for business owners to positively impact their wellbeing. The initiative draws on the concept of compassionate leadership, which is defined as interacting as a leader in ways that exhibit compassion for oneself and in relationship to others as well as acting intentionally to create positive impact in the world as a whole.[1] The first of three webinars in the Compassionate Leadership Public Engagement Series launches on November 4th, 2021 in partnership with Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited. In Rwanda, the Building Back Healthier Series launched with a local radio show held October 25. Two additional webinars are scheduled to take place this fall, the next in mid-November.
In tough business environments, leading with compassion takes courage and is rewarded with resilience. Compassionate Leadership for Entrepreneurs will take a deep dive into the positive impact of compassionate leadership and the importance of focusing on personal wellbeing. Stay tuned as we share strategies and tools to help entrepreneurs foster better work environments, build better business outcomes, and lead with compassion.
[1] Center for Compassionate Leadership. July 9, 2019. “What is Compassionate Leadership?”
Gender-Intelligent Fintech Design
Gender-Intelligent Fintech Design
In collaboration with the Financial Alliance for Women, ConsumerCentriX conducted a research study “How Fintechs Can Capture The Female Economy.” The research team interviewed 31 fintechs, 10 investors and 15 industry stakeholders across the world. The report quantifies the opportunity cost of not taking a gender-intelligent approach and shares solutions that fintechs can use to increase women’s conversion rates at each stage of the sales funnel.
Click here to access the full report: Fintech-Research-II
Strategies that can help save your business and plan for the unexpected
A version of this article was originally posted on the Covid-19 Business Info Hub
Due to the pandemic, many businesses have experienced new and significant operational challenges such as inadequate cash flow, decreased demand, and supply chain disruptions resulting from lockdown restrictions. According to the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC), 50% of businesses in Uganda had to close operations at least temporarily for an average of over three months. These challenges were unprecedented and have made it clear how disruptive a crisis can be. Most companies were unprepared and as a result, some have closed operations permanently. Others have struggled to get back on their feet.
Here is where a business continuity plan can be a critical tool enabling businesses not only to survive but potentially to thrive even during a crisis. A business continuity plan is a document that outlines how a business will continue operating during an unplanned disruption. It guides businesses on how to reassign resources and communicate effectively internally and externally, all key components to maintain operations even during challenging times.
Because developing a business continuity plan may be a new concept for small business owners, in September, the COVID-19 Business Information Hub focused on guiding entrepreneurs in their development. We had insightful discussions with stakeholders and businesses who implemented a variety of business continuity strategies during the pandemic, and here is what we learnt:
Conducting a risk assessment: The first thing that every business owner should do is assess the risk and vulnerability of their business. This can be easily done using a tool that the International Labor Organization (ILO) provides free of charge. The ILO also outlines a six-step process to develop the business continuity plan with a key focus on four main elements (People, Process, Profits, and Partnerships). We spoke with John Kakungulu Walugembe of Federation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises-Uganda (FSME), who explained in detail what the 4Ps stand for and how businesses can use the six-step plan to their advantage. (click here to access the special interview with John Walugumbe).
Determining critical activities: Business owners need to define critical activities needed to continue to operate during a crisis. Businesses should immediately identify actions to take based on the risk exposure. Lilian Katiso of Mau and More, a company that sells potted plants, recognized that watering plants was critical to mitigate the risk of losing her inventory due to withering. The business decided to purchase a motorcycle to facilitate one staff to do the watering during the lockdown.
Establishing an internal communication plan: A communication plan outlines how teams and employees may best communicate with each other to support the company’s objectives. It helps increase communication frequency and promotes the dissemination of information about what is happening within the company and the employees. Toddler’s Gold implemented a communications plan including regular meetings to discuss business targets and understand staff welfare. As a result, their sales grew during the lockdown.
Embracing technology and digital platforms: Technology helps to support business operations during challenging times. When regular work arrangements were disrupted, and we saw a shift to remote work, Rajab Mukasa, Director at Pique Nique Ltd, adopted mobile money and the use of agents to complete his banking activities. It allowed the company to order by phone and pay suppliers remotely instead of using cash.
The disruptions caused by COVID-19 have set a new preparedness benchmark and demonstrated that small businesses need to continuously adapt and evolve their strategies to better prepare for future risks. Joseph Walusimbi a national coach and trainer with the International Trade Center (ITC), an agency of the United Nations, encourages entrepreneurs to embrace business continuity plans to prepare for uncertainty. He also highlighted the potential need for external financing to implement specific activities. Businesses should seek financing options focusing on recovery, innovation, adaptation and sustainability, such as the Economic Enterprise Restart Fund available at Stanbic Bank Uganda or credit guarantee schemes that shift risk from the private to the public sector.