The 1st
Tujuane Mixer, dubbed
'The Road from Employee to Employer', was held in Nairobi on the evening of Friday 21 November 2008, at Anhui Restaurant, Loita house. To say the event was great does not even begin to explain how fantastic it was. The event began at around 6.30pm. The networking mood was caught right from the reception with every guest having a name tag with their hobby labeled on.
There was plenty of time to network as more guest streamed into the Chinese restaurant. The place was filled with all sort of professionals and entrepreneurs; academicians, bankers, IT techs, insurers and even Bloggers! Each one of them pitching for their own products or services, and trying to network with as many people as possible. And the food was great (though mine came in a little late).
The event was opened with an introduction from Liko Makatiani,
Nairobist.com Founder and Strategy Director, currently based in Boston USA. From the brief introduction he gave I picked that Nairobist was founded in July 2005 as an "information packaging" outfit that aims to gather online content and network Nairobians (and East African in the major towns of Dar es salaam and Kampala) through its different components that include Tujuane (the networking section), Nairobi Kilakitu (a Nairobi business directory) and the Stocks & Market section.
As guests waited for the key note speech to be delivered by
Dr. Mulengani Katwalo, the director of the I
nstitute for Strategy & Competitiveness (ISC) at the Strathmore Business School, each group/table was given an entrepreneurial question to discuss and come up with points that were to be presented later on after the key note speech. My group deliberated on when do one (as an employee) know that its time to quit and move to your own business. These discussions proved to be the biggest ice breaker, as they got guest to talk more freely.
By the time Dr. Katwalo was being introduced to make his presentation every one in the restaurant was already thinking like an entrepreneur. And he did not disappoint us either. He gave an eye opening and entertaining talk on six key pillars of entrepreneurship that local entrepreneurs need to learn in order to become the best. Bankelele has done
a great piece on the speech, so I would just point out the main points. The speaker opened the talk by mentioning that over 60% of new businesses fail in there first year of operation. To avoid this, local entrepreneurs should learn to embrace the following six pillars:
a) Skills/Training
- make sure you fill in the skill gaps that would enable you do your business professionally
- take short curses and read related books
- entrepreneurs should contribute more in driving the agenda to higher education has they understand what is needed in the field
b) Innovation
- get involved in research & development in order to get new ideas
- engage in the process of buying and selling knowledge
- copying from the best = bench making (economies like China grew on this, Tata too and Nyayo buses project failed for not doing it)
c) Culture
- local entrepreneur need to develop better legacies (it take a lot of effort to do this)
- They should also understand that customer service is not a favour. Its what attracts and retain customers
- Adopt a reading culture – most local entrepreneurs are ignorant even to the happenings in their own industries
d) neighborhood/market
- Know your market well it will help you know opportunities that exist beyond your business spheres
- See the greater market – don’t just concentrate in Nairobi/Kenya (30 million people), there is a bigger market (100 million people) in the greater East Africa and far much more in the greater Africa region.
- The perception we have of what we see or hear helps in expanding the horizon of our business
e) Competition vs. Cooperation
- the age of cut-throat competition is over (Cooperation + Healthy Competition = Coopetition)
- entrepreneurs should learn to cooperate with their competitors in order to grow their businesses and the larger industry
- knowledge exchange with competitors is good for your business
f) Working in linkages/networks/co-operations
- Entrepreneurs should network with related industry players - forums like Tujuane are doing a great job in achieving this
- Networks open new opportunities for your business and making working on deals easier.
The event ended with some guest winning 'early Christmas gifts, while others floated their questions to the chief speaker about the talk and asking if the Tujuane mixer could be made a monthly event. It was clear to all that we have been missing a lot. The doctor did not commit himself but promised to look into the honorable request. More networking went on as guest left the event at about 11pm.
I can’t wait for the next Tujuane Mixer.
22:30 
16:43 
Wahu Nameless has done Kenya proud by winning MTV Africa’s best female award in Nigeria. And that was no mean feat in a ceremony dominated by Nigerians who scooped 6 of the top 10 awards.
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