Two months into the Jamlab Accelerator Programme, we spoke to some of the teams about what the programme has helped them learn about their businesses.
CDIAL AI:
The theory classes on innovation and entrepreneurship have helped articulate the problem we seek to address as an organisation and the right questions to ask in a bid to understand the market better. It has enabled us to understand what our hypothesis is, as this drives the basis for our mission and vision as an organisation. Using different tools such as the Business Lean Canvas, MOST (mission, objectives, strategy and tactics) and PESTEL (politics, economy, social, technology, and legal) framework, has also helped sharpen our business analysis and take into consideration the internal and external factors that will help put the business plan into a much better perspective.
The PESTEL framework helps us recognise and put measures into place when dealing with external factors such as politics and the economy. The MOST framework gives us a more articulate insight into what our mission is, how objective we should be and the necessary strategies and tactics put in place. In actuality, the MOST framework helps put the PESTEL analysis into a broader and clearer perspective. The Business Lean Canvas serves as a means of knowing when to go back to the drawing board and alter all aspects of our organisation when necessary as clarity sets in during the course of the programme.
In the course of the classes, we have been able to understand how a stakeholder map clarifies the ‘whos’ in our business structure. This means asking the right questions about;
- Who will be impacted by the project
- Who will be responsible and held accountable for the project
- Who will have decision authority on the project?
- Who can support/obstruct the project?
- Who has been involved in this type of project in the past?
In determining the commercial viability of our business structure, we have effectively learned how to use a cost structure analysis and revenue stream to help guide our business models, price analysis, and income. In addition, we have been able to determine strategic partners within and outside our locality that can help position our technology solutions and services on the global map, reaching a wider target audience, and having a lasting impact.
Grace Idowu is a partnership & policy associate at CDIAL.
AgriGhanaOnline.com:
Over the past few months, the Jamlab Accelerator Programme has been instrumental in shaping my media start-up, agrighanaonline.com, and propelling my team and I towards a mission of becoming a leading force in agricultural news and information. The prospect of receiving valuable mentorship and guidance from industry experts was too good to pass up.
The experience thus far has provided me with invaluable insights and learnings. The mission, vision, objectives, and strategies have been refined. Through workshops, expert guidance, one-on-one coaching sessions, and networking opportunities, my team and I have gained a deeper understanding of the organisation’s value proposition and the unique role agrighanaonline.com plays in the agricultural sector.
The research sessions also helped to identify some statistics backing the lack of global media promotion for the agricultural sector which often results in insufficient recognition of its importance, environmental impact, and economic contributions. Thanks to the programme, agrighanaonline.com has a solid business plan with refined strategies to effectively tackle the challenge identified.
As the programme draws to a close, we hope to tell of more successes.
Linda Godji-Incoom is the founder of Agri Ghana Online.
The Greenpreneurs:
My interest came from the belief that continuous education is the key engine of human growth even in the face of technology takeover. Jamlab is a typical example of “going from the known to the unknown” because each session has a way of diving deep into things I have either heard of or learned from elsewhere, bringing clarity to things I only have a fair knowledge about.
The journey has beat my expectations of coming in with a mindset and expectation of media training to an all-encompassing business leadership training. Some of the sessions that resonate with me include market intelligence, stakeholder mapping and engagement to mention a few.
First, is the fact that our documentation style can be better, this includes proposals for partnership, sponsorship and invitation letters. This wake-up call started with the assignment on Lean Canvas development by all the participants because it gave us shorter, smarter and more convincing ways of presenting our unique value proposition to various stakeholders in the climate sustainability and green economy market segment.
We are currently developing a pitch deck, which will now become our sales weapon moving forward. We now have a better understanding of where to meet our target media buyers and how best to sell to them. This has helped me acquire a deeper interest in the green economy as a climate and sustainability journalist, where there are a handful of journalists in this important subject matter of addressing the climate crisis, especially in the Global South.
The Jamlab experience has further inspired my ongoing Instagram live series, as it has helped shape my creativity and research skills. The tasks in these live discussions required handling climate and green economy topics with critical stakeholders such as green investors, green advocates and sustainable development goal promoters, and brands in the circular economy value chain which fostered the development of my content creation skills. In the Instagram live series, guests are always excited to see a climate and green economy exclusive platform that addresses the issues of the knowledge gap that exists among citizens who make up end users for manufacturers across market segments.
With all the knowledge garnered, we are optimistic of forging the right partnership and collaboration to bring to bear a unique media mix of radio, TV and online content exclusively dedicated to climate action and the green economy coming out of Africa.
Christopher Nwaogboh is the founder of The Greenpreneurs.
The Jamlab Accelerator is a six-month hothouse programme for journalism and media innovators. It is based at Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct in the heart of Johannesburg.
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