In Africa, we generally have a preconceived idea of what a workplace should be like depending on what kind of business we are involved in.  Businesses that have to do with buying and selling, which is what mostly obtains in Africa are expected therefore to have a particular form and this preconceived notion is usually cemented on our minds that it looks odd if any other thing obtains. In fact, no matter the business one is involved in, one has to sell the products of such business and for the sake of this piece, the workplace will be defined as that space where the buying and selling of such products take place. There are however, limitations of this “workplace” which at a particular stage in the life of the business sets a profit boundary for the business. If the sole of the business is to make profit and more profit, then we should consider the options we have at eradicating these limitations and crossing the profit boundaries that it might have set for our businesses.

A friend of mine who happened to be a “business planner” and economist in one of his cases got stuck in trying to increase the proposed profit margin of this campus business that he was dealing with. The business was to be located a few metres from campus gate. He tried increasing the stock budget for the month but  found out that the profit he was going to get would not increase. He tried changing the location of the business and he still ended up with the same figures, he even tried changing his method of advertising and pumping more money into the advertising budget, but he still ended up with the same figures. You are probably trying to think of how realistic this is. Let me give you the clue. The demand for the business in that area was constant. There was no amount of advertisement he did in that area, he was still going to reach the same estimated number of people who needed the service the business was providing. The frustrating part was this service being provided by the business was really needed in some other areas, but he couldn’t reach these other areas as they were far away to the location of the business.

When business gets to a level where it has maximized its potential and profit growth is beginning to stagnate, not necessarily go down, the business has reached the OVERFLOW. Profit can no longer increase. The “WORKPLACE” has been contained. Usually, business men solve that problem in this part of the country by establishing another branch, usually nicknamed “our other shop”. That location has limited the growth in profit that is possible for that business. This kind of situation is always characterized by a spill over, which is also characteristic of any overflow. This spill over customers usually resort to a more convenient location (another business) that has not reached the overflow.
The other side of this limitation is usually characterized by shades of emptiness. The service being provided is usually needed by a certain category of people that are not either convenient with the location of the business or usually far away. The business owner ends up experiencing a low turnout in the profit growth. He ends up not selling as much and then the business starts to dwindle. No business is ever stagnant for a long while, It’s either growing or dying.

In the developed world, they have been past this stage a couple of decades ago, and it’s time for African business men to cross that boundary. The new workplace is the internet. Quoting Bill Gates’  Business At The Speed Of Thought, about 30% of world sales were made online as at 2001 and trust me that figure has increased. Companies worldwide have moved to the internet. The physical ‘WORKPLACE’  is now the virtual workplace. The amazing thing about the internet is that there are categories. You can locate your customers with a pattern. People that think music all go to one place on the internet. People that think fashion and clothes all go to the same place, people that think politics all go to the same place. For every characteristic that your customer possesses, there is a place to find him/her. If you are a business man and you want to maximize the potential that your business has, the place to start is the internet. In fact, a lot of businesses are at the moment located online, without a physical location.

In the next 10 years, and I’m talking about 2023, 80% of money exchanging hands in the world would be made online.

The internet is the new country to be a citizen of. If you think you want to do business with the 21st century pace, The internet should in fact be your number one priority. I would be sharing with us in the next blog, how to get on the train. You probably have an idea of what the internet looks like if you’re reading this and much more than tweeting chatting and reading news, the internet offers you so much more. . .

CEO Kuuzar.com