Nothing new under the sun

Arthur Marara

There is nothing new under the sun. These are the immortal words of one of Israel’s wisest kings, Solomon. 

This is a very rich statement. 

The world has witnessed some very interesting innovations, but come to look at these things, these innovations do not amount to any basic change in the world. 

The first cars were electric, and a century later, the conversation is, “let us go back to electric cars.” 

I speak a lot on entrepreneurship. I am often asked, “how can I start a business”. The solution is simple, copy. 

You heard me, copy! 

Let us make this practical and I want to show you the opportunities for Zimbabwe. What you cannot see in Zimbabwe but see in other countries is the opportunity for innovation.  

The developmental gap between Zimbabwe and the rest of the world is the business opportunity for you and I. How do we bridge this gap? That is where the money is.

“Please call me back”

Sounds familiar? It does for many people and at one point in time was rampantly abused in Zimbabwe. 

Mr Kenneth Nkosana Makate, a former employee of Vodacom (Pty) Limited (Vodacom) —  during 2000 was employed by Vodacom as a trainee accountant.  

In November 2000 he was involved in a long distance relationship with a student who later became his wife.  

They experienced communication difficulties, owing mainly to the fact that his girlfriend could not afford to buy airtime for purposes of making telephone calls to him.  As a result the applicant was the one who initiated their telephone calls.

Both of them were familiar with the practice in terms of which cellphone user with low airtime would dial the number of another cellphone and allow the cellphone to ring twice before cancelling the call.  But for the message to be conveyed, the one who initiated the call had to have some airtime and therefore the practice did not resolve the couple’s communication difficulty.

Meanwhile Makate came up with an idea in terms of which the cellphone user who has no airtime would be able to send the request to the other cellphone user who has airtime to call the former.  

The idea was reduced to writing and he consulted his superior and mentor at Vodacom for advice on how he could sell it to any of the cellphone service providers, including Vodacom.  His mentor, Mr Lazarus Muchenje advised him to speak to the Director of Product Development and Management, Mr Philip Geissler.

Makate and Mr Geissler negotiated and agreed that Vodacom would use his idea to develop a new product which would be put on trial for commercial viability.  

If the product was successful then he would be paid a share in the revenue generated by it.  

Although Makate had indicated that he wanted 15 percent of the revenue, the parties deferred their negotiations on the amount to be paid to the applicant for a later date.  However, they agreed that in the event of them failing to agree on the amount, Vodacom’s chief executive officer (CEO) would determine the amount.

Based on Makate’s idea Vodacom developed a new product which was called, “Please Call Me”.  This product enabled a cellphone user with no airtime to send a message to the other cellphone user, asking her to call him.  

The new product elicited excitement at Vodacom and the inventor of the idea on which it was built was praised for his innovative thinking.  Vodacom’s internal newsletter described the applicant’s idea in these terms: 

“Vodacom has launched a new product called ‘Call Me’, thanks to Kenneth Makate from our finance department.  Kenneth suggested the service to the product development team, which immediately took up the idea.  ‘Call Me’ is a world first and allows Vodago prepaid users to send a free text message to other Vodacom customers requesting that they call them back.  The main aim of this product is to allow Vodacom users who do not have balances on their accounts to keep in touch with their families and loved ones.”

Interestingly, Makate is yet to be paid for his innovation, but Vodacom has made billions from this facility. In June 2010, Telecel introduced “Call me Back”. All the major networks in Zimbabwe also introduced this facility, and has contributed significantly to the call revenues. 

Is there anything new under the sun? The majority of the things we call innovation have been copied somewhere and modified. 

There is nothing new under the sun

Let us take this statement a bit deeper, and exemplify it with some examples that you may know. Let us consider a few examples below;

Radio is not new – before Star FM there were several stations, and some of the guys used to work there. The concept of radio was started long ago by Marconi in Italy, who had to be categorised as mentally ill by postulating that voice can be sent without wires. Fast forward decades, there are millions of radio stations around the world. Now you can stream all Zimpapers radio stations on the internet. Geography is now even immaterial. You copy and improve. 

Television is not new, but it has now gone digital. I was on ZTN for the first time in August 2021; amazing digital studios. It did not invent social media broadcasting, it simply took what was there, and added its uniqueness, and it has the leading picture quality in Zimbabwe. You can see the picture. Now, ZTN will be broadcasting via satellite, this again is not new. Decades earlier this service was available. Copy and improve. No one has a patent on this. 

Delivery services that started or heightened during Covid-19 in Zimbabwe are not new. They have been in existence since time immemorial in the first world. 

Online shopping is not new — this has already been happening. Amazon Prime is a favourite to many especially with same day delivery facility.

Have you ever heard of MPESA?

You may be aware of this if you read or have travelled a bit. MPESA was started in 2007 by Vodafone. MPESA is a an abbreviation; M — mobile — Pesa (Swahili for money). In short, MPESA stands for mobile money. 

M-Pesa allows users to deposit, withdraw, transfer money, pay for goods and services (Lipa na M-Pesa), access credit and savings, all with a mobile device. Targeting the unbanked. This already gives you a clue as to the direction this is taking. 

Mobile money transfers platforms are not new. 

On September 29, 2011 Ecocash was founded. It has grown to an extent that it became a form of a “currency”. You cannot with certainty argue that this mobile money transfer platform was a first in Africa, it was widespread in other parts of Africa, but when it was unveiled in Zimbabwe it was a game changer. 

Someone knew how to play the game, and dominated the market to the extent that billions of dollars have been transacted through this platform in Zimbabwe. Copy and improve. 

Don’t think too much, copy

What is my submission, don’t think too much, copy? But, what should you copy;

Copy what works — there are so many of these things

Copy and improve 

Exposure your mind and copy — I will touch on the priority of this as well. 

Pick the best of what is already there, and what has been developed, and see how you can build on that, and add on your unique touch to it. 

You do not need to be the smartest person in the word, you just need to be smart enough to realise that there are smart ideas out there that you can build on. 

Study the smartest people in the world, and study their works and develop your inspiration and uniqueness. It is that simple. 

We are living and operating in the information age, there is so much information out there that can help you develop your products and services. 

Logan Green and Lyft

Do you know Logan Green? In case you didn’t know him, he has an interesting story. I read a post on WhatsApp which shared his story, and couldn’t help reading a bit on him, and also sharing with you this story. 

A few years ago, Logan Green an unemployed American University graduate was depressed as everything wasn’t going well for him. A University classmate from Zimbabwe invited him to Zimbabwe to take out some stress.  

He arrived in Zimbabwe and was staying with the friend’s family in the high density suburb of Glen Norah. One day, him and his friend decided to go into town. The friend told him they had to take “malifts”. He was surprised what “malift”were. 

The moment the friend explained what “malift” were, Logan Green decided to go back to America.  When he got to America he started educating the American community about “malift”. From his Facebook page he started connecting car owners with passengers going into different locations.  

Later on he registered the company ZimRide. He registered a ride sharing service called Lyft, the name he got from Glen Norah. In 2019 Lyft got listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange and on its first day of listing made 2,8 billion.  In  2020 their sales were over 2 billion.  An idea from Glen Norah, data and a Facebook account now worth over 24 billion. 

The point I want us look at this point is that someone studied a model, and decided to copy it, and to digitise and commercialise it. Copy and improve that is the encouragement. 

Don’t reinvent the wheel

I trust that you are aware of this statement and have used it several times. The spirit of this idiom is for you not to repeat what is already there. There is so much ground that has been covered. 

Let me be blunt for a moment, and give you some basic examples. The anatomy of a chicken has not changed, chicken remains chicken, with technological advancements, that is when you get to see some that are slightly bigger in terms of weight. 

Consider this, there has been an increase in the number of business that are selling chickens. They are selling the same thing; chicken, but what is different is the flavour. People buy the flavour and the experience that comes with it. 

What flavour are you bringing to the market. There is nothing new about sending money from one part of the world, Western Union has been running this facility since time immemorial, and look at the number of players who have joined this, they are too many to count. 

What are they bringing, they are simply bringing a flavour to the market? #Copy and improve. 

You want to start your new project and you do not know how to do it? The answer is simple, go shopping.  Look at what others are doing in your chosen line of business, and use that as an inspiration. 

It should be very difficult to fail in this digital age. Have you noticed that almost every mobile communications company is offering some form of insurance service, either underwritten by a bigger player or by one of their companies. Insurance has always been there but these guys have simply decided to ride on their numbers, and take advantage of the bigger voice that they have by virtue of controlling a very important instrument in business, communication. 

Your success as a business leader is determined by your ability to;

1. Develop products that answer the needs of consumers or create new demand for them.

2. Continuously improve on their core products and make incremental innovation their second nature.

3. Redefine the competition by taking existing products to new channels or markets.

Do not reinvent the wheel, think of ways you can realign it rather. 

Do not ignore competition

There is talk about not giving attention to competition. You see, when you have identified who your real competition is, you may need to also be on the lookout as to what makes them actually tick. 

Sometimes your competition is thriving on your shortcomings, you may need to understand this and find ways of plugging this loophole otherwise you may wake up out of business. Solomon says keep your friends closer, and your enemies closer. 

Look at your competitors. Tesla has been very consistent with electric cars. Interestingly, almost all the major vehicle brands in the world have developed their electric vehicle models. 

They have seen the trend of a green future, and the worst that you can do is to try to negotiate with change. You will not win it. Copy what is working and double it. 

If you are running a small business, the following questions may also assist in developing your business inspired by your competition;

 Who are they targeting? (Remember the STP model)

What are their prices? (sometimes certain business thrives on their pricing model) 

What’s their messaging? (people love stories. They best way to sell is to tell stories.) 

What problems do they solve? (people come for solutions, but you will hit the jackpot if you develop disruptive solutions that are cheaper, faster and better) 

How do they solve their problems?

How do they deliver their promise? (Clients respect businesses that honour their promise. Your brand has to deliver what it promises) 

What upsells do they include?

What type of clients do they go after?

Innovation is copying on steroids

Perhaps this is one of things that needs to be constantly stressed to business leaders. Do not fear change, embrace it. The world we live in is dynamic, and is coming up with solutions to some common problems faster, better and cheaper. The majority of things we are calling innovation is copying on steroids. It’s adopting solutions that have been adopted elsewhere in the world, and customising it for the Zimbabwean market. 

Automated Cashiers

I just want to illustrate the point in one example. This example is well known by people in first world countries. One day, I walked into Walmart with my uncle Petros Kativhu  as we wanted to do some shopping in Houston. I saw something that really sent me into some serious thinking into how we are doing our career guidance. 

Walmart is reducing the number of cashiers, and is replacing them with self-service machines. You walk into the shop and do your grocery. When you are done, you go to a counter and you use the barcodes on the products to scan the products in order to get to your total purchase. 

During the process the computer will be selling insurance products, among other products which you can purchase immediately. You can forgo the option and proceed with the transaction. There are various options for payment, you can use cash (and change will be given if any), or your credit card. 

Now, you do not even need to drive to a WalMart, as you can just order online and your groceries will be delivered home . This is now happening in Zimbabwe with some major retail shopping outlets. What is the future of someone right now sitting on that counter, saying they are the fastest cashier in the shop. The question soon will not be how fast you are at serving customers on the counter, but whether or not it’s actually necessary to have you on the counter. 

One day, when you see supermarkets saying self-service, let us not think that it’s innovation. It is copying that has been successfully done, and this includes customisation of the solution. 

iPod was developed from a Walkman.

 WhatsApp — developed from text messages, and desire to seeing statuses real time. You can do so much more on WhatsApp. Skype was offering video calls facility before WhatsApp. Viber was doing video before WhatsApp.

Eastgate Mall design was inspired by an Anthill 

Aeroplane manoeuvres were delivered from birds  hence the shape of the front. The Beluga, one of Airbus’s work horse was inspired by a fish the “beluga”. 

Rockets to space were developed from missiles — Saturn V rocket. In September 1945, the US government brought the German rocket technologist Wernher von Braun and about 1 600 German rocket engineers and technicians to the United States for Operation Paperclip, a programme authorised by President Truman. Through the work of von Braun, humanity was able to land on the moon surface. This same approach has been used since time immemorial where talent is head-hunted in order to benefit from competitor’s experiences. 

Existing products globally

Drive thrus have always been there for food in South Africa not to mention the other parts of the world. You may actually be wondering why some of our local brands had not put drive thrus for their food products. 

Elsewhere in the world,  — there are drive thrus for pharmaceuticals 

Deliveries for pharmacies (these are now available in Zimbabwe as well) 

Drive thru for banks 

GAS — you just drop an empty cylinder and get filled one 

FUEL STATIONS — you put your own fuel 

The majority of the things that we are doing manually, have been automated elsewhere in the world. I was watching a documentary on the World’s biggest car wash in Germany, and the amount of automation. 

Graves in other parts of the world are being dug by one person who operates an excavator. No huge salary bills, machines only. There are so many examples for this. Locally, Lafarge is moving towards 3D printed houses, which is going to change the way homes are built. 

Expose your mind

What you cannot see in Zimbabwe is your opportunity to create. Do not complain about what you cannot see in Zimbabwe. Think of ways you can bring it to Zimbabwe, and make money. One of the things you need to invest in for your growth is exposure. 

Expose your mind to bigger and better ideas. Travel around the world when the conditions permit and see what others are doing. Watch documentaries in your field of interest and learn trends that you can adopt for your business. 

Arthur Marara is a corporate law attorney, keynote speaker, corporate and personal branding speaker commanding the stage with his delightful humor, raw energy, and wealth of life experiences. He is a financial wellness expert and is passionate about addressing the issues of wellness, strategy and personal and professional development. Arthur is the author of “Toys for Adults” a thought provoking book on entrepreneurship, and “No one is Coming” a book that seeks to equip leaders to take charge. Send your feedback to [email protected] or visit his website www.arthurmarara.com or contact him on +263772467255 for bookings.