Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

A recent conversation with a relative sparked an interesting discussion about entrepreneurship and business strategy. He expressed his desire to start a business in our neighborhood, inspired by a local event rental service provider that seemed to be thriving. His intention was to replicate this business model, highlighting a common approach in today’s fast-paced business landscape of duplicating existing models and competing for market share as it is easy to get caught up that success requires duplicating existing business model.

In many African countries, the proliferation of similar businesses in controlled environments has created hostile competition, rather than encouraging collaboration and shared value. However, this approach can lead to a saturated market, decreased innovation, and a lack of meaningful connections between businesses and their communities, particularly among small business owners. Instead, entrepreneurs should focus on building collaborative ecosystems, fostering partnerships, sharing resources, and co-creating value. This approach enables businesses to create a more sustainable, resilient, and innovative environment that benefits all stakeholders.

A young entrepreneur’s idea to start a hire-purchase business for Tricycles presented me an opportunity to explore a collaborative approach. By conducting research on importation of spare-parts for these tricycles and selling them to existing riders in the community, he could create a solution that addresses a specific need, rather than simply replicating an existing business model where we have numerous Tricycles already on the road. This approach would foster a collaborative ecosystem, ensuring that the system becomes better and more valuable to all stakeholders.

Building collaborative ecosystems offers numerous essential benefits, including:

1. Enhanced resilience: By diversifying partnerships and revenue streams, businesses can reduce their dependence on any one customer, supplier, or market, making them more resilient to changes in the market.

2. Improved efficiency: Collaborative ecosystems can reduce waste and inefficiency by sharing resources, streamlining processes, and leveraging each other’s strengths.

3. Increased innovation: By sharing resources, expertise, and risk, businesses can accelerate innovation and develop new solutions that might not have been possible alone.

4. Stronger community ties: Collaborative ecosystems can foster deeper connections between businesses and their communities, leading to increased loyalty, trust, and social impact.

one typical example, I would like to cite is Impact Hub Accra, how they have created a collaborative workspace that bring together innovators, entrepreneurs, artists, and social impact organization having the opportunity to work in a conducive environment with shared resources to drive innovation and sustainability.

So, how can Startups build a collaborative ecosystem? Here are some strategies to get started:

1. Shift mindset, Prioritizing ecosystem building over individual competition.
2. Identify partners; look for businesses that share your values, target market, or expertise and research on the areas you can add value.
3. Develop a shared vision that enables you to collaborate and define the goals and objectives for the ecosystem.
4. Establish and understand the roles and responsibilities of the players in the ecosystem to avoid confusion.
5. Foster open communication with players in the ecosystem to share knowledge and best practices.

In conclusion, although there are challenges in embracing this new paradigm of building collaborative ecosystems, entrepreneurs and businesses can create a more sustainable, resilient, and innovative environment that benefits all and create a sustainable value and business growth.

Paul Nwachukwu is a Business and Sustainability Professional dedicated to helping startups align their solutions with sustainable impacts and drive positive change and can be reached via Email: Paulnwachukwu30@gmail.com