Edwin H. Dande, Managing Partner & CEO at Cytonn Investments, today was a guest speaker at the GrowthAfrica Business Accelerator Cohort 13 first workshop. In attendance were some of the most recognizable entrepreneurs in Kenya, among them, Jonathan Bamber and Louise Labuschagne, Co-Founders - Burton and Bamber (an agro-processing company specializing in the preservation of fruit and other crops), and TerryAnne Chebet, Founder - Keyara Organics Kenya.
Edwin H. Dande, Cytonn Investments Managing Partner & CEO, shares his entrepreneurship journey with GrowthAfrica Cohort 13 entrepreneurs.
The 3-day workshop dubbed ‘Underlying Needs: A mile in your customers’ shoes’, covered Value Proposition, Customer Discovery and Segmentation. In his remarks, Edwin noted that while starting out, it is important to question the relevance of your product in the market, as this sets the base of identifying your customer segment, one’s niche in the market and the best execution strategy.
Drawing most of his entrepreneurial experience from having worked at Britam and now the Managing Partner & CEO at Cytonn Investments, Edwin stated that as much as success is glamorized, a lot of hard work goes into defining your target customer, tailoring value proposition to meet the customer’s needs, and targeting the consumer through branding, positioning, and pricing.
Entrepreneurs at the GrowthAfrica cohort 13 first workshop.
“You have to know the customer, be able to articulate your business idea, get a team of people who get you going closer to your goals each day, and then execute,” noted Edwin at the workshop. “At Cytonn, we realized our customers wanted high yields, came together as a team of four and gave ourselves just one option; to succeed,” he added.
Edwin, while responding to questions from the entrepreneurs on how Cytonn has managed to stand out from other real estate firms said, “We have a competitive culture around people, real estate investors and developers under one roof, and work incredibly hard on our Cytonn Reports such as the weekly that speaks about Cytonn to clients without necessarily putting in advertisement costs.”
Attendees at the workshop networking.
“Execution is hard though it is encouraging to see companies like Cytonn succeed through an incredible work culture,” noted TerryAnne Chebet, Founder - Keyara Organics.
To support budding entrepreneurs, Edwin added that Cytonn annually hosts an Entrepreneurs Hub, an initiative by Cytonn Foundation that seeks to enhance entrepreneurs’ knowledge and capabilities on how to run and grow successful enterprises by taking them through a 12-week training & mentorship programme.
Cytonn eHub encompasses all pillars of the Foundation namely: Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, and Training & Mentorship.
