By Ibrahim Adam Ghalib

I used to hear that the Somalis are oral society. Now I realized that this is true. After the disintegration of the central government of Somalia the people started to sell something without identifying the market. This is not confined to the people in the country alone but even the Diaspora that returned to the country also started to do business of their own.  

They brought machinery to set up small factors by word of mouth without assessing the consumer needs. They all proceeded blindly with no assurance that the course they have chosen is the correct one. Once is not enough. The environment is fast paced now and ever changing. That means the market and its needs are changing too.

The marketing and examination of other trends have been overlooked when the businesses were being planned. Because of no realistic marketing approach most of these businesses closed its doors such as desalination plants, nail factories and the best dreams remained unrealized. Gone are the days when the people were content to set lofty goals, without proper assessment of consumer needs. Time has changed, competition has also grown fiercer and our people still are not ready to learn and know what the consumer want and how to provide it.

Marketing is often confused with selling. Selling is offering something in exchange for money. I have something that I want you to buy. The emphasis is on the seller and the object being offered and in marketing the emphasis is clearly on the consumer. It is a management process directed at satisfying customer needs and wants through an exchange process. Effective marketing is to achieve its objectives and produce greater consumer satisfaction, increased consumer participation, better attraction of resources and greater efficiency of exerting total control and coordination of program development and delivery. Decisions made arbitrarily outside the frame work of marketing will be in effective, unnecessarily costly or both.

Many people get bankrupt and out of business because of no plan showing that there is a need for their products and that they have an efficient strategy for producing, delivery and promoting their products and that is why they lost and not got their money.

When starting business one should put in his mind that the storing facilities are poor, the service delivery is in adequate and the people are not polite and honest to attract their customers. People run their businesses on the basis of trial and error. The other pitfall that has been developed over the years, they are not keen to change attitude and acquire new skills and expertise to enhance their business capability. Profit is not the main aim in business but the priority is to deliver the best products with cheaper and competitive price.

The first step to start business is to develop a realistic goal proceeding with market research, focusing on specifics. Start by studying the market before you bring any machinery or design an office or shop. Start by thinking small rather than trying to present your products to the entire country. Consider the trends and opportunities. Try to hire skilled manpower [avoid hiring poor staff on tribal connections] with the best equipment possible. You should not ignore or underestimate that there are many other unfavorable forces to look into like government regulations, strong competition, population density and other hostile political forces that will affect your ability to enter the market or deliver a product and can generate bad outcomes. If you decide to enter the market, you should be in the centre of your business.

Evaluation should be built into your business at the beginning, the middle and the end. This serve to ascertain whether the consumer is well served and to determine whether the products are meeting its marketing objectives. You need also to evaluate the geographical areas that your service will cover,   the methods through which you will deliver and means by which you will let the consumer know your products. Keep in mind also that there is no proper media and communication facility that reach or connect the entire country.

My aim here is not to put you off but I want to share my experiences with you specially the Diaspora who know very little about the current strengths and weaknesses of their country in order not to loose their hard won capital. It is important to proceed methodically. A good operational plan should drive decisions on how best to enter the market and manage your business in future.

By Ibrahim Adam Ghalib

Borama, Awdal, Somaliland