STORIES VS FACTS, WHAT COMES FIRST?

“Something we miss in East African entrepreneurship is how to tell the business story. How to sell the business from an emotional storytelling point of view. We tend to focus on facts and miss out on the human story element of it. That’s something that would be great to see in Kenya and East Africa at large.” Asif Noorani, CFA , Senior Investment Manager East Africa at Investisseurs & Partenaires - I&P

Focusing on facts is crucial and should never be ignored when talking about your business, but what about the human element of the business? Where is that story and why do we often miss highlighting that??

“We need to be better storytellers. If we don’t tell our stories, the hunter will. That’s the one thing I feel like foreign startups have been able to do better than us.” Herbert Thuo , CEO at Ansa Africa .?

As growth entrepreneurs, how do we tell our business stories better? How do we combine facts and the human element in one? Here is a storytelling framework worth considering;

1. Figure out your hero’s (AKA your customer) lifestyle: who benefits from your product or service? How does a day in their life look like??

Example: Kimani is a 10 year old boy who lives in Nakuru county. On a day-to-day basis Kimani will start his day with his dad and assist where he can with the aim to bring food to the table.

2. Describe the problem your hero is going through.

Example: Unlike his peers, Kimani misses out on the joys and benefits of school and interacting with peers simply because his family can’t afford school fees, uniform and all other needs that come with enrolling a child to school

3. Describe the journey of finding a solution: The action in your story, and what we need to do to get the hero to the solution.

Example: By enrolling to the Jenga community you get to learn more about boys and girls like Kimani. This crowdsourcing platform works to connect children in need of educational support to people who are willing and able to give their resources, clothes, and reading materials to the kids who need it most. This community allows well-wishers to contribute whatever they can to a greater cause. Educating tomorrow’s future!

4. Show impact: what has changed your customer’s life? If you haven’t built it out yet, share case studies of what has worked in the past

Example: Jenga community over the last 3 years has been able to comfortably keep 50+ children in school through paying for school fees and purchasing school materials such as stationery and uniform. The community has over 400 people based in Kenya and the number of well-wishers keeps growing.

5. Have a call to action: Here, have incremental asks, you can do this in the following ways;

-Champion your cause or project

-Invite others to become involved (follow us, share our posts…)

-Ask others to invest (donate to our cause, purchase a book to support education, donate resources and expertise etc.)

I’d like to invite you to join the Jenga community today. Our aim is to crowdsource funds for good, amongst ourselves so that we can invest in our future. We believe in transparency, every contribution made reflects on your personal dashboard and you can track where and how your contribution is being used. Let’s join hands and invest in the future, our future!

What else do you think one should consider when planning the storytelling framework?

#Storytellingforbusiness #GrowthAfrica #BusinessGrowth #BusinessinAfrica ?#Growthbusinesses