With over 12 years of experience in business development, innovation and delivery practice in the telecommunications and media industry, Mophethe Moletsane is highly skilled in strategy and business analysis.
As general manager for Digital Commercial Management at MTN Group, Moletsane is always looking at ways to monetise digital content and services. This has placed him in good stead when it comes to understanding what works and what doesn't for entrepreneurs when it comes to embracing the digital world.
These are his top tips:
1. Get your business out there
"The first thing is getting your business and services out there," Moletsane explains. "Social media -Facebook, Twitter and the likes -are very good platforms to help you do this, and most businesses nowadays have a presence there."
Mentioning Google ads and any other accessible advertising platform as a means of helping people get their business on the map, Moletsane continues that it's imperative to also keep up with directory services and any other similar apps that are linked to large retailers.
"Look out for them [directory services] and ensure that your business is in there helping potential customers to easily find you.
"Getting your business out there and getting people to know your business is key."
2. Make sure you have a presence
"Secondly, from a tech perspective, think bigger than just an app presence: think of a Web presence for your business.
"With the smartphone evolution continually growing, having an app is a given, but you also want to make sure your business has a responsive and easy-to-use mobi-site."
He says a lot of business that comes to MTN comes through mobi-sites, highlighting the importance and relevance of businesses having mobile-friendly Web sites in today's digital market.
"If you're looking to scale your business, make sure you have a responsive and easy-to-use mobi-site."
3. Know your clientele
"When you are building your business, make sure you think about - and don't take this for granted - the type of information and data you want to collect as people start to interact with your business."
While Moletsane notes this may not be something you'll know from the get-go, it's important to think about it as you begin to build the features of your app and mobi-site, as well as what you want to derive from this information.
"You want to make sure that you're capturing all that information and data, know how you're going to use it as well as what the ideal interaction is that you wish to achieve as people begin to download your app and move around your mobi-site - this is critical as it will help you improve your business."
By gathering this information, you may be able to determine certain trends and key insights into your potential and current customer base as well as your app and mobi-site. Moletsane gave the example of discovering when your mobi-site receives the most traffic: "This can help you realise the best opportunity to introduce new services or products to your clientele.
"Take the time to apply yourself and think about the information and structure of the information that you're striving to obtain as this will help you improve your business."
Moletsane further emphasises that it's critical, especially in today's society, to have the necessary features in place on app and mobi-sites to allow for customers to share, rate and recommend your services as this can help to expand your business in all areas.
As part of MTN Group's 2017 Y'ello Care initiative, Moletsane participated in the Wot-If Trust's SMME and Entrepreneurship development programme Thinkubation sessions in Diepsloot, sharing his insights while discussing 'Tech in a Community Like Diepsloot'.
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