The pandemic has ceased to be news and is now part of our lives. However, what still catches the ears of the public is the impact the pandemic is creating in our society. For businesses especially, some have suffered the wrath of the ever-changing economic landscape occasioned by the virus. The tough punch dealt to potential customers’ incomes through job loss doesn’t help the situation. However, a firm and determined business should house the agility to adapt to the situation.

One of the ways to remain afloat and beat the virus is to digitize.

Since the onset of covid-19, we have seen a paradigm shift towards digitisation of business operations across the 21 sectors. We are witnessing an extreme reliance on ICT solutions as businesses seek for alternative ways to remain productive during and after the pandemic. A plethora of businesses have shifted operations to digital platforms. Host platforms have reported an increase in merchants and evidently the rationale is to boost sales even during the lockdown. This is also evidenced by the increase in demand for stable internet connection especially working at home as well as mobile money payments for businesses both in Kampala and outside Kampala.

Effective and frequent communication

However digitization ought to be coupled with effective communication if your business is to succeed. At MTN, we offer customized three in 1 packages including voice, SMS and internet to enable you effectively run your online business.

Expose your business widely

One of the concerns with the pandemic is the reduced disposable income amongst the public. But the beauty with digitization is the endless pool of markets.

Digitization opens your business up to markets in Uganda, across regions and globally. This is important because whereas one market could be affected, another market presents an opportunity for your business.

Endeavor to scale your business operations online. Do not limit your business only to in-country operations, have a presence and representation through website, phone contacts among others on not only national but also international level.

Look for value pockets

As a small business, it is also important to carry out a post-mortem during this period to understand your value pockets. It is important to understand who is currently driving your revenue. Your current client base might be different from over 6 months or even two years ago.

Once you have figured that out, create a strategy on engaging those currently driving your revenue and the future prospects of the client base and ensure discipline to follow through with the strategy to the letter.

Focus on that strategy and ensure you have the technical capability to effectively execute it.

One of the tenets of the strategy should be to examine the way a business can redefine its products and services to suit the demand or situation caused by the pandemic. In MTN’s case, prior to the pandemic, investment of large scale internet majorly targeted large corporations in central business districts but that has since changed to cater to residential areas and smaller businesses as working from home persists.

Standing out on digital

And as more businesses digitize, your business needs to set itself apart.

The first step is to ensure your business is digitized with great connectivity.

MTN has fibre from border to border across over 50 major districts in Uganda and we have channel partners to support the digitization process.

MTN also has fibre close to over 300 estates in the central business districts available to support work from home.

As a business, you also ought to have a number of payment options to enable customers to pay from anywhere at their convenience.

Through mobile money, one of the commonest means of money transfer in Uganda, MTN enables businesses to ease the payment process through MoMo for Business solutions which can be accessed at talk business on the MTN website.

 

 

 

 

Mr. Ibrahim Senyonga is one of the new members on the MTN Uganda leadership team joining as the General Manager for the company’s Enterprise Business Unit (EBU), a department that focuses on driving Business to Business sales for MTN.

He brings to MTN over 16 years’ experience from the banking sector where he served several roles ranging from Regional manager at DFCU bank, Head of Retail banking and Acting Executive Director at KCB among others. Throughout his career, Mr. Senyonga has won more than 13 outstanding performance awards.

As he transitions from the banking to the telecom sector, Mr. Senyonga observes that telecommunication remains an important sector that is relevant to the growth of all sectors being at the center of the paradigm shift in how businesses operate as communication and digital services continue to be more embedded in the needs of society.

As the leader of a team that serves MTN’s vision to become the preferred connectivity solution partner for businesses within the Telecom footprint, Mr. Senyonga is responsible for developing compelling value propositions for Enterprise Business as well as creating and implementing  strategies to drive corporate sales revenue and customer satisfaction with the support of a highly  motivated winning team.

Mr. Senyonga comes with a deep experience in Strategic Governance, Strategic Planning and Leadership, Business Development and Relationship management, Sales Channels development and expansion, Risk & Operational Control management.

His academic credentials include; an MBA in Finance from University of Leicester (UK) and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Makerere University, along with various certificates inclusive of one in Economics from OXFORD University (UK)  and Aquis Accredited Asset and Liabilities Management from INSEAD (France).

Outside work, Mr. Senyonga loves watching football and he is a loyal supporter of KCCA FC locally, Real Madrid in Europe and Leicester FC in UK. Besides watching the game, he also takes a keen interest in studying top football coaches to understand how they strategies.