How AfriTorch Digital Has Gone From Startup To Overnight Success By any standard, local start-up AfriTorch Digital has seen phenomenal growth and traction. But, while the company's success might seem quick and effortless, there is a lot of hard work behind it.

Vital stats

• Players: Michel M. Katuta and Thabo Mphate
• Company: Afritorch Digital
• Established: 2017
• Visit: www.afritorchdigital.com
• About: Afritorch Digital assists research agencies in conducting market research through its in-depth knowledge of the African continent and its use of the latest digital technologies.

There is a saying that goes: It takes years to become an overnight success. While a company or individual might seem to enjoy sudden (and seemingly effortless) success, there is often more to the story. The results are usually public and well-publicised, but the years of hard work that came before go unnoticed.

Local start-up AfriTorch Digital is a great example of this. Since launching in May 2017, the business has seen excellent growth.

"To be honest, we were very surprised by the level of success. Things progressed a lot quicker than we anticipated," says co-founder Thabo Mphate.

"All the goals we had hoped to reach in four or sixth months, we managed to hit in the first month. It was just amazing."

Preparing to launch

While AfriTorch Digital has certainly seen quick growth and success, it would be a mistake to assume that the same is true of the two founders. For them, the creation of AfriTorch was years in the making.

"The goal was always to start our own business," says Thabo. "I think we're both entrepreneurs at heart, and we saw an opportunity to create a unique kind of business that offered an innovative solution to clients, but we also realised the value of getting some experience first. Without the knowledge, experience, network and intimate understanding of the industry landscape, getting AfriTorch off the ground would have been incredibly difficult."

Entrepreneurs tend to dislike working for other people. They want to forge their own path. However, as AfriTorch Digital's case illustrates, spending time in the industry that you'd like to launch your business in is tremendously useful.

"Finding clients when we launched AfriTorch was relatively easy," says company co-founder and CEO Michel Katuta.

"One reason for this, I think, was that we were offering potential clients a great solution, but the other was that we had established a name for ourselves in the industry. People knew us. We had worked for respected companies, and we had done work for large clients. So, when we launched, we were able to provide a new start-up with credibility in the industry."

The Lesson: Becoming an entrepreneur doesn't always start with the launch of a company. Spending time in an established business, gaining experience and making contacts, can be invaluable. Very often, it's the relationships you build during this time and the knowledge you accumulate that will help make your company a success.

Solving a problem

Everyone knows that launching a successful business means solving a burning problem, but what does that mean in practice? Aren't all the burning problems already being addressed? And how do you attempt this without any money?

Thabo and Michel identified a small group of potential clients with a burning problem. Crucially, it was a problem that no one outside of the research field could have identified. Having spent years in the trenches, they saw a massive gap waiting to be filled.

"A decade ago, researchers were still debating whether the future of the field was in the digital space. That debate is now over. Everyone agrees that online is the way to go. What once took months now takes days or hours, and the cost of research can be reduced by a factor of five," says Michel.

"But researchers are not technology specialists. If made available, they are eager to adopt digital tools, but they aren't eager to develop these tools themselves. That's not their area of expertise."

AfriTorch Digital stepped up to provide these tools. Katuta has a background in software engineering, so he could approach research problems with the eye of a tech specialist. Very soon, research agencies were lining up to make use of AfriTorch Digital's services.

"We work with research agencies that conduct research on behalf of their clients. We provide the digital tools needed to conduct research online, and we provide the online communities. A big reason for our success is that we understand Africa. A lot of companies want to conduct research in Africa, but traditionally, this has been very hard. There was a lack of access and a lack of infrastructure that made research very hit-and-miss. Thanks to the continent's adoption of mobile technology, it's now much easier. If you have the technological know-how and an understanding of the environment, you can do amazing things," says Michel.

The Lesson: Find a niche and own it. Research agencies might not have seemed like an obvious and lucrative market, but having spent time in the industry, the AfriTorch founders were able to identify clients who would be desperate for their offering. Spending time in an industry will help you see where the opportunities lie.

Take note

Before launching a business, get to know an industry from the inside out. This will give you an unparalleled view into gaps you can service.