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4i Mobile has been building apps for clients for eight years, during which the company has seen a variety of different apps – some successful and others that have not been as successful.
We caught up with 4i Mobile CEO Renier Kriel to gain some insight into the opportunities and challenges that tech start-ups in SA face, as well as where he thinks our tech scene is headed.
What are the biggest challenges when it comes to establishing a tech start-up in SA, particularly in terms of funding and scaling?
Tech start-ups in SA often have unverified ideas and/or concepts. This means that even though the idea they have could be good, the way it’s executed, or sometimes the idea itself, has not been tested in the market. Testing the idea is simply making sure there is a market for the app; finding out if the market is big enough to make a profit; and finally, understanding the nuances of this target market in order to build them a product they find useful. Not doing this often results in building products that users don’t find useful, never use, and ultimately leads to failure.
Most SA tech start-ups never get past the point of being useful enough to even begin to consider scaling, but if they do the recipe is simple: One needs to be able to pick the product up and place it in another country, generating revenue in that country without incurring significant overheads. If you can’t do this, scaling becomes ridiculously expensive and a battle that will ultimately lead to failure.
As far as funding goes, the majority of tech start-ups are under-funded. And the problem is not as much the lack of funding, but the lack of business experience in start-up founders. South African investors are more conservative than investors in the US and as such it’s even more important to have a polished idea that has been tested.
How do South African apps compare to those in developed countries?
It depends who develops the application. At 4i we pride ourselves in building mobile apps that rank up there with the best in the world. And we have only been able to do this by being blessed to have some of the most talented individuals in SA working for us. It does however come down to the size of the budget that is available. Great apps aren’t cheap, and a lot of South Africans do not have the appetite to spend the budgets required to build world-class apps. Those that do, however, do not regret it.
So as far as capability goes, SA has some of the most talented mobile app development prospects in the world.
How easy/difficult is it to take an app global? What is required to take that leap?
Even though it is always difficult, it depends on the product itself.
Having people on the ground in foreign countries is extremely expensive and if the product sales cycle is long, a company needs a very long runway of cash flow to sustain the ongoing costs.
We recently built an app for a tech start-up called Adventure Clubs (https://www.adventureclubs.com). Together with the client, we managed to simplify the concept and the way it works to such a level that it is easy to pick up and put down in any city in the world with minimum overheads. They launched in SA in February and are on their way to launch in three major cities in the USA.
How do you keep up with changes in the tech landscape and adapt to remain competitive?
Even though we do keep up with the trends in the news, our primary focus is on always bettering the value we provide to our clients. This is a culture that we have developed over the past eight years and something that requires one to be open to criticism. We take our work seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Doing this allows us to constantly evaluate our process, and the subsequent outputs, to continuously improve on that which we do, and giving our customers’ products the best chance of success.
I think for tech start-ups the most important steps in staying relevant is:
· Know your target market
· Know which actions performed by users lead to revenue
· Measure this and keep on improving, changing minor things at a time
· Utilise user feedback
· Keep the app simple
It seems that a future where we will be able to do almost anything with just a smartphone is not so far off. What is your view on this and what challenges do we face with tech advancement in SA?
Data costs are still a big issue in South Africa and it is limiting the use of mobile apps and mobile internet across the board.
Which country on the continent do you think is exhibiting the most exciting progress when it comes to mobile tech?
I think it’s a three-horse race between SA, Kenya and Nigeria. SA has better quality products, products that are comparable with the best in the world, where those from Kenya and Nigeria are often very practical in solving local issues.
Where do you see African countries at in five years’ time in terms of tech advancement?
What is really exciting about Africa is that many countries are leapfrogging technologies and systems and are adopting modern technologies in industries that have been around for some time instead.
As an example: Instead of implementing traditional banking systems, countries implemented mobile banking.
In doing so, these solutions are adopted by almost everyone, opening up a whole host of new economic opportunities. So basically the lack of infrastructure in Africa creates opportunities for great market adoption of new-age technologies.
