CD-ROM: Entrepreneurship and ICTs - The Art of Making Things Happen

The CD-ROM "Entrepreneurship and ICTs" is produced by Balancing Act. Balancing Act is facilitating the development of content for the internet and other new media technologies in Africa that will have an impact on people's lives and that they will want to use, in the three fields of economic, social and cultural development. Whilst the primary focus is digital products that can be delivered through things like e-mail, the internet and CD-ROM, we are also interested in development of appropriate linkages between new and old media (eg community radio, satellite, the internet and multimedia) that will deliver to Africa's less well-connected rural areas.

The CD-ROM covers the following:

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur
Successful African ICT entrepreneurs talk about what it means to start up a company, what kind of personal qualities you need and the type of mistakes they made that you can easily avoid.

Starting with a good idea
The CD-ROM looks at the kind of ICT ideas that have fuelled the growth of ICT sector across the continent and highlights a number of recent examples to give you a flavour of what you might come up with.

Planning a business idea
It provides a list of questions that need to be answered for most new ICT business ideas and offers some templates for the structure of your business plan. Whether you're a first-timer or are already running your own business, these questions provide useful ways of thinking about new ideas or planned expansion.

What skills do I need to make it work?
Every ICT business needs a particular combination of people and skills to be successful. This section looks at what skills you need to bring together in your team.

How do I get finance and at what stage do I need it?
It offers the distilled wisdom of a range of individuals from different African finance institutions who explain what they look for in a fledgling business. It also explains when you might need finance, how equity shareholders can help develop your business and what it means to have an exit strategy.

Strategic alliances and partnerships
Few African ICT start-ups have the resources to do everything they want to achieve. To overcome this, this section describes how you might approach making strategic alliances with other companies that will help your company grow.

Sources of information
An information archive that provides everything from where to find ICT information relevant to Africa to local and international sources of finance. It also includes an archive of past issues of Balancing Act's News Update up to issue 114 with a search engine to help you find what you want. As a bonus, it also has the following free software: ACDSee, Adobe Acrobat, Eudora, GetRight, Netscape Navigator 3.04 - 4.5, Paintshop Pro, Shockwave and Flash and Winzip. Most are available in either Windows or Mac versions.

Order a copy
If you would like to order a copy, you need to do two things:

1. Please send an e-mail to info@balancingact-africa.com with your name, company or organisation, and a secure postal address.
2. Transfer US$50 (which includes postage and packing) to the following bank account:

   Account Name: Southwood Consultants Ltd
   

   Bank:
   Nat West
   145 Clapham High Street
   London SW4 7SN
   UK
   

   Account No: 08732663

   Bank sort code: 60-05-34

When the US$50 payment has been credited to this account, we will send your copy of the CD-ROM to the address you've sent us.

Contact person:

Russell Southwood
Balancing Act
Email: southwood@boyden.demon.co.uk
Web: http://www.balancingact-africa.com

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Last update: October-24, 2002