From 2-3 October, Kigali city hosted hundreds of business executives from around the world to attend a high–end conference on Information Communications Technology, dubbed SMART Rwanda days. The keynote speakers were His Excellency Paul Kagame, the President of the Republic of Rwanda and co-chair of the ITU-UNESCO Broadband Commission for Digital Development and Dr. Hamadoun Toure, the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Under the theme “Digitizing Rwanda”, the conference aimed to discuss ways in which ICT can significantly contribute to Rwanda as well as Africa social and economic transformation. For three days delegates debated topics ranging from digital economy, cashless payment, internet governance to open data and smart cities and communities. The conference saw a participation of international organizations such as VISA, World Bank Internet Society, ICAAN, Boston Consulting Group among others. In Rwandan history, it has never been exciting to be a young person than in today's digital era. This is an era where everyone with a computer and an internet connection can compete for jobs with the rest of the world. A young person with ICT skills can actually become his own boss. This would have been a dream a few decades back. Rwandan young developers are in fortunate situation that they have a government has understood the power of ICT in economic transformation. The government has a clear vision, policy and strategies when it comes to ICT. It is also building their capacity by investing in schools that offer ICT skills that are required to compete in digital age.

Speaking at the conference, President Paul Kagame said that digital innovation is one of the things that can significantly transform the livelihoods of Rwandans as well as Africans. He noted that it does that by being applicable to any and every sector of economic growth. However the head of state pointed out that Rwandans as well as Africans have to deal with the problem of mindset and believe in themselves. kLab along with a number of other tech incubators and hubs have also been created and they provide unprecedented opportunities for young innovators to transform their dreams into reality.

Now that Rwanda plans to become an information-rich and knowledge based economy, young developers have opportunities to create applications that are needed in the marketplace. The government of Rwanda is set to invest a lot of resources in Smart Rwanda and this is a golden opportunity for young developers to earn money. It is up to them to take the chance and develop solutions that the government needs to reach its objectives. During a recent live TV show that took place at kLab, Rwanda`s Minister of Youth and ICT Hon. Jean Philbert Nsengimana said that the government aims to see every citizen being smart. He noted that from a farmer, a teacher, a business person, etc. the government would like to see each and everyone adopting ICT and becoming smart.

Over the last two years of its existence, kLab has seen young developers innovating and creating tech solutions. Jean Niyotwagira is one of them and has been a kLab tenant as well as mentor. He is now an IT entrepreneur and the CEO of Torque Ltd (http://www.torque.co.rw/). Niyotwagira was sitting on the same panel with President Paul Kagame during Smart Rwanda day’s conference sharing his experience about the kind of opportunities young people have as well as challenges. His company has developed an online distribution channel management system for wholesale that distribute goods and services. If young developers such as Niyotwagira have created solutions that create jobs, others can also do it. They only need to have confidence that they have what it takes to succeed as noted by President Paul Kagame during Smart Rwanda day’s conference.

Written by: Daniel Nzohabonimana
Read more of Daniel's work here

This seems so usual to almost everyone in business. When in the past few days I was reading this book entitled”Re-work by Jason Fried.” I found out these important questions to ask yourself you’re doing work that matters.

This book is a business book. Therefore I find these questions important and relevant for startups entrepreneurs. You might know them already but this article is intended to remind you. If you find them new, then you should keep asking yourself those questions before doing any work. Here we go:

• Why are you doing this? Ever find yourself working on something without knowing exactly why? Someone just told you to do it. It's pretty common, actually. That's why it's important to ask why you're working on__. What is this for? Who benefits? What's the motivation behind it? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you better understand the work itself.

• What problem are you solving? What's the problem? Are customers confused? Are you confused? Is something not clear enough? Was something not possible before that should be possible now? Sometimes when you ask these questions, you'll find you're solving an imaginary problem. That's when it's time to stop and reevaluate what the hell you're doing.

• Is this actually useful? Are you making something useful or just making something? It's easy to confuse enthusiasm with usefulness. Sometimes it's fine to play a bit and build something cool. But eventually you've got to stop and ask yourself if it's useful, too. Cool wears off. Useful never does.

• Are you adding value? Adding something is easy; adding value is hard. Is this thing you're working on actually making your product more valuable for customers? Can they get more out of it than they did before? Sometimes things you think are adding value actually subtract from it. Too much ketchup can ruin the fries. Value is about balance.

• Will this change behavior? Is what you're working on really going to change anything? Don't add something unless it has a real impact on how people use your product.

• Is there an easier way? Whenever you're working on something, ask, "Is there an easier way?" You'll often find this easy way is more than good enough for now. Problems are usually pretty simple. We just imagine that they require hard solutions.

• What could you be doing instead? What can't you do because you're doing this? This is especially important for small teams with constrained resources. That's when prioritization is even more important. If you work on A , can you still do B and C before a certain period of time? If not, would you rather have B and C instead of A? If you're stuck on something for a long period of time, that means there are other things you're not getting done.

• Is it really worth it? Is what you're doing really worth it? Is this meeting worth pulling six people off their work for an hour? Is it worth pulling an all nighter tonight, or could you just finish it up tomorrow? Is it worth getting all stressed out over a press release from a competitor? Is it worth spending your money on advertising? Determine the real value of what you're about to do before taking the plunge.

Keep asking yourself (and others) the questions listed above. You don't need to make it a formal process, but don't let it slide, either. Also, don't be timid about your conclusions. Sometimes abandoning what you're working on is the right move, even if you've already put in a lot of effort. Don't throw good time after bad work.

Adapted from Rework by Jason Fried page 50 Compilled by Hallellua Pacifique kLab mentor for startups

Every entrepreneur I know is short on resources, including time, money, and skills. The last thing they can afford is to waste any of these, but in my mentoring activities, I see it happening all too often. Graveyard in a startup is any activity that absorbs resources, but creates no value or competitive advantage in the eyes of customers.

Thus I am morphing the points here, with specific focus on the startup entrepreneurs.

1. Offering too many products and services concurrently. In the startup world, this is often seen as a lack of focus. Trying to do too many things with too few resources usually means the startup will not shine at anything, and will not survive the competition. That’s a sure graveyard you can’t afford. My advice is to keep it simple, and do it well.

2. Inventory and features added too soon. Inventory is money sitting idly by, adding no value. For market changing products, build first a minimally viable product (MVP), and never build products for sale until you have real orders in hand. More features and inventory added early will be wasted as you will need to pivot to match the real market.

3. Bottlenecks to team productivity. Time utilization inefficiency is a graveyard for startups. Make sure you are not the bottleneck for your team. Many startups entrepreneurs insist on making every decision, and spend too much time working in the business, rather than on the business. The result is lower productivity all around.

4. Lack of communication. Communication is the fuel that controls the speed of startups. Delays in sharing, or lack of communication from the top, result in time and effort wasted, adding no value to the business thus a graveyard. As an entrepreneur, you need a visible business model canvas and weekly team meetings, so everyone is working on current issues and real goals.

5. Poor or too many business processes. Business processes can be your biggest time saver, or your biggest waste. Productive processes start with a plan, and end with metrics that measure value delivered. Startups entrepreneurs have to embrace creativity and change, yet move quickly with trained teams who can deliver repeatable processes.

6. Focus on activities rather than results. Too many startups entrepreneurs confuse action with momentum and results. Focus on the 20% of your important tasks that will deliver 80% of the results. Judiciously apply 20% of your energy where it will achieve 80% of the momentum you desire. Then always measure customer results, not work.

7. Defective products and services. Poor quality products and poor customer service are doubly graveyards for startups. You lose the customer you paid to acquire, and the unhappy customer spreads the word to potential customers that you are spending marketing resources on, but will never win. Recovery efforts are wasted resource which rarely succeeds.

8. Underutilizing people skills. When people can do more than they are asked or motivated to do, the money spent on others doing that work is waste thus a graveyard. The solution is to maximize your own staff productivity first. Recognize and reward the people who excel, provide training, and challenge the team to invent new methods for significant change.

Startups entrepreneurs and small business always operate on the edge. There is no cushion. The above mentioned points mean death. Are you as an entrepreneur really ready to deal with the new technology, new regulations, and a new workforce schooled in the digital age? How much time have you spent learning to use the practical techniques and new tools available? It won’t be wasted.

Written by Hallellua Pacifique -a kLab mentor for startups.