The customer-centric entrepreneurship revolution: Building Ghana’s next great businesses

 By J. N. Halm

One of my favourite quotes is “In the workplace, you are either serving the customer or you are serving the one serving the customer.” I must confess, I couched this quote from an earlier one attributed to Jan Carlzon, Swedish businessman and former CEO of the SAS Group. He said, “If you’re not serving the customer, your job is to be serving someone who is.”

Whichever quote you prefer, the truth is that both underscore a fundamental reality that Africa’s entrepreneurial landscape desperately needs to embrace: the convergence of visionary leadership with an unwavering commitment to customer-centricity. It is a truth that has the potential to totally change how African entrepreneurs approach business design and market competitiveness in an increasingly globalised economy.

The truth is that the entrepreneurial ecosystem in our part of the world stands at a critical juncture. While the continent has witnessed a surge in entrepreneurial activity over the past decade, many of these ventures remain trapped in traditional business models that prioritise short-term profits over sustainable customer relationships.

The result is an entrepreneurial landscape characterised by high failure rates, limited market penetration, and minimal impact on the broader economy. It is therefore not surprising that many entrepreneurs across the continent, such as those in my beloved Ghana, struggle to scale their operations beyond local markets or compete effectively with international competitors.

The Current State of Ghanaian Entrepreneurship

The truth is that Ghana’s entrepreneurial sector, despite its vibrancy and potential, suffers from a fundamental misalignment between what entrepreneurs think customers want and what customers actually need. Too many Ghanaian entrepreneurs operate under the assumption that if they build it, customers will come. The problem with this mindset is that it is so outdated.

As far back as 1882, this popular quote captured the spirit of the time: “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door”. “Building a better mousetrap” might have been true then. But the truth is that this is no more the case. The product-first mentality has resulted in markets flooded with similar products and services, with little differentiation and even less consideration for genuine customer value.

This approach stands in stark contrast to what recent research from Mexico’s Small and Upcoming Enterprises (SUEs) reveals about successful entrepreneurial business design. The study was titled “Transforming Entrepreneurial Business Design: Converging Leadership and Customer-Centric Approach” and was published in the February 2020 edition of the Journal of Transnational Management. The study of 364 respondents demonstrates that the most successful small enterprises are those that have mastered the art of converging effective leadership with customer-centric approaches, resulting in transformative business designs that drive sustainable competitive advantage.

Lessons from Mexico’s SUE Success Model

What makes the Mexican SUE model particularly relevant to Ghana’s context is its emphasis on family-based firm organisational design. Like in many African countries, including Ghana, Mexico has a strong tradition of family businesses and close-knit entrepreneurial networks. The research reveals that SUEs that embrace this family-based approach while simultaneously maintaining rigorous customer focus tend to develop more effective entrepreneurial leadership.

This finding challenges the conventional wisdom that family businesses are inherently less professional or less market-oriented than their corporate counterparts. Instead, it suggests that when properly channelled, the personal relationships and shared values that characterise family businesses can become powerful competitive advantages in creating customer-centric enterprises.

For Ghanaian entrepreneurs, this represents a significant opportunity. Rather than abandoning traditional family business structures in favour of impersonal corporate models, Ghanaian entrepreneurs can leverage their cultural strengths while adopting more sophisticated approaches to customer engagement and market orientation.

The Power of Employee Engagement in Customer-Centricity

One of the most compelling findings from the Mexican study is the critical role that employee engagement plays in transforming entrepreneurial business design. The study shows that when employees are truly engaged and aligned with a firm’s customer-centric vision, the entire firm becomes more responsive to market needs and more innovative in developing solutions.

This insight is particularly relevant for Ghana, where many small businesses struggle with employee retention and motivation. Ghanaian entrepreneurs often focus exclusively on external customers while neglecting their internal customers—their employees. The Mexican model suggests that this approach is fundamentally flawed.

When employees are engaged and feel ownership in the customer experience, they become active participants in the co-creation process. They contribute ideas, identify opportunities for improvement, and serve as extensions of the entrepreneur’s customer-centric vision. This creates a multiplier effect where the entrepreneur’s commitment to customer-centricity is amplified throughout the organisation.

Co-creation: The Game Changer

Perhaps the most revolutionary concept emerging from the research is the power of co-creation in entrepreneurial business design. Co-creation goes beyond traditional customer feedback mechanisms to involve customers as active partners in designing products and services. The Mexican study reveals that SUEs that embrace co-design and co-creation of products and services experience significant increases in organisational performance.

For African, and specifically Ghanaian, entrepreneurs, this represents a fundamental shift in thinking. Instead of developing products in isolation and then trying to convince customers to buy them, co-creation involves customers from the earliest stages of product development. This approach ensures that the final product or service truly meets customer needs while also creating a sense of ownership and loyalty among customers who participated in the creation process.

The beauty of co-creation is that it transforms the traditional adversarial relationship between seller and buyer into a collaborative partnership. Customers become invested in the success of the product because they helped create it. This emotional investment translates into stronger brand loyalty, more authentic word-of-mouth marketing, and valuable ongoing feedback for continuous improvement.

Identifying the Minimum Viable Segment

Another critical insight from the research is the importance of identifying the minimum viable segment—the smallest group of customers that can sustain and grow a business while providing the foundation for broader market expansion. This concept is particularly relevant for Ghanaian entrepreneurs who often make the mistake of trying to serve everyone and, in doing so, end up serving no one effectively.

The Mexican SUE model demonstrates that successful entrepreneurs focus intensively on understanding and serving a specific customer segment before attempting to expand. This focused approach allows entrepreneurs to develop deep expertise in meeting the needs of their core customers, creating a foundation of loyalty and advocacy that supports sustainable growth.

For Africa’s entrepreneurs, this means resisting the temptation to pursue every available opportunity and instead committing to becoming the best solution for a specific group of customers. This approach requires discipline and patience, but it creates a more solid foundation for long-term success.

Market-Oriented Strategies for Niche Markets

The research reveals that effective leadership in SUEs plays a significant role in developing market-oriented strategies within niche markets. This finding challenges the common assumption that small businesses must compete on price or rely on personal relationships alone. Instead, it suggests that with proper leadership and customer focus, small enterprises can develop sophisticated market strategies that create genuine competitive advantages.

African entrepreneurs have traditionally excelled at building personal relationships with customers, but they have often struggled to translate these relationships into systematic market-oriented strategies. The Mexican model suggests that this personal touch, when combined with disciplined market analysis and customer-centric innovation, can create powerful competitive advantages.

The Leadership Imperative

It is quite interesting that the research emphasises the central role of entrepreneurial leadership in driving this transformation. The study reveals that effective leadership is not just about managing operations or motivating employees—it is about creating a culture where customer-centricity becomes the driving force behind every business decision.

This kind of leadership requires our entrepreneurs to develop new skills and perspectives. They must become adept at listening to customers, interpreting market signals, and inspiring their teams to embrace continuous innovation. Most importantly, they must be willing to challenge their own assumptions about what customers want and remain open to changing their business models based on customer feedback.

The Call for Revolution

The evidence is clear: Ghanaian entrepreneurs who embrace the convergence of effective leadership and customer-centric approaches will be better positioned to compete in both domestic and international markets. The Mexican SUE model provides a roadmap for this transformation, demonstrating that small enterprises can achieve remarkable results when they align their organisational design with customer needs and market realities.

This revolution will not be easy. It requires entrepreneurs to abandon comfortable assumptions, invest in understanding their customers more deeply, and commit to continuous innovation and improvement. However, the rewards—in terms of business sustainability, market competitiveness, and economic impact—justify the effort required.

Ghana’s entrepreneurial future depends on whether its business leaders are willing to embrace this customer-centric revolution. The question is not whether change is needed, but whether Ghanaian entrepreneurs have the courage and vision to lead that change. The time for transformation is now.

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