Stears, a data and intelligence firm based in Nigeria, is transitioning from its consumer-focused data solutions to an organization-focused intelligence company with new product offerings. Stears will continue to serve consumers.
Stears, a Nigerian data company, has been a significant publication since its establishment in 2017. The publication focuses on providing data and information on Nigeria and its economy. Stears was established in 2017. Stears represented an authoritative source of information for Nigerians because of its analysis as well as its one-of-a-kind products and services, which included a platform for tracking COVID-19 cases and Nigeria’s first real-time election database. But with its new business-to-business (B2B) strategy, the company is changing its attention away from individual customers and towards organisations.
Yvette Dimiri, who holds the position of director at Stears, claims that user feedback was the impetus behind this modification.
“From the insights and data solutions being requested by our professional users, there seems to be a good fit there,” Dimiri said.
“When we thought about how do we produce these new insights and data solutions in a way that is good for the business? Of course, we’re still a business, it became very clear that we need to shift our model.”
Read also: Stears secures $3.3million in a seed round
What Stears intends to do
The company will now provide organisations with new intelligence products, such as market sizing estimations, predictive projections, consumer indices, and comprehensive macroeconomic datasets, thanks to cumulative funding of $4 million. The company will offer these solutions. It is their aim that by providing these innovative solutions, they would continue to entice multinational corporations who are already operating on or investing in the African continent.
Stears reports that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the European Investment Bank, Infracredit, PZ Cussons, and Piggyvest are among its customers. According to Funmi Ogunlesi, who is the head of government affairs at Citibank Nigeria, Stears is her “secret weapon and go-to source of reliable data.”
Stears is now offering a subscription service for individuals, and those who have purchased a subscription will continue to have access until the end of their respective memberships.
Dimiri stated: “We do believe that a number of our users who are professionals working in professional contexts and have always been champions of Stears will continue to champion the brand within those organisations.”
The editorial staff will remain the same, and the business will keep publishing articles, which have been the cornerstone of its intelligence products up until now. Dimiri explained that this was feasible due to the fact that Stears had only begun recruiting analysts during the last two and a half years.
Luminate, a charitable organisation with the mission of combating disinformation in Africa, is one of Stears’ primary financial backers. When questioned if the company’s investors were on board with the company’s pivot away from providing individuals with information, Dimiri said that the company’s investors were aligned with the pivot because Stears will continue to provide some free data solutions to the public, such as the election database.
According to Dimiri, Stears will also continue to extend its footprint across the continent, with an emphasis on East and West Africa as the key areas of concentration. She also stated that the company’s subscription model, which she claimed the company was “really happy” with, did not play a role in the decision to pivot the business.
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How to Pivot your business successfully
The following are some pointers that can assist you in lowering the risks connected with pivoting and increasing the likelihood of a successful outcome:
Get it done as quickly as you possibly can
If you are going to make a pivot – whether it be once, twice, or more than a few times – you should make it as soon as possible in order to prevent wasting time, effort, and money.
Decide on fresh objectives that are in line with your vision
Being an entrepreneur is challenging and needs you to be as brutally honest with yourself as possible. If the road you’re currently on doesn’t sit quite right with you, you need to take a step back and reevaluate your purpose in life. You should also devote additional time to ensuring that the path you choose to take is the appropriate one for you.
Don’t discard your previous work
Determine which components of your business you can save, maintain, and put to other uses once you have decided on your new path for the company. You have already invested a significant amount of time, effort, and money into developing a profitable firm. Treasure them, and refocus the resources you already have towards achieving your new objective.
Take the suggestions of your clients
The feedback from clients is a fantastic indicator that you should pay attention to. Even while you should be prepared for the rare piece of unfavourable feedback if you consistently receive critiques such as “too expensive,” “not enough features,” “the purchasing process is too complex,” “there are other, better products out there,” or any other type of criticism, you should utilise this information to your advantage and change.
Conceive a strategy to pivot
The steps that the company will take to execute the pivot should be outlined in the pivot plan. In order to evaluate its level of success, it needs to have certain timetables, resource allocations, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Make sure everyone is aware of the pivot
Those affected by the change, including employees, customers, and shareholders, should be informed about it.
