We're in the second month of 2024, and it’s the month we all like to set aside to celebrate love and beautiful relationships. Now, I know we want to focus on the lovely things, but hey, if you’re in a toxic relationship, this is probably the best time to walk away. It's not in our place to judge your personal relationships – let's be honest, we’re not therapists – but are your business relationships going as they should?

Overpriced Tech Solutions Will Ruin your Business

Here's a short story.

Gitonga owns a tech startup that processes digital data for African hospitals. On February 14, 2023, the company’s branch in Lagos, Nigeria, subscribed to a software we’ll call Q, for $600 (USD) after a 30-day free trial. That translated to N276,444 (NGN) and it wasn’t the highest plan available, it was just what Gitonga’s company could afford. A year later, on February 14, 2024, another subscription on Q was due, but $600 (USD) was now N908,448 (NGN), exactly 328.46% more than it was 365 days before because the Naira had plummeted in value.

Constantly rising exchange rates are not the only issues African businesses face when paying for conventional software solutions. There is also the fact that the African business ecosystem has unique challenges that can only be overcome by a solution tailored to do so, which most of these tools are not.

The result? Most African businesses spend a huge chunk of their budget on tech solutions that do not adequately meet their needs yet take up significant funds and are therefore overpriced. Since these tools are not priced to reflect Africa’s economic conditions, their cost keeps rising rapidly for a variety of reasons, until the African business can no longer afford to use them.

At the end of the business year, they crunch the numbers and they’re not just adding up. The said ‘solutions’ have morphed into problems that threaten to wreck the company’s growth and sustainability.

Now here’s a fun fact; according to Brookings, B2B spending across Africa is projected to hit $4.2 trillion (USD) by 2030. In comparison, the continent is expected to generate around $2.482 trillion (USD) by 2030 in its 8 top performing sectors. That's a huge gap between money made and money spent.

For Starters, Try Sync!

There is quite some way to go in terms of curing African businesses from their dependence on software imports, but managing projects on Sync! is a great place to start. The all-in-one collaboration tool is cost-effective for a business operating in the ever-volatile African economy, and it is built to address the unique challenges faced by African businesses, including adequately tracking team performance and effectively managing a team that might require freelance additions from time to time.

The last thing your business needs is an expensive tool that gets more expensive with each subscription yet struggles to meet all your needs. If you’ve been lured into believing the myth that paying for ultra-expensive software is a staple of business growth, ditch it and move on; it’s the best form of love you can show to your business.