They say a business can only reach critical mass when it makes the management decision to scale up to increase the volume of sales it makes. That is at the heart of business-to-business.
Technology has transformed business transactions creating the environment now know as Business-to-business (B2B). B2B, a type of electronic commerce (e-commerce), is the exchange of products, services or information between businesses, rather than between businesses and consumers (B2C). A B2B transaction is conducted between two companies, such as wholesalers and online retailers.
With the rise of fintech in Zambia, so has there been a rise in B2B companies. A few of mention include Cellulant, Probase, Wirepick among others who offer a pure blend of B2B. Others such as Airtel, MTN among others offer a combo of B2B and Business-to-Customer (B2C).
Just because a company decides it do business directly with another company doesn’t mean that it does not care about the end consumer. Traditionally for companies that imbed a B2C model, the customer needs are often at the core of the business’ strategy development. Conversely, B2B also have the end customer in mind when they were build the solutions that offer counterparty businesses an opportunity to scale their product offering.
The reason for this techy six sense is because B2B’s are uniquely positioned with internal resources and capabilities that include research and development.
Financial Insight has had an opportunity of touring “campuses” of Probase and Cellulant and it is clear that investing in research and development comes second nature as it is the core resource that is responsible for their existence. Both companies have also further benefited from the fact they are geographically distributed allowing them to lean nuances of different jurisdictions as well as customer needs that enables them to build the software according to specific market conditions.
However, the backend tech triumphs of B2Bs often do not get sung enough. Public perception sometimes is nonexistent for the decerning public that often is programmed to appreciate what they can touch a feel. Matter over mind. However, we can all acknowledge that B2Bs, especially our own home grown ones, have stepped up and innovated to change and impact our day to day lives.