ENTERPRISE54 – Though early days, but the New Year (2015) comes with a buzz of expectations amid goals setting and forecast for enterprises around Africa. Profit, remains the business lingo, as more and more ventures look to make gains on market penetration despite the economic doldrums of the past year. The question that arises is how do these enterprises make the difference in their operations that’ll ensure maximum productivity and yield the desired result?

Sports, the answer…

The year 2014 offered so much in emotional experiences across the global sports landscape from which ventures can learn a number of lessons in order to boost their services and productivity. Surely, these observations are not exhaustive but here are a few we’ve put together which will enhance quality in every right.

Business should be fun

We know how stressful it can get when it’s all work all day and Jack stays dull all the way. Well, it doesn’t have to be that way if we just make doing business fun. Lewis Hamilton had a good understanding of this element after securing his second Formula One World Championship last year since he won his first in 2008. Making business fun heightens participation and inspires the will to succeed. That’s why companies entice key employees with exotic vacations, celebrity associations etc. You don’t want your employees or yourself being low at most times. Whoever said working shouldn’t be fun certainly hasn’t met Richard Branson or Kenyan billionaire and radio DJ Chris Kirubi.

Keep the fire burning

Former captain of the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) and the country’s all-time record goal scorer, Landon Donovan, hung his boots after guiding his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates to victory over the New England Revolution at the MLS Playoff Final. Earlier in 2014, Donovan took some time from the sport when he revealed he’d lost passion in the game. Now that’s something your business can not afford if you’re ever going to be positioned as a market leader or perhaps you already are but you’re keen to maintain that hold. Evaluate reasons why you started out in the first place and keep re-inventing yourself in order to stay relevant in your industry.

Inspire your customers through creativity

It is instructive that man’s needs are insatiable: an evolving and never ending taste for something new. This ever-changing savour for freshness cascades with changing times. For businesses to stay in-tune with customers in 2015, creativity is a necessity.

The Indian Super League was newly introduced to a population whose enchantment is cricket. This is no secret. To capture and transfer the large cult-followers of cricket to soccer, the league’s management knew they needed a different approach. With prominent cricket players and the famous Bollywood stars being part-owners of football teams; IMG/Star selling sponsorship and broadcast rights around the world; foreign players/coaches employed to pull traction; and the colourful use of social media, little wonder the league was rated fourth in the world behind the likes of the English Premier League and Bundesliga in 2014.

Leadership must do something right

The South Africa Football Association (SAFA) under the leadership of Dr. Danny Jordaan has witnessed significant makeover on and off the pitch. The men’s senior football team qualified with relative ease for AFCoN 2015 in Equatorial Guinea; SAFA has overseen the launch of a football youth development programme between the Premier Soccer League and Multichoice known as the Multichoice Diski Challenge; a groundbreaking broadcast rights deal with Siyaya TV for live transmission of all official national team games, valued at $93.6 million.

Read: Essential Entrepreneurial Lessons To Be Learned From Christiano Ronaldo

These pointed achievements can be linked to Dr. Jordaan who supervised South Africa’s unprecedented hosting of the first FIFA World Cup™ in Africa. His visionary leadership earned him global accolade. When he won the presidential seat on SAFA, many were not in doubt about the coming change. The change started rolling in with the federation doing things right.

Entrepreneurs too should participate in governments to get the right people in power and parley with governments at different levels to create conducive environments for their businesses.

Editor’s Note: This piece was contributed by Tonte and Telema Davies