By Ian Ortega
When mobile phones had just come to Uganda, they were termed as ‘Buli Wendi Nkufuna’ that’s to say – ‘I get you wherever you are.’ The mobile phones had solved the distribution challenge. If someone had access to a mobile phone, it also meant you had access to them. Well, MTN Uganda also happened to have its famous tagline – everywhere you go.
Bodabodas also solved the challenge of distribution. In the sense that, if you needed to be somewhere, you simply got out and jumped onto the next bodaboda. If you need to deliver a parcel somewhere, you get your ‘boda guy’ and send that parcel to them.
Yet, every business school in the world barely mentions distribution. It’s something mentioned in passing. Distribution must be the conversation that permeates every business hall, every business meeting, every strategy session, and every daily conversation of the CEO. Distribution is the real business strategy. Distribution is the real business model.
It’s not that newspapers stopped being relevant. It’s simply that social media innovated with a better, cheaper and more efficient means of news distribution. The old distribution model of newspapers couldn’t stand. Every business gets disrupted at its point of distribution. If someone figures out how to reach your customer consistently in a way that’s better, cheaper or quicker, they will win over that customer.