Bulls n Bears Entrepreneurship Zone :: The journey so far: Eric Rutayisire, CEO, Charis UAS

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Eric Rutayisire is the founder and the CEO of Charis UAS, a Rwanda-based
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) company. The company provides diversified
services based on the drone technology to various industries, including
agriculture, construction, media production and others. Its service offering
includes drone pilot and safety training, as well as maintenance.


1. Tell us about one of the toughest situations you’ve found yourself in as
a business owner.


The adoption of the technology was a challenge. I thought that it would be
easy for people to see the value of the technology, but I was wrong. Many
were sceptical about a young African building such technology and many told
me it was going to fail. Many times, we were kicked out of offices because
people thought that we were just kids playing around.

We worked for an entire year for free just to prove the value of the
technology to our customers and to understand their needs. We received
feedback, [and] we tuned our solutions to meet their needs. Then the value
of our solutions couldn’t be ignored.

We provided cheaper, faster and high-quality services compared to the
existing services. [As a result] demand started coming in a lot.


2. Which business achievement are you most proud of?


Last year, we more than tripled our crew and revenue in just a year and
opened [an office] in Côte d’Ivoire. This was quite an achievement.


3. Describe your greatest weakness as an entrepreneur.


Sometimes, I can lose patience when dealing with people/vendors who are not
reacting fast to our demands. I surround myself with people who are more
patient than myself and let them handle the negotiations.


4. Which popular entrepreneurial advice do you disagree with?


I don’t agree that before starting a business, you need to write a long
business plan and invest in having people help you write it. It’s totally a
waste of time and money. Business plans are just wishes and are full of
guesses that will never materialise.

Just start by building your MVP [minimal viable product]. Eric Ries
describes it as: “A minimum viable product is that version of a new product
which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning
about customers with the least effort.”

[Thereafter] go to the market and let the market tell you what is needed,
then refine your idea based on their feedback.

As you iterate and pivot based on the market, you will then find a winning
formula and a product that you can scale. Best book for this is The Lean
Startup by Eric Ries.


5. Is there anything you wish you knew about entrepreneurship before you
got started?


Sometimes not knowing the hard work involved in being an entrepreneur is
actually a blessing. Otherwise, if you know the trials and hardship an
entrepreneur goes through, you may never start a business. So, better to
learn as you go.—Howwemadeitinafrica 

 



Eric Rutayisire

 

 

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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