Joshua Nsimbi, Consultant, Ethos Creative - Uganda

Jan 29, 2025

Please tell us your name, where your business is located and what is it that you do?

My name is name is Joshua Nsimbi and I am a Consultant for Ethos Creative who are based: Kampala, Uganda but scaling to Nairobi, Kenya. I lead the Performance Marketing and Customer Experience Division.

Tell us about how you got started.

Started with a focus on creative solutions like Branding, Communication Strategy, Digital Marketing services and eventually evolved into Consultancy & Project Management for clients in the fields of Holistic Branding, Communications, Marketing and Digital Transformation.

What makes your company unique?

There is no one-size-fits-all. We invest a lot of time in understanding the details of the client problem, customize the solution based on their unique challenges and ensure a sustainability plan to get the staff to adopt the solution comfortably before we close the project. 

No business is without setbacks, can you tell us about a time when you faced a significant setback and how you recovered from it?

The post covid effect left us with many of our retainers coming to a close due to limited funds and we had to review out business model & offers in a way that allows clients to have subsidized support and still utilize our consultancy services with internal hybrid collaborations. This helped save 35% of the retainer revenue and through trainings we also supported the 65% lost retainers to onboard capable staff to continue the implementation of the solutions we had put in place.

How do you define success and to what do you attribute your success?

Its understanding the Why and always offering the best solution as per your capability, scale, budget and the information available. I attribute my success to paying attention to the detail to determine what actually matters before execution and not get distracted by the vanity metrics.

What's next for your business, what will it look like in 5 years?

Have a footprint in atleast 5 African countries.

What do you think the future holds for Africa-focused entrepreneurs and advice do you have for entrepreneurs who are just starting out?

I think the power is in the ability to pivot, collaborate and fail forward. Our solutions should impact mindset and be sustainable to ensure a longer lifeline which starts with clearly knowing your WHY for starting that business.

Owning a business while balancing a personal life can be challenging; how do you take care of yourself?

Well no employee will love your business the way you do and that means you have to know when to rest so that you stay longer to show them why it should matter to them. My approach has been having a support system around me that acts as a peer-to-peer soundboard to bounce of ideas, get encouragement, seek advice and keep me accountable.

What is your favorite quote or mantra?  What keeps you going?

People are the most important resource – so treat them with respect always. 

What is your favorite app or a business tool that you can't live without

Its really comes down to the basics – for me its my gmail account. Its at the hurt of my business ecosystem connecting me to the other critical tools like GTM, GA4, paid media dashboards and more.