Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Today is International Women's Day, a time when everyone is called upon to come together and help forge women's equality. Collectively, the hope is that we can all #BreakTheBias, the theme for this year’s commemorative day, and celebrate women's achievements, raise awareness against bias, and take action for equality. Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead, in life and in business. Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field. It’s time to make change happen and #BreakTheBias that is holding women back. This year’s #BreakTheBias campaign asks everyone to actively call out and highlight gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping when it happens. International Women's Day, held on 8 March each year since 1911, was created to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, and also to be a call to action to make positive change happen in the lives of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. So what better day to remind everyone that women's equality can't wait. It's going to take everyone to think and be inclusive - all the time, everywhere. So let’s #BreakTheBias! Find out more about International Women’s Day www.internationalwomensday.com

A new study published by the software accounting firm, FreeAgent, has unearthed some interesting findings about women choosing to become entrepreneurs as a result of the impact of COVID-19. Apart from those who needed to embark upon an entrepreneurial life because of redundancy or being furloughed for weeks and months during the pandemic, many more are making proactive life choices to start businesses. The experience of having to remote work, or find alternative sources of self employment from home, have created a wake-up call for many women. They have taken the time to reassess what they want from life and work; what really matters in terms of health and wellbeing; and how they want to better manage family and work life. Thirty-three per cent of the study’s participants said their need to achieve better work/life balance was the primary reason for starting their entrepreneurial journeys. It meant they could spend more quality time with their children; choose when and how to work; and importantly, manage their childcare costs more effectively. But ultimately, it seems the freedom to be able to choose what type of work they wanted to do, and how to do it, to be in control of their destinies, was the most popular reason amongst women to start a business during the COVID-19 pandemic. 41.7% of women surveyed wanted to build a work-life that would fit in with their wider aspirations and responsibilities. So the pandemic has given them the courage to take the plunge, start their businesses, and change their lives.

It’s official - this is a boom time for entrepreneurs and startups. The global pandemic has acted as a catalyst for more and more people around the world to take their futures into their own hands and to create their own businesses. This apparent surge in startups is attributed in part to many people being retrenched or furloughed at the height of the pandemic and starting their own businesses to take control back of their lives. The Financial Times newspaper looked at official statistics in various countries and found increases in startups were at all-time highs. In July 2020, the US recorded a 95% increase in the number of applications to start new businesses compared to the previous year. In the UK in the same period, there was a 30% increase in new businesses registered, and in France, a 20% increase which represented a historical maximum figure. In the post-Covid-19 economy, analysts are now predicting that the growth in entrepreneurship will continue, providing some positive relief from the negative sentiments coming from the corporate world. National and local economies need small businesses to launch and succeed if they are to contribute to the growing need for job creation. In the Lionesses of Africa community, the need to support women-owned startups on their growth journeys is being recognized by some of the new partnerships now being announced. September will see the launch of the Sunlight X Lionesses of Africa Accelerator programme, an initiative aimed at helping 300 women entrepreneurs in South Africa to grow their businesses to the next level. Partnerships such as these are making a difference, and Africa needs more of them if we are to create the vast number of jobs that are needed.

Smart businesses no longer just talk about giving great customer service. Instead, they aim to delight their customers, to give them a new standard of customer experience. But what does it take to delight a customer, what does it really mean? Ultimately, if you can delight your customers, you are giving them the highest level of customer satisfaction and an experience that goes above and beyond what they expect. Delighting your customers is good for them, and it is good for business. Why? Because delighted customers become loyal customers, they keep coming back, and importantly they tell other people about their wonderful experience. Delighted customers are likely to spend more, make more regular purchases, and talk about their experiences to other people, helping you attract new customers along the way. So at a practical level, what does customer delight look like and how can you replicate it in your own business? An example could be in the way you reward your customers for their decision to buy from you. This could be a small surprise gift with every purchase; or mailing out a free promotional product; or sending a birthday greetings email to your regular customers to show them how much you value them and their business. If you want to think about how you can delight your customers, let these words by the great Maya Angelou inspire you. She says, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” That’s what delighting your customers is all about!

As a business owner, knowing how to tell your unique business story is such a powerful skill to have when connecting with customers. But that story needs to be truly authentic if you are to gain the trust and loyalty of those customers. Customers today are much more knowledgeable about the products and services they are looking for, and they don’t need an ‘over the top’ marketing pitch to make them buy. Instead, they are interested in the business behind the brand, the maker behind the product, the specialist behind the service. Remember that your business story is unique to you, and it doesn’t need to be elaborate, just authentic and real. Customers want to feel they have an emotional connection to a brand and that it resonates with them. So a good tip is to share your personal brand journey, talking about how the business was launched, what inspired you, how you innovated to create your products and services. It is also fascinating for customers to get an insight into how your products are made, who creates them, if local materials or ingredients are used, and how local communities might benefit. Use such details to create a brand story that is both interesting and authentic to you. It’s also important to remember that as your business grows, so does your story, so keep refreshing it as you go and keep those customers interested and coming back to know more.

One of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs over the past year has been the disruption of supply chains and the challenge of getting raw materials into businesses and finished goods out and delivered to customers. Such disruption has posed not only a serious challenge but also a threat to many business operations. So what are the mainstream management consultancies recommending as a way out of this dilemma? Localizing local supply chains is being seen as the solution. By sourcing raw materials, products, services and expertise locally, everyone wins. Neighbourhood business eco-systems are strengthened; local businesses can keep their production going and get their goods to market; and local consumers have the opportunity to buy and support local business that in turn creates local jobs. This shift from global to local, and a rethink of business models that focus less on mass efficiency and more on local resilience, provides benefits for everyone along the supply chain.

With an increasing number of women entrepreneurs having to take their businesses online, it means that more of us are spending greater amounts of time in the digital world - and it could be impacting on our wellbeing. There are positives and negatives to this new way of living and working. On the plus side, entrepreneurs are able to maximize their productivity through digitized processes, with online marketing and communication meaning less travel time to promote their businesses to customers face-to-face. Another plus is that innovation can thrive, with team members encouraged to think about new ways of doing business and engaging with customers, or creating new and exciting products and services. On the flip side, spending more time doing business and working in the digital environment, often from home instead of the office, means less human interaction, more onscreen time, a blurring of the lines between home and work life. As business will continue to be done increasingly digitally as the world finds a way of working with the pandemic, it’s important to balance digital wellbeing with time to maintain health, personal relationships, and the role women play in greater society. So, have you checked your digital wellbeing lately?

As we all know and appreciate, technology plays an important tole in making our personal and business lives function more efficiently. We have become used to being digitally connected 24/7, ready to react, respond and comment to the never-ending barrage of messages, news, enquiries, and the sheer weight of visual content that is streamed to our consciousness each day. Being permanently connected, always-on, and exposed to an audience that might be interested in what we have to say, brings with it great responsibility. Acknowledging how the world has changed over the past year due to the pandemic, it has never been more important to make our digital connections count, but also to make those connections kinder, more decent. Just because we have an opinion about another person’s way of doing business, or the quality of their products and services, or the way we feel about their brand, doesn’t mean we should broadcast our thoughts to the world. So much of what is shared online to shame founders and their businesses could just as easily be solved with a direct note to share feedback. Let’s put ourselves in their shoes and think about how we would feel if our customers or stakeholders were using the power of digital media to constantly share their negative feedback instead of talking to us directly and giving us the opportunity to address those criticisms in person. The anonymity of the digital world makes it all too easy to criticize with impunity. So let’s take the time to remember that behind every business and brand are passionate entrepreneurs, trying to make a living, and let’s see a little more digital decency this year.

If 2020 taught the world anything it’s that you can only plan for what you know. Life has a way of interrupting the best made plans, and in the past year which has been devastated by COVID-19, businesses were caught unawares and plans had to quickly change. Today, women entrepreneurs know the value of being agile in their businesses, learning how to pivot towards opportunities whilst things are uncertain. Think about how many businesses you know which pivoted during the pandemic - there are those who moved from fashion design and creation to PPE manufacturing; or from perfume manufacturing to hand sanitizer production; all to meet a need and to create an opportunity to keep businesses going during tough times. Those businesses that have survived, and indeed thrived, during these uncertain and extremely challenging times are those whose founders have adapted their plans for what they know now. They have shifted their business offerings to meet market demand, taken their operations digital, and learned the value of the personal touch, even if only online, to ensure that customers feel connected to the brand. That way, when the global recovery becomes a reality, and life and business returns to some kind of normality, customers will remember that connection and return. So going forward, the lesson learned is to plan for what you know!

If you walk down any big retail high street in the world, the chances are good that you will see the impact of the pandemic reflected in the stores and the brand names that have now disappeared. Some of the familiar retail brand names that have been anchor tenants on global high streets for years no longer exist or have now taken their business solely online. As retail high streets have long been the heartbeat of local communities around the world, what can be done to rebuild them for the people who depend on them for goods, services and importantly, employment? Many retail experts are suggesting that the answer lies in independent shops run by entrepreneurs who bring their passion, energy, commitment and jobs back to local retail high streets. This is good news for women entrepreneurs in the retail sector who have previously been nudged out of the prime retail locations by the bigger players. Now, independent retail is being seen in a positive new light, and the solution to reinvigorating local communities who depend on thriving retail high streets in so many ways. Independent retailers, your time is now!

Some entrepreneurs are natural at pitching their businesses to potential investors, others find it hard and often stressful. But it doesn’t have to be if you follow some simple but effective tips. Guy Kawasaki, the renowned American marketing guru, author, and Silicon Valley venture capitalist, suggests following his 10-20-30 Rule of Presentation if you really want to make a pitch count. He may have created this golden rule more than a decade ago, but it still works really effectively. If you are giving a pitch presentation, and using slides to get your message across, the 10-20-30 rule says you should use just ten slides, your presentation should last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. The topics for the ten slides should focus on the problem, the solution, the business model, the underlying technology, sales and marketing, the competition, the team, projections and milestones, status and timeline, and summary and call to action. So, if you want to make your pitch work for you and help you to close the deal, then remember the 10-20-30 golden rule. Happy pitching!

There is a quiet revolution underway, brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and one that is creating a new movement of women entrepreneurs globally. The latest annual Women in the Workplace study undertaken by consulting firm, McKinsey & Co, has found that at least one in four women are considering leaving the corporate world to start a business of their own. The overall consensus from those making this move was that corporate life no longer aligns with their core values, something that became more apparent during lengthy lockdown periods spent remote working. The opportunity to give up the daily long commute in traffic, abandon the suits and heels for more casual workwear, and remove the unnecessarily long meeting schedules in the office, highlighted what was really valuable on the work front. Women instead rediscovered themselves, allowed themselves to find their passions, and make the realization that taking ownership of life by starting a values based business just made sense. These women are now building businesses that work for them, and are no longer sacrificing their aspirations and needs in the corporate world, instead creating businesses that harness their strengths and passion for what they do.

Talk to any entrepreneur who is in the retail sector and they will tell you that they are hoping for consumer confidence to return in the year ahead, whether online or in-store. But what are the global retail sector trend experts predicting for 2021, and what does it mean for all those women entrepreneurs who so badly need an uptick in sales this year? Well firstly, trend forecasters are seeing the demise of the over-represented global chain store on our city and town high streets and shopping malls. Instead, niche independent retail stores are forecast to be the enterprises that will grow in the year ahead as shoppers seek a different, safer, more individual shopping experience. Another retail trend forecast is that e-commerce will continue to grow, with independent online retail brands also getting a slice of the action. 2021 is likely to see these niche brands building bigger and more loyal customer bases by tapping into the desire for more personalized service offerings. It’s all about creating retail experiences that respond to what consumers need and feel comfortable with. So how is your business responding to such needs this year?

Scaling up a business brings its own challenges for women entrepreneurs, and one of those challenges is finding the time to focus on the things that matter most to growth and handing over key tasks to others. In other words, delegation! So what are the benefits of delegating all those non-revenue generating tasks to other skilled and experienced people when you are looking to scale up? Firstly, delegating means you free up your valuable time to focus on the business growth. Secondly, you can really harness the talent and core competencies of others, allowing them to contribute fully to the business. Thirdly, you can achieve greater efficiencies in the business if you are laser focused on growth and your team is focused on operational productivity to help you get there. As a business founder, scaling is a highly strategic, time-consuming and complex process, one that requires your full attention. So it is essential that you delegate all those tasks that do not contribute directly to the leadership role you need to take in the business.

It’s that time of the year, and what a year this has been, to think about potentially refreshing our products, services, brands, and perhaps our businesses as a whole as we get ready for the new year ahead. The act of refreshing and reinventing our businesses is part of the journey, and as entrepreneurs, we are often excited at the prospect of renewal. It provides the ideal opportunity to revisit our original purpose, to make changes in order to reach our goals, to ensure we don’t remain static. After such a challenging year, preparing our business, and indeed ourselves, for a refresh can be an exciting prospect. It can present an opportunity to learn, to grow, to experiment, to reinvent. It doesn’t mean we have to change everything in our businesses and our lives, it just means hitting the refresh button and shaking things up a little. It’s not just a good thing to do for our businesses, but also for ourselves as women entrepreneurs in order to keep our passion, our enthusiasm and creativity levels high. As the globally best-selling author and luxury brand expert, Mireille Guiliano says, “Just as established products and brands need updating to stay alive and vibrant, you periodically need to refresh or reinvent yourself." Wise words indeed!

There is a key trait that is an essential for any woman entrepreneur and that is when life knocks you down, and it inevitably will on this journey, you need to get back up and start again. You need to remember all those times you have persevered in the past. Remember how you felt and how you summoned up the courage to look beyond the immediate difficulties and focus on what could lie ahead. Remember how you gave yourself positive affirmations, telling yourself ‘you’ve got this’, and how it made you feel better equipped to deal with the tough times. It’s all about developing your mental strength. As the best selling author, Sanjo Jendayi, says, “Champions don't give up; they get up!” So when your life and your confidence takes a knock, pick yourself up, give yourself a healthy dose of positive self-talk, and get back on your entrepreneurial journey.

Steve Jobs once said the now famous words, “It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” For many entrepreneurs, there is often an inherent dread of hiring people who on paper appear to be smarter or more knowledgeable than they are in key aspects of the business. It is often a matter of ego, or an inbuilt inferiority complex that rears its head at times like these. But look at it another way - if this were a competition, you are already the winner because you have started a successful business and they haven’t. Now you are in the position of looking for great talent to help take your business to the next level. As Steve Jobs said, always look to bring smart people into your business because they will each bring something uniquely valuable, skills and insights that you need to help you realize your vision.

Across the African continent, many countries were already experiencing a jobs crisis before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and this challenge has now become significantly bigger. The UK’s Development Finance Institution, the CDC Group estimates that between now and 2030, Africa’s working-age population is expected to grow by forty per cent to 1 billion, which implies that the rate of job creation must increase by around 12 million jobs per year to prevent unemployment from rising. We know that job creation is probably the single biggest political and social priority across the continent. We also know that job creation is very near and dear to many of the women entrepreneurs across our community. They see the impacts of unemployment in their communities every day, and experience the responsibility and the pressure to create new sustainable jobs through their businesses. Many women entrepreneurs are trailblazers in this regard and have become an inspiration to others when it comes to job creation. Women such as Divine Ndhlukula, founder of Securico Security Services, who has long been the biggest employer of women in Zimbabwe outside of government. Divine, and other women entrepreneurs like her in Africa, live their mission of using their businesses to be a force for positive change, with job creation at the heart of that change.

We all usually look forward to it - it’s those final weeks of the year when under normal circumstances some of the best retail business sales are achieved. However, given the huge challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is now a rush for retailers large and small to try and make up for lost sales in these days leading up to the festive season next month. As a result, brand marketers are looking at the most effective and direct ways of reaching their customers with special offers, new product launches, tempting discounts, anything to get them into their stores, physically or online. As email inboxes and mobile message boxes start rapidly filling up with marketing mailers from brands trying to sell us every type of gift idea in preparation for the festive season ahead, it can all feel overwhelming! For entrepreneurs trying to gain a foothold in this retail madness, it’s essential to find a way of standing out from the crowd. So why not invite your customers to a free online or in-person consultation or product demonstration; organize a product launch event online or in-store; create a unique experience as a way of getting your products noticed - and importantly sold. Selling experiences, not just products, could be the way to go this year and cut through the retail noise.

Bootstrapping is a term we know all too well as women entrepreneurs. It’s the act of building a business from the ground up using personal savings in the early days until, with a lot of luck and a huge amount of hard work, those all important first sales come rolling in. Did you know that the term Bootstrapping has its origin in the early 19th century, meaning “to pull up by one's own bootstraps”, eventually becoming a well-used metaphor for achieving success with no outside financial support. Talk to the majority of women entrepreneurs who have built highly successful businesses and brands about how they financed them in the early days and the chances are good they will say they bootstrapped. Take the example of Sara Blakely, founder of revolutionary underwear company Spanx. At the age of 27, she launched her business with an innovative new product idea, a big vision, and funded it using all $5,000 of her personal savings. She even wrote a patent application and filed it herself to save on legal fees. Today, Sara still owns 100 percent of Spanx, her products are sold in more than 50 countries, she was named the world's youngest, self-made female billionaire by Forbes Magazine in 2012, and hasn’t taken a penny from outside investors to get there. She is proof positive that it’s possible to bootstrap and go big!

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly made a big negative impact on the global fashion industry this year, but the sector is still an important one across the African continent from an economic development, job creation and skills development perspective. Fashion remains big business in Africa. According to data from Euromonitor International, the combined clothing and footwear market in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to be worth US$ 31 billion. Importantly, the fashion industry is a women centric sector, providing economic development and job opportunities across the entire value chain, beginning with the smallholder farmers producing the raw materials for textile production, through to the fashion designers who light up the world’s runways with the designs we all go on to wear. As the African Development Bank says in its Fashionomics: Investing in the Creative Industries report, “At each step of the value chain, more value is added and additional jobs are created.” So this week, at Lionesses of Africa we will be recognizing the thousands of talented and hard working women entrepreneurs in Africa who are building great businesses and brands, and creating thousands of much needed jobs in the fashion sector.

We have all seen them - those television adverts that make really big promises to fix your problems without any effort. Those typical ‘lose weight quickly without exercising or eating healthily’ products come to mind as an example. For those consumers who are desperate enough for a solution but don’t want to make the necessary life changes that would fix the problem for good, these products could seem tempting. It’s the same in business - if you are struggling to deal with a problem or a pain point that is keeping you awake at night, it can be tempting to try and find a quick fix. But the bottom line is that there is no such thing - all you are doing is deferring, putting off the inevitable decision or action that needs to be taken. As hard as it is at the time to own up to and deal with any problem you are facing, it has to be done. You need to stop procrastinating, trust your instincts, and find the essential solutions to those problems for the long term. Once again, remember that there is no such thing as a ‘quick fix’.

Since March of this year, when life as we knew it changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we shop, run our lives and run our businesses has seen us transition to the ‘touchless economy’. New customer habits have been formed as a result. In greater numbers we now look online to source the goods we need. We order groceries from online retailers and have them delivered to our doors. We pay our bills online instead of going into a bank or store. And, we send money to family members online instead of queuing in person at a cashpoint. Our customer experience (CX) in this new ‘touchless economy’ matters - a lot. As business owners, we need to create meaningful customer experiences in this increasingly competitive digital economy. How do we do this? It starts with getting the basics right - good products, good prices, good quality, means good experience. It means delivering on our brand promise to our customers. It means creating memorable experiences for our customers, experiences that not only keep them returning, but also encourage them to recommend our businesses to others. In this growing ‘touchless economy,’ our businesses need to focus on a great customer experience if we are to compete and find our niche.

Have you noticed that, sometimes, the people closest to you can be the ones who are also sometimes inadvertently negative too? You know those times, when they offer unhelpful or unsolicited advice when you just don’t need to hear it. It happens to every entrepreneur at some point on the journey. But there comes a time when you need to be surrounded by people who can really empathize with what you are going through. Importantly, people who can bring some positivity into your life to counterbalance the challenges. You need mentors not naysayers; coaches not detractors; cheerleaders not pessimists. Bringing positive people into your life can help you stay the course when things get tough, whereas negative people make you doubt yourself and the choices you have made. So as difficult a decision it is to make, stepping back from the negative people on your entrepreneurial journey will not only benefit you from an emotional perspective, but your business will ultimately benefit too.

Are you are looking to take your business to the next level? Are you wondering how to move yourself and your employees in the right direction, and at speed? It might be time to introduce some new positive habits into your life and business. Many successful entrepreneurs talk about how incorporating the right habits into the business culture, and getting everyone to adopt those habits as part of their daily routines, is key to success. Business guru and author, Anthony Robbins, believes that one of the best habits you can develop is a powerful early morning routine in the workplace. Start your working day by spending 10 minutes focusing everyone’s efforts on the big picture for the business, the end goals to be achieved, and then the specific tasks to be undertaken. By creating this positive 10 minute habit every day, and allowing it to grow throughout the business, it will drive positive behaviours that are all aligned to the overall vision. Remember, it takes between 18 and 254 days for a habit to solidify in the mind, but once it is there, the rewards will follow and key goals will be achieved. So if you really want to take your business to the next level, start building these positive habits now.

What makes a healthy and rapidly scaleable company differentiate itself from the pack? The answer is a strong, positive internal culture that is led by example from the top, and bought into as a concept and a ‘way of being’ by everyone who works for the business. A great example of how establishing such a culture can make a big, bold vision a reality can be seen in the example of the tech-based digital disruptor of the early 2000s, Skype. The founders believed from the outset in establishing a unique culture that would enable a rapid and healthy scale-up. As the company evolved from startup to significant industry disruptor, the company’s unique internal culture provided the anchor. With a focus on having a global mindset, a revolutionary ambition, a distrust of hierarchy, and an absolute obsession with customers, this culture was carried by the business and all its employees across the world as it expanded. Though Skype as a business evolved as it grew into so many different global markets, the fundamental tenets of Skype’s culture remained. The lesson for women entrepreneurs to learn here is that if you want to scale your business, and take your employees along with you on the crazy journey ahead, creating a strong culture internally driven by a big vision, is essential.

The recent announcement by Microsoft that their employees will now have the option of working from home permanently in response to the ongoing impact of Covid-19, marks a rapid shift away from traditional office working and the start of a growing new trend. The announcement follows similar decisions by Facebook and Twitter, which have also said remote work will be a permanent option for employees. A Microsoft spokesperson said of the new guidance, "Our goal is to evolve the way we work over time with intention—guided by employee input, data, and our commitment to support individual work styles and business needs while living our culture.” There seems to be a consensus that the pandemic is now permanently shifting the way we work. According to a PWC survey, about 55% of employers said they expected staff to work from home at least part of the week after concerns about how the virus passes, and more than 80% of employees said they supported that idea. This growing trend on the part of these global business giants is having a positive impact on the way that entrepreneurs who choose to run their businesses from home are now viewed by big companies. There is much more understanding and appreciation of what it takes to operate efficiently and professionally in a home-work environment, and small businesses are hopefully no longer going to be viewed negatively for their choice to operate from home.

It is easy to think that giving customers large amounts of choice in the products and services they can buy from our businesses is a good thing - but is it really? Research suggests that those companies that offer fewer choices, but instead a simple, high quality, memorable experience, actually get rewarded with happy and loyal customers. It comes down to dealing with decision fatigue in the most effective way. These days, customers are continually bombarded by businesses and brands vying for their attention, either through advertising or direct marketing, each one promising an even greater range of options to choose from. It can be overwhelming for the customer, leading to decision fatigue and switch-off. The additional downside for you as an entrepreneur is that it can also mean your brand gets lost in all the market noise, as a result the customer never really gets to see what you have to offer. So when you are planning your next marketing campaign, make small changes that will bring big results, by creating simple, engaging, customer centric offers that will make decision-making easy.

Statistics globally for entrepreneur failure rates can usually make for sobering reading. It is thought that almost a quarter of business startups will not make it through their first year, and only around half will manage to make it to their fifth anniversary. The numbers get even smaller around the 10 year success mark. Interestingly, women entrepreneurs tend to find it more difficult to deal with business failure than their male counterparts, often feeling that sense of failure very personally. The end result is that women entrepreneurs have a tendency to drive themselves to achieve business success by making fewer costly mistakes, not taking big risks, and growing more patiently, all because they fear failure. What is encouraging is the level of business resilience that women show, with around two thirds of women entrepreneurs indicating they would pick themselves up following a business failure, learn the lessons, and try again. So while fear of failure is a reality and a natural part of the entrepreneurial journey, being able to harness that fear and use it as a tool for personal and business growth is what can motivate us to achieve eventual success. Now that is a skillset that women need to possess and nurture.

We perhaps don’t automatically think of entrepreneurs as being creative, unless they are working directly in the field of design or communications for example. But in fact, it is a critical factor for success in business building. Creativity is now being seen as an integral element of good business acumen - it helps to push boundaries, to open up mindsets, to free up thinking, and prevent stagnation. Creative thinking can be a game-changer in business as it plays a part in identifying potential new ways of doing things, or where gaps exist in the market for innovation. Creativity is also a cost-effective strategy to increase workplace productivity as it encourages employees to fulfill their potential and make meaningful contributions to the success of the business. It is thought that businesses probably only utilize around half of their employees’ potential by not encouraging workplace creativity. As a result, they miss out on a vast repository of creative ideas that remain untapped, instead of creating an environment where employees are encouraged to think creatively and help the business to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. So, how do you now feel about introducing more creativity into your business?

There is nothing I like better than being able to share great news that can positively impact our Lionesses of Africa community, and what better day to do it than today, on International Women’s Day. One of the biggest challenges we hear Africa’s women entrepreneurs talking about is breaking into new markets, particularly in Europe. We know how tough it can be and how daunting it can seem to get your brand noticed by potential buyers and funders, and to get access to new markets and opportunities. We also know that more data is needed by key decision-makers in Europe on the important role played by women entrepreneurs in Africa in contributing to the social and economic success of the continent. So for all these reasons and more, today we announce the launch of Lionesses of Africa BV in The Netherlands, our new Europe office. Based in The Hague, the City of Peace and Justice, we will be working to raise the voices of Africa’s women entrepreneurs, collaborating with European decision-makers and social impact change-makers on initiatives that will help Africa’s women entrepreneurs to grow and thrive. We will also be working proactively to address the data gap by expanding our Lioness Data activities from our new office in The Netherlands. We are excited about this new phase of our Lionesses of Africa growth story and how we can advance and better connect Africa’s women entrepreneurs in Europe. We look forward to sharing more exciting news over the coming weeks and months.

Have yourself an inspired International Women’s Day!

Gender bias - it’s an issue that comes up often in conversation when I speak with my fellow women entrepreneurs across the African continent. And, it’s something many women entrepreneurs will tell you they have experienced on their business building journeys. So today, as the world wakes up to International Women’s Day (IWD) at a time when there are unprecedented challenges at a socio-economic, political and humanitarian level, it has never been more necessary to advocate for a world free of bias for women. This year’s IWD theme #BreakTheBias calls upon everyone to work tirelessly and at speed to achieve a diverse, equitable, inclusive and gender equal world, one that is free of bias. I am a firm believer in the power of data to change entrenched attitudes and bias towards women entrepreneurs on the African continent, particularly when it comes to getting access to business opportunities and funding. So we have chosen International Women’s Day to launch our 100 Lionesses Business Confidence Report, financed by The African Development Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative (read more). It makes for insightful and encouraging reading on a day when we need corporate and financial decision-makers to better understand the significant impact that women entrepreneurs make to the growth of the African continent. So let’s #BreakTheBias, because when women thrive, the continent thrives.

I love to read inspirational stories of women who have beaten all the odds in their personal and entrepreneurial lives, and emerged stronger from the experiences. There is always something to learn from all those stories. So I was fascinated to listen to a podcast interview with Ramla Ali, the boxer and humanitarian, as she talked about her new book, Not Without A Fight. She has quite a story. Did you know that she is the first female Somali boxer in history to compete professionally? Or that she is the first person to have been recognised with an African boxing title and also won international gold medals while representing her country, Somalia? Ramla’s story is one that should motivate all of us as women to become our own champions, in life and in business, something she is passionate about. Arriving as a refugee in the UK, she was introduced to boxing classes, and as a result, found her strength and her voice to speak out on racial justice. Her fights in the ring taught her crucial life lessons about dealing with failure, never giving up, finding strength to tackle big challenges, and above all, endurance. For me, Ramla’s story and her key message are what resonated most with me. As women entrepreneurs, if we want to succeed in life and business, then we need to recognize that we are our own key champions, our own best cheerleaders. If we harness those beliefs, then like Ramla, there is nothing we cannot achieve.

I am often asked what inspires me personally, and I have to say that in answer to this question, waking up to a new day full of possibility inspires me the most. The pandemic has made me value every day as an opportunity, another chance to make a difference. So each new day, I am inspired anew, and I embrace it with both hands and I hope an open heart too. I like to think of myself as a proactive can-do person, so each morning when I look at the day that lies ahead of me, I am excited at what can be achieved. I know this is an attitude that I share with so many of my fellow women entrepreneurs across the African continent and the world. Over the years, I have also come to appreciate that really great opportunities don’t come along every day, so it’s important to seize them when they do and to make the most of them. After all, isn’t that what being proactive is all about? I also think that by fully embracing the unexpected opportunities that come along, it can open up completely different and exciting journeys for us as entrepreneurs. It pushes us out of our comfort zones, introduces new people to our lives, and takes us to different places or ways of doing things. Going forward, my approach to life and business is to constantly be open to new opportunities, to be proactive and embrace new ideas, and to seek out interesting, like-minded people who want to be part of my journey.

For me, a great local neighbourhood is built on lots of small, independent businesses, all owned by passionate entrepreneurs who love what they do, and importantly, also know that what they sell is needed by local residents. I am a great believer in supporting small independent businesses by shopping local. Imagine what your local neighbourhood would look like if it didn’t have its independent coffee shops, hair and nail salons, restaurants, petrol stations, corner stores and boutiques. It would be lacking in that community atmosphere, it wouldn’t provide all the things we need and want in our lives each day, and it wouldn’t be creating jobs for local people. Remember, small businesses generate the majority of new jobs in our communities, so having lots of small businesses that are thriving is a big deal. They contribute to the lifeblood of our communities and local economies in so many ways. When we published the results of our South African Women Entrepreneurs Job Creators Survey in July this year, the real impact of women business builders in addressing the jobs crisis in the country was an eye-opener. Our research found that women entrepreneur respondents in our survey were employing on average 29 employees, the “typical,” or median entrepreneur employed five staff, while the top 1% had a thousand or more employees. Those numbers add up to real impact where it is needed most, creating jobs for local people who need them to support their families and communities. So, as consumers, we can make proactive decisions to shop local, to support our local independent businesses run by entrepreneurs who want to make a difference to their local economies. As women entrepreneurs, we need to lead by example, and shop from one another, encouraging others in our communities to do the same. Let’s lead the way and start a local shopping revolution!

If you are a regular reader of my column, you will know that I start my business day in the same way each and every morning, no matter where I am in the world. I go for a long walk as the sun comes up. I find it the most powerful way of resetting my mind for the day ahead. My walk allows me to reconnect with nature and always gives me a sense of perspective, frequently leaving me with a sense of awe at what I have seen and experienced along my route. So I was fascinated to read an article by the American Psychological Association that shares my love of early morning walking as a mindfulness tool. The article promotes the idea of going for an ‘awe walk’ in the morning as one of the best ways of boosting your positivity. An awe walk is where the physical activity of walking is combined with a sense of wonder at the natural world around you. It makes you shift your focus outward instead of inward, you get perspective around your own problems and challenges, and generally feel more positive and upbeat. I can tell you from my own personal experience of doing daily awe walks that it is the most wonderful way of starting the business day, in fact any day! So do yourself a favour and start your day with an awe walk - it will make you feel ready to face whatever the world has in store for you that day. It works for me!

I am a big fan of e-commerce, not only as a consumer but also because I believe it really does open up opportunities for Africa’s women entrepreneurs to access global markets - and that can be a real game-changer for their businesses. But with the rapid rise of e-commerce activity during the pandemic, there has been an unintended consequence to all of us dashing online to make our purchases and get them safely delivered to our doors. The world is running out of cardboard packaging - yes, there is a real shortage of cardboard right now! That means potential delays for those entrepreneurs who need plenty of cardboard boxes and packaging to ship their precious products to customers. But there are ways of dealing with this problem in a more sustainable way. Just last week, I received a parcel from a small, niche clothing brand that makes a conscious commitment to being more eco-friendly along its entire value chain. The company, Finisterre, believes that single use is no use and has made a commitment to eradicate single use, non-degradable plastic at its factory. They didn’t just stop there, and their sustainable packaging commitment covers everything from the swingtag to the bag customers receive their orders in, which is made of biodegradable cellulose. Their sustainable philosophy of “Leave No Trace” is a great example of how individual, forward-thinking, socially responsible entrepreneurs can do business in a more sustainable way. It’s something we can all think about in our businesses.

Who say’s things can’t change? Ever since watching the inauguration of Joseph Biden as the 46th President of the USA, and Kamala Harris as the first Black, South Asian, and female Vice President, I have been reminded of the proverb, ‘Where there's a will there's a way’. It means if someone is determined to do something, they will find a way to accomplish it, regardless of obstacles. Seeing this powerful team’s determination to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the country and the world in their first few days in office, regardless of the barriers in the way, reminds me of how women entrepreneurs take this approach daily. Whether it’s building businesses from the ground up, without access to external finance; or innovating to find effective new solutions to challenges that exist in a country or community. Women entrepreneurs get things done and make change happen because they genuinely believe that ‘Where there's a will there's a way’. Bringing together a powerful combination of ingenuity, passion, sheer hard work, and determination, and the encouragement of fellow women entrepreneurs and supporters, they achieve the impossible. It’s a powerful reminder to us all that we are capable of more than we know, if we have a vision and harness our will to make it happen.

If you are anything like me, since the start of this new year you may have been thinking a lot about the choices we make in life, the paths we choose to take. And whether those paths are easy or hard, positive or negative, in our lives and our businesses. I know that as human beings, we are perhaps hard-wired to always think about taking the easy path, the one of least resistance. This is not surprising as life and business can be hard, and we need all the luck we can get! But another way of looking at things is to acknowledge that every challenge we encounter, every problem we have to solve, is in fact an opportunity to learn, to improve, to overcome. As I get older, and hopefully wiser, and as I continue to gain new and fresh experiences on this entrepreneurial journey, I think it is important to not always take the easy road. Instead, to look at the hard road ahead, with its uncertainty and its bumps along the way. See it as a powerful learning opportunity, a chance to experience new things, to keep pushing yourself to improve. For me, that is what this year needs to be about - choosing the paths that will lead to both self improvement and growth in the business. So the question you need to ask yourself today is which path will you take?

We all need those life-affirming routines in our busy entrepreneurial lives that allow us the time and space to reflect and get some much needed perspective. For me, it’s my daily, early morning walk in the park with my husband, watching the sun rise over the lake, and getting closer to nature that helps me to get perspective. There is nothing quite like it! Sitting with my cup of tea in a favourite spot by the water, observing the wildlife, watching people walking their dogs or going about their daily exercise routines. Just getting closer to nature, finding that precious time to stop and reflect on where I am in my life and in the business. It’s so important to press the pause button each day, and nature has a way of allowing us to do that. To remind us of our place in the universe, and that the problems we might be dealing with may seem big at the time, but in the bigger scheme of things, there is always a solution. So if you find yourself in need of some perspective, I can highly recommend reconnecting with nature - it works for me!

I was relaxing and drinking a glass of flavoured-water last week and took a moment to look at the beautifully designed bottle that it came in. It made me appreciate just how huge and competitive the designer water market has become globally, and how sophisticated the marketing and promotion of these products has become over the years. It made me remember fondly how, in the early 1980s, I sampled my first lemon scented Perrier water when it launched in the market, loving the concept and the taste. Bringing the flavoured water story back to today, I was reminded of a woman entrepreneur who became a major success story with her flavoured water brand Hint, back in 2005. Kara Goldin, the ceo and founder of the brand, launched the business to create a healthy alternative to the sugar laden fizzy drinks that she was in the habit of drinking. She had no beverage industry experience, the big industry brands laughed at her, but she knew what customers wanted from her own personal experience. Taking that knowledge, she took a leap of faith, launched her brand and her products, and today the brand has grown into a $200m operation. Kara’s experience is a good reminder to us all that sometimes it’s good to trust your intuition in business and product development.

As an entrepreneur myself and an ardent supporter of small businesses, I make conscious decisions to buy from startups rather than major retailers whenever I can. If there is one thing I know, it’s that every dollar makes a difference to a small business, but also the customer experience is so much more personal. Since the start of the pandemic, and seeing how hard hit small businesses have been as a result, one major trend to emerge is a greater consciousness on the part of consumers to support their local businesses. Like me, they have witnessed at first hand far too many small businesses in their communities have to close their doors because of the pandemic, many may disappear for ever. That’s why as consumers, we can play our part by supporting small independent businesses, choosing to buy from them instead of the big global retailers. The latest Salesforce report into consumer buying patterns suggests that there is a definite shift to supporting small business as a result of the pandemic, with 59% of consumers surveyed saying they would make conscious decisions to buy local. As consumers, we need to recognize that we have the power to improve our local economies by supporting our small women-owned businesses.

I have been doing some catch up reading over the holidays, including some fascinating articles and books written by successful women entrepreneurs from around the world. One thing they all share in common on their journeys is that they have had to be honest with themselves about their weaknesses, and importantly, find ways of turning them into their strengths. It is a reminder that there are no ‘superwomen entrepreneurs’ out there, just women who are open to learning, who are not prepared to let their weaknesses hold them back, and who turn negatives into positives. All these women identify that the first step is to be honest with yourself, identify those weaknesses, and then look at what needs to be done to address them and turn them into positive ways of thinking and doing. Treat your weaknesses like items on a ‘To-Do-List’, rather than insurmountable challenges, and actively create a plan to address each one. Look for mentors who can help you to learn by example, and keep an open mind to learning from them continually. Our weaknesses may have been blind-spots in the past, but the start of a new year is the best time to finally turn those weaknesses into strengths and assets.

Welcome to the first full working week of the new year and I for one am truly excited at what lies in store for us all. Yes, there will be challenges, we know this - how can there not be after all that the world has been through in the last twelve months? But I think we are all looking forward to better times ahead, to making things happen, to making a difference. I don’t know what New Year’s resolutions you have made, but mine is to make every day count. I have come to appreciate perhaps more than ever that every single day we are given is a precious gift and one that we have an obligation to make the most of. So I intend to do just that, starting each day by taking a moment to pause and be grateful, and to make a difference through my words and my actions. How will you make the most of the gift of time this year?

Who would have thought that one of the few positives to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic would be that more women have been inspired to turn their passion projects into home-based businesses? It is one of the fastest growing forms of startup globally right now. If you think about it, perhaps this trend shouldn’t be that much of a surprise after all. Women are now seeing the possibilities to not just explore the creative freedom that their passion projects bring, but they are also seeing that they can turn those ideas into a source of additional financial revenue into the home. Not only that, but they get the opportunity to do more of what they love whilst in the comfort of their own home surroundings, being able to fit the business into home and family life. So many successful global businesses and brands started out life around the kitchen table at home, such as Jo Malone’s luxury perfume business which was eventually bought by prestigious cosmetics company, Estee Lauder, or Suzie Walker’s multi million dollar nutritional snack bar business, Primal Pantry. From small ideas hatched over a cup of tea in the kitchen at home, can big businesses and brands grow with the right kind of vision and passion driving them.

I am often asked what makes women owned businesses so different from their male counterparts when at face value they offer the same products and services, delivered to the same customers. My answer is often the same, and I really do believe it’s one of the traits that separates women-owned businesses from the pack - women put their hearts into the business, for them it’s personal. Women entrepreneurs build businesses for many different reasons, but whatever the inspiration or reasons for taking the leap into entrepreneurship, it tends to be done heart and soul. It makes sense when you think that to launch and run a successful business, you have to give it everything you’ve got. It’s not simply a business, a product or service, it’s personal, it matters. That philosophy and approach also reflects on, and is shared by, employees who work in your business, creating a heart-centered business culture. It doesn’t mean that because you have put your heart into the business and the work you do that you are vulnerable as a result. Instead, it makes you more connected, more resilient, and importantly, it makes others connect with you and your business on a much more personal and emotional level.

One topic of conversation that always comes up when I spend time chatting with fellow women entrepreneurs is defining what success looks like - and everyone has their own opinion and way of measuring that success. For some, success means having the financial freedom to be able to stay creative, innovative, to take risks. For others, success is about being able to build a business and a legacy that can take care of family and community for years to come. But one thing that many women I talk to seem to agree on when it comes to defining success is that it cannot be measured simply by materials things - such as the size of your bank balance, or the car that is parked in your driveway, or the number of overseas holidays you are able to take each year. Instead, they see success as being measured by the impact they can make in the world, by being able to lead by example and make a difference, by inspiring other young women who come after them. So, how do you measure your success as an entrepreneur?

I love it when I read a story that is truly inspirational, and this week one such story popped into my daily news feed that I just have to share with you all, because it’s a reminder of how family businesses can get through crises by taking the long view. There is a family owned mochi seller in Kyoto, Japan (mochi is a small rice flour cake) that is 1,020 years old. Yes, you read that correctly, a family business that is over 1000 years old!. It has seen and survived many crises in its time, from wars and plagues, to natural disasters and the fall of empires. Ichiwa, which is today run by Naomi Hasegawa the latest generational member of this family of entrepreneurs, endures because it sells only one product, does it incredibly well, and believes in putting tradition and stability over profit and growth. Ichiwa’s business model offers some interesting learnings to so many other small businesses. Ultimately, the family’s number one priority for the business is carrying on. Each generation is like a runner in a relay race, passing the baton to the next generation to continue. So what is the secret to this business longevity? According to Naomi, she says, “To survive for a millennium a business cannot just chase profits. It has to have a higher purpose.” In the case of Ichiwa, their purpose was to serve a local shrine’s pilgrims with delicious snacks. A lesson to inspire all of us who want to build a legacy business and take the long view!

During the past year, in the absence of being able to travel to see and hear inspirational speakers and writers who I admire and regularly follow on my own personal business journey, I have found myself listening to more podcasts to inspire me. Podcasts are a great way of feeling closer to those whose work you admire and hearing them speak in their own words about their own experiences in life and business. There is so much we can learn from others, and there is nothing quite like hearing advice at first hand. Podcasts make us feel like we are engaged in a conversation, that we are gaining unique insights from those who inspire us that can help us on our own journeys. They become our own virtual coaches, boosting our confidence levels, reminding us that everything is possible, that we can achieve our goals. So, if you haven’t yet switched on to the joys of podcasts, I challenge you to open your minds, take a listen to those who inspire you, and let them guide you on your own entrepreneurial path.

How do you judge innovation from your perspective as an entrepreneur? Is it when you see something being created which is genuinely novel and unique? Is it when you experience a genuine ‘wow factor’ at the sight of a new product or experience a very different kind of service? Often, something that appears innovative in one country or region may in fact be commonplace in another. That innovation may have been inspired by a traditional way of performing a task, but completely reinvented using new materials or technologies to create something that feels uniquely different. What I love about our Lionesses of Africa is that every day we share the stories of women entrepreneurs who are genuinely pushing boundaries with their innovations. Today’s Image of the Day story is one such example, featuring the work of two pioneering and innovating women entrepreneurs from South Africa. Natalie and Kim Ellis, founders of The Joinery, have been making waves and exciting consumers with their Future Felt™ textiles made from recycled plastic bottles. Not only are they contributing an eco-manufacturing solution to a major plastic waste problem, but they are also creating desperately needed jobs for women in their communities. Now that’s how to judge innovation in terms of impact!

I often hear discussed that there are not enough women-led high growth businesses in Africa. That women are reluctant to scale. That women are risk averse. That women lack the ambition to go big. So I put these questions to a panel of successful, high growth women entrepreneurs at the recent Women and the Changing Face of Entrepreneurship in Africa Conference that we cohosted with Harvard University’s Center for African Studies. Each of my panelists were already great examples of women entrepreneurs demonstrating the counterpoint to all these questions, having successfully taken their ambition for their businesses and scaled them to enviable heights. However, they all had interesting insights to share on the subject of scaling. The consensus of opinion was that, although many women entrepreneurs today start out with a big dream for their businesses and with growth on their minds, the reality is very different. Often the barriers to scaling a business can be just too great, meaning that all too many women owned businesses never fulfill their growth and impact potential. The flip-side to this situation is that there are also many women entrepreneurs who are quite content with staying small, building a business that fits around their family life, without necessarily a vision to take it bigger. This is particularly the case with women solopreneurs who choose to build a business that employs just themselves and not other people. The fact is that growth and ambition mean different things to different women entrepreneurs, and there is room for everyone to follow their own individual path to success, however that looks to them.

I never fail to be impressed by my fellow women entrepreneurs who passionately share my belief that we can change lives through our businesses in so many ways. I regularly share a cup of tea and a chat, now virtually over a Skype or Zoom link of course in these challenging times in the world, to talk not just about business but also about philanthropy. I really do believe that for the majority of women entrepreneurs on the African continent, philanthropy is in their DNA. They may not recognize it as such, but they are passionate about giving back and committed to creating social and community impact through their businesses. They also recognize the opportunities that their entrepreneurial experience creates for them to personally make a difference to other people’s lives. They do this through their philanthropic initiatives, the foundations they launch, and the lending of their voices to causes they believe in. It reminds me of a great quote by Melinda Gates who says, “If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember also that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped.”

Don’t you just love it when you see women entrepreneurs who are bucking the trend and managing to grow and thrive, despite all the challenges surrounding them? I know I find it personally really inspirational, and it sends a clear message to everyone that opportunities for growth can present themselves, even in the most difficult times. So here is some encouraging news for all women entrepreneurs to take note of. Recent data published by Beauhurst in the UK indicates that female-led, high-growth companies have been disproportionately impacted throughout the pandemic. However, despite this impact, more than 60 per cent of female-founded, equity-backed businesses are now operating with minimal disruption to their business, showing that female-led businesses are fighting back. How are they doing this exactly? Well, it appears to be a combination of factors including: rethinking business models; harnessing the power of technology and digital platforms to reach their customers and undertake their work; and also embracing remote working for their employees. It seems to be working, so let’s see how more of us on the African continent can buck the trend by rethinking our strategies, pivoting our business models, and looking at the way we utilize our people.

Some women entrepreneurs are born collaborators, whilst others need to be persuaded. But the one thing I can say with confidence is that when women entrepreneurs do collaborate, creativity wins. During one of our exhibitor group chats at the start of the Absa Lionesses Xpo last week, I was encouraging everyone to use the platform as a way of getting to know one another, to build new friendships. Importantly I also invited all the women entrepreneurs there to think about ways to collaborate, to share their considerable expertise and experience to innovate, to get creative. It was an invitation taken up quickly and with great enthusiasm by many. One of the first to step forward and express interest in a possible collaboration was Vicki Bain, founder of the South African/Belgian artisanal chocolate brand, Chocoloza. She was inspired to reach out to Sarah Kennan, the award winning distiller and founder of Leonista, who turns South African grown agave into a unique product similar to Tequila, or Mezcal. At Lionesses of Africa, we are now waiting in eager anticipation to see if this potential creative collaboration results in a new limited edition range of Leonista spirit filled, handcrafted luxury chocolates. Watch this space Lionesses!

This past week, I found myself thinking about the well-known proverb, “Every cloud has a silver lining,” meaning that no matter how challenging things might seem to be, there is always hope or something good to be found in every negative situation. I was reading an article on how it is always possible to find sources of strength, things that bring you joy, or a greater a sense of clarity, even during the hardest of times. So, I thought I would share some of these insights with you this morning, just in case you need to find your own silver linings right now. Firstly, when a situation or period in your life is difficult, you might be tempted to think you can’t get through it - but the reality is that we are more resilient than we think we are and eventually we will emerge stronger for the experience. Secondly, when you experience difficulties in your own life, you become more compassionate towards others, because you feel their plight too. Thirdly, you discover who your real friends are when times are hard and it allows you to develop a greater sense of gratitude for those who stand by you through the good and bad times. So, you see how it really is possible to find that silver lining, even in the toughest of times.

I am a great believer in the idea that if you put a group of like-minded women entrepreneurs together, you make things happen. Ideas are shared, challenges find solutions, business gets done. On Thursday last week, you may have seen that we launched to the public an exciting new impact-driven initiative - the Absa Lionesses Xpo. This virtual, interactive exhibition platform aims to showcase and connect 117 South African women entrepreneurs from a wide range of business sectors with corporate buyers and decision-makers. It couldn’t have come at a better time. The aim is to provide a tangible and innovative way of addressing the challenge for women to access new market opportunities, particularly after so many businesses have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic this year. However, what was really interesting to see unfold was these 117 women entrepreneurs coming together as a mini-community before the Xpo actually went live to the public. They started reaching out to one another, doing business with each other, assisting one another with social media marketing, and finding ways to collaborate on new products and services. It was wonderful to see, and again reinforces my belief that when women entrepreneurs come together in a community, things happen. After all, that was my philosophy when starting Lionesses of Africa six years ago, and it is why we are still growing today!

As I have got older, I find myself becoming more curious, in stark contrast to my childhood. I am becoming more open to possibilities outside my usual field of vision or experience. I am interested in finding new ways of doing things, or building my knowledge banks on a wealth of different subjects, or trying new things that can enrich my personal life and business experiences. It is all too easy for us to get into a rut, particularly when we are busy building our businesses. We have a tendency to focus simply on the day to day challenges and tasks that need to be done. We get used to doing things the same way out of habit or unwillingness to change. We often want to achieve a different outcome, but intrinsically know that unless we step out of our comfort zones it is not going to happen. Personally, I find that the more curious I become, the more new ideas flow, the more ‘aha’ moments I experience, and the more interesting my entrepreneurial journey becomes. It reminds me of the well-known quote, “The future belongs to the curious.” I couldn’t agree more!

Talking to so many successful women entrepreneurs over the years about what drives them on their journeys, one of the responses I hear most is it’s their clear sense of purpose that motivates them. I often speak about how important it is to know your “why” as an entrepreneur, and ultimately that ‘why’ is your purpose. The reason I am personally so inspired by my fellow women entrepreneurs who really know their purpose in life and in business, is that it makes them supremely focused. They know what they want to achieve, they have key goals, they understand what it will take to realize those goals, and they are prepared to do the hard yards over many years to get there. That sense of purpose keeps driving them through the good times and the challenging times, such as those we are going through now. Purpose driven entrepreneurship, although it has been around for a long time, seems now to have found its moment in the world. As we deal with the lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and we adapt to a much-changed business environment, our personal sense of purpose will help to carry us through. In the words of best selling author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur Jack Canfield, “If you can tune into your purpose and really align with it, setting goals so that your vision is an expression of that purpose, then life flows much more easily.” Wise words indeed!

I am a great fan of other successful women entrepreneurs, particularly those who build solutions to challenges or problems that we can all use as consumers to make our lives and businesses better or more efficient. When reading about these women or meeting them in person, and hearing at first hand their unique business building stories, I learn something from each of their experiences that I can apply to my own entrepreneurial journey. I firmly believe that we are never too old to be inspired by others, or to learn something new, we just need to be open to new ideas and ways of doing things. So this week, I loved reading the story of Julia Hartz, the co-founder with her husband Kevin of Eventbrite, the highly successful event ticketing platform, which incidentally we use every day at Lionesses of Africa. She shares a philosophy that resonates with me, and that is to not waste precious time theorizing about life and business, but instead to go with ‘gut feel’ and just start building. It worked for us at Lionesses of Africa, and it certainly worked for Julia - she launched the business whilst pregnant with her first child, worked in cramped conditions in the early days to get the business off the ground, and learned all aspects of the business as she went along. The approach paid off and in 2018 the company filed for a US$ 200 million IPO. Proof positive that seeing a gap in the market and then building a business solution to fill that gap from the bottom up, works.

My own personal leisure habits, like so many other people’s, have had to adapt to the Covid-impacted world we live in. Whereas in the past, I would have spent my precious leisure time visiting an art gallery or attending a concert to see a performance by a favourite artist or composer, today all my leisure experiences are virtual. One thing I have noticed is that this virtual world has made me more open to trying new things. For example, so far this month I have attended a virtual masterclass by a leading author; a classical concert; and a contemporary dance performance, all streamed to my laptop. As much as I miss the thrill of the live performances and can’t wait until I can attend them safely again in person, I have become a big fan of live streaming and the virtual experience. From a business perspective, our recent collaborative “Women and the Changing Face of Entrepreneurship in Africa” Conference in partnership with Harvard University’s Center for African Studies, which was streamed via Zoom and Facebook Live, was a great example of making an important event accessible and available to everyone in our community as it happened. It is a reminder to all of us, as entrepreneurs, that it is easier now than it has ever been to create memorable experiences that connect our businesses and our brands with our customers.