by Clare Appleyard, founder of Katannuta Diamonds
Four years ago, if you’d asked me what I did for a living, I wouldn’t have a straight-forward answer for you. Quite simply, my answer would have depended on who was asking. I was the classic entrepreneur who didn’t want to put all her eggs in one basket; a euphemistic term for somebody who just had her fingers in too many pies.
My main business has always been Katannuta Diamonds, but there were a few other things bubbling under too. 4 years ago, my partner Davina (now excelling with her new business Power Paws) was running “Katannuta Wellness”, offering corporate wellness solutions to small and medium companies. The business was, to put it mildly, floundering and I was helping wherever necessary, contributing to motivational talks, stress management sessions and even measuring employee BMI’s at wellness days.
I was also an independent representative in a network marketing company, directing a significant amount of my time to group presentations, company training events and coffee shop presentations.
Then, there was the half-hearted effort I was putting into helping two other jewellery industry businesses, one a wholesale diamond trader, the other a titanium ring manufacturing company.
These last roles both required “old-fashioned” selling which saw me driving around Pretoria and Johannesburg, visiting jewellery store after jewellery store, showing stock, discussing prices and trying to close sales. It’s time-consuming legwork that drains you both physically and mentally.
Then, Davina closed Katannuta Wellness, which left me juggling 4 businesses. The diamond trader I was helping emigrated, leaving me with 3 businesses.
Katannuta Diamonds was limping along, but I knew it wasn’t reaching its full potential and I knew I could be doing so much more with it, if only I could focus. This is where I found myself at the beginning of 2018 when Lionesses of Africa nominated me to be part of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women Mentoring Programme.
The mentorship programme matched me with a mentor in India and the guidelines for the programme were strict – Madhu and I had to meet online (via Skype, or WhatsApp video calls) for 2 hours each month, for a total of a year. Essentially, I had a complete stranger who was generously willing to give me 24 hours of her valuable time, over the course of a year, to help me grow my business.
It was there and then that I realized that I had to be 100% committed to Katannuta Diamonds to honour the time, energy and expertise that Madhu was offering me. So, I quit the network marketing business. However, I could still see some potential in the titanium business, and I wasn’t quite ready to ditch that just yet. Besides, it was at least still a jewellery related business, right?
The impact of the mentorship on Katannuta Diamonds was nothing short of incredible. The first thing Madhu made me do was to look at our sales figures for the previous 3 years, something I’d never done before. The figures painted a shocking picture; we were going backwards, and sales were declining.
By the end of the 2018/2019 financial year, we had a 50% increase in revenue over the 2017/2018 and a meaningful collaboration with fellow Lioness Vicki Bain of Chocoloza. Whilst being immensely grateful and proud of what we’d achieved, I realized I still had a distraction from Katannuta Diamonds.
The titanium jewellery business was still there, nibbling away at my time and energy. I was still having to deal telephonically and via email with retail jewellery stores wanting to know where their ring orders were.
Frustration was creeping from all sides and I was starting to resent my role in this business – someone else’s business. Why wasn’t I putting all my focus on Katannuta Diamonds?
The niggling thought at the back of my head was wondering that if we’d had a 50% revenue increase whilst I was still being distracted by the titanium business, what would be possible if I had only Katannuta Diamonds to focus on, for the first time in 12 years?
In December 2018, I quit helping the titanium business and threw every ounce of energy, focus and enthusiasm into my own business. My only business. The results have been nothing short of remarkable and we’ve seen another 50% growth in the current financial year.
To me, that’s the power of focus. My only regret is that I didn’t find my focus earlier. If only I’d stopped dabbling in other “projects”, where would Katannuta Diamonds be now? That’s something I’ll never know but if there’s one thing I know for sure now, it’s this: distractions and sideline ventures will limit your growth.
Be relentless in narrowing your attention, energy and focus into your primary venture, and watch it explode. What is distracting you from your business right now? Eliminate those distractions and then let us know what miracles happen 12 months from now.
Clare Appleyard is the co-founder of Katannuta Diamonds, a bespoke jewellery manufacture company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Formed in 2007, Katannuta Diamonds has established itself as one of South Africa’s leading independent jewellers, with a strong reputation for excellent service, quality workmanship and competitive prices. Graduating from UCT with a Master’s degree in geology, Clare gained valuable diamond experience working for global giant De Beers, before expanding and developing her interest, knowledge and skills into the world of polished diamonds and gemstones. Passionate about diamonds, gems and consumer education, Clare is building a strong, proudly South African brand and is committed to helping fellow female entrepreneurs do the same.
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