the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
by Sylvia Walker
To say that it’s a tough business environment right now is an understatement. While many of us are trying to put food on the table, others simply have no income. Adaptability is key and we have to rethink how we operate our personal as well as business finances. New circumstances are creating a new normal for us. Some tips and pointers as to how to adapt and switch our thinking.
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From the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
The above is a quote in an FT article by the highly successful outgoing UBS CEO, Sergio Ermotti (he is off to Chair SwissRE) and was on our desks when we arrived this morning. Given the coffee-grain fingerprints, there was only one possible person who could have left this and indeed the HoF (Head of Finance) was deep into the FT (as well as a 3rd cup of coffee) as we walked over to discuss.
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Impact Partner Content: Absa / by Hwalani Mabaso, Provincial General Manager, WIMI Distribution, Absa RBB
Today we operate in a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA), therefore personal and business agility is increasingly important. Business agility refers to a business owner’s ability to adapt and thrive in a changing environment that demands constant adaptation.
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Impact Partner Content: Absa / Absa Forex
Keep your business in balance with these foreign exchange (FX) strategies for COVID-19 and beyond. Right now, the only thing that’s certain is uncertainty. As any entrepreneur will tell you, the COVID-19 pandemic – with its lockdowns and downturns – has brought confusion and volatility to almost every aspect of doing business.
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From the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
Tuesday morning means one thing in the Lioness Hub, the Head of Finance (HoF) makes us think outside the box, takes us away from whatever we are doing to watch or listen to something slightly different and thought provoking. It is apparently (according to the HoF), as important as occasionally walking shoe-less on grass, as it ‘grounds’ and ‘nourishes the soul’.
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by Thato Mokhothu-Ramohlanka
If there is one thing we can all agree on it is that the year 2020 has been challenging. With many countries around the world going through protracted government induced lockdown periods, businesses, relationships, and our personal wellbeing have been put under immense pressure. As the global economy slowly reemerges from the constraints brought about by the lockdown, our resilience and fortitude will continue to be tested well into next year.
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From the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
It was looking like it was going to be a quiet day in the Lionesses Hub. It was 9:30am, the Head of Finance (HoF) was deep into a third coffee, all was as normal. But was it? Emerging from the darkness that is the Finance PowerRoom (as the HoF likes to call it!), we were shocked to hear the announcement, “Retail is Dead. Long live Retail!” boom across the stunned room.
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Impact Partner Content: Absa / Absa Forex
Whether you’re sending or receiving money cross-border, investing offshore or planning a trip (post-lockdown, of course), here are the facts you need to know about foreign exchange (FX).
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by Kathy Mann
I love learning. It’s part of who I am and I’ve realized that life does not seem right unless I’m expanding my knowledge or skills in some way. It’s easy to satisfy this need in a full-time job and as an entrepreneur as there are always opportunities to create new offerings and collaborations.
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From the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
Tuning into the fabulous Harvard/Lionesses of Africa ‘Women and the Changing Face of Entrepreneurship in Africa’ Conference this week, and seeing all our friends from the 100 Lionesses Club (we really must change that to ‘Celebration’, not ‘Club’) made us think of one legend of a Lioness who went to Harvard, (who’s short, simple yet very effective obituary we recently read from A16Z in their September newsletter here), who led before us creating the pathway for so many of us to follow. Sadly recently departed, the one and only RBG, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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From the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
Last weekend, we looked at ‘Lean Transformations’ and within that we pointed out that McKinsey had shown that 70% of transformations failed due to no buy-in from or a failure to carry these important stakeholders: Board, Management, Employees (and not necessarily in that order).
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From the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
We ended last week by introducing the term ‘Lean organisation’. To create more value for customers with less resources. What you are aiming for is to provide perfect value to the customer through perfect value creation with zero waste. As we pointed out ‘perfection’ cannot be attained, but by aiming for perfection, so we get incredible results…
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from the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
So last week we looked at easy wins on the Sales side to reduce your Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and who would have thought that one of the easy wins, in automating the process of sending out invoices, would have such a huge impact!
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by Paula Quinsee
With the majority of people working from home these days, there are less team and one-on-one interactions with the majority of communications being done almost entirely online. Some concerns that are already being flagged in organisations are that of: "employees are increasingly disconnected and as a result, projects can take longer to complete. New hires are failing to integrate effectively and young professionals can take longer to professionally develop without mentors at hand or behaviours to emmulate.”
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From the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
The Head of Finance (HoF) waltzed into the office this morning and called us all together. “Time to come down from the incredible high of the VW Lionesses Den and crack on with our Business Unusual take on business in difficult times! So let’s look at one of my favourite topics! - Crisis Transformation.”
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by Gercia Sequeira, CEO and cofounder of ITIS
I can't change the direction of the wind or the tides, but I can adjust my sails to rich my destination - Confucius
Suddenly everything changed, and the worst of all nightmares was the increasingly palpable uncertainty! And the voice that screams in every entrepreneurial woman’s heart is that, a time of crisis is a time of opportunity. It seems like a “cliché”, unreachable. However, it allowed us to identify the harsh reality. We weren’t prepared! Schools, supermarkets, people, the government, nobody was prepared.
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by Elizabeth Otieno
Earthquakes, locust infestations, food wastage and shortage, Forest fires, park fires, mismanagement of funds, police brutality, and don't get me started on the Covid-19 pandemic. When historians finally write about the year 2020, it will most definitely sound like a horror story lifted from the pages of an Edgar Allan Poe or a Stephan King novel. Nothing from the year feels real, and yet here we are reading this on our laptops, from the safety of our homes with our masks nearby. Even though it feels like a pre-apocalyptic era, it doesn't mean we should live in a state of constant melancholy.
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by Kulani Shiluvane, Founder and Chief Consultant, Shiluvah
I recently came across the term Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) and as someone that works and owns a business in the Human Resource space this term immediately sparked my interest, especially with regards to how this concept could be used and benefit the workplace.
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From the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
So as we turn into the home stretch we have these left:
The Product
The Customers
Business Model
The Marketing Plan
The Ask
The Team
and finally
Company Overview
Mission/Vision of the Company
by Wuraola Ademola-Shanu
An Interview With Amba Eyang-Ajaikaiye on Digital Marketing For Fempreneurs.
A lot of businesses set out in the New Year with high goals and projects. Unfortunately, COVID-19 struck and many businesses were caught in the “crossfire” with only a few surviving and pivoting to remain relevant in the game. One thing is for sure though: the pandemic has made many businesses realize the importance of leverage digital/online marketing.
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