Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer....
"Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer, and be persistent. There have been many times in my adult life when someone else has said “It can’t be done”, “It won’t work”, “You can't do that”. If I feel strongly about something, I am relentless in finding a way, sometimes an unconventional way, to make it happen. You have to have tenacity. The social enterprise sector is tough. Rejection is far more prevalent than success, and being tenacious is fundamental."
- Kristine Pearson is the Chief Executive of Lifeline Energy, a pioneering social enterprise that designs, manufactures and distributes solar-powered and wind-up media players and radios for classrooms and community listening groups. Kristine has led Lifeline Energy strategically and operationally in the US and South Africa since 1999. Previously, she was an executive with a large South African banking group. Kristine is a fellow of the Schwab Foundation of the World Economic Forum, serves on the Women’s Leadership Board of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and was named a Hero of the Environment by Time magazine. She is the 2005 recipient of the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award.
Read moreAfrica has always had a strong tradition of storytelling, but today stories need to harness the power of all types of media, both traditional and digital, to reach and connect with every type of audience. The talented South African media entrepreneur, BusaBuntu Roaring, founder of BusaBuntu Pictures, knows and understands this dynamic all too well and is leveraging her extensive knowledge and experience of all aspects of the media to tell powerful stories that resonate.
Read moreThere is something much more powerful than advertising, and that is word of mouth - the power of your customers telling their friends and family about your business and your products because they love and believe in them. Word of mouth advertising often results in more sales over a longer period of time than traditional forms of paid media. So why exactly is that? Well, customers who become brand advocates have the greatest impact because their opinions are not for sale, and therefore are more believable. A McKinsey study a few years ago showed that word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20-50% of all purchases, and therefore is a highly influential form of advocacy when a customer is buying a product for the first time. If you think about it, this makes sense. If you are looking to buy a new expensive product, who would you trust more? Your friend or family member, who uses the product and recommends it, or an advertisement designed to sell it to you? As a business owner, your goal is to convert leads into sales, but it’s also to get the most from every customer. This means turning customers into your best brand advocates. It won’t happen overnight, brand loyalty and advocacy takes time, but it is well worth the journey.
Read moreToday, more and more consumers are making ethical and responsible decisions about the products they purchase, their sustainable footprint, and their community backstory. As a result, the marketplace for pure, organic and sustainable products, particularly in sectors such as beauty and skincare, is growing. Africa Grace Botanical Skincare, the brainchild of entrepreneur Charlotte Steenekamp, is a great example of a socially and environmentally responsible company and brand being created in Africa that is making a difference.
Read moreI’m consulting in the winelands. The estate has ambitious plans to create a virtual online community with all sorts of measures of engagement. I’m not sure this is a good idea…
Read moreWhat do entrepreneurial titans Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos all have in common, apart from being grouped together as some of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time? Well, they are all introverts, which may seem astonishing at first glance. In her book, The Introvert Entrepreneur, author Beth Buelow, looks at the steps that introverts can take to harness the power of their natural abilities and talents, such as listening, and channel them to help overcome the challenges they face in their day to day entrepreneurial journeys.
Read moreA personal mission to find a simplified skin care regime for women of African descent, led to entrepreneur Leslie Okoye launching her own line of holistic skincare products specifically created for women of colour. Today, her company, L’Okoye Cosmetics Inc. and her CookieSkin specialist skincare range, is providing a way for women to build confidence in their skin and to create flawless complexions.
Read moreTenacity, determination and passion are all unique attributes that to towards describing entrepreneur Jacqueline Rogers, the founder of the exciting maternity wear company, Label of Love. She is genuinely on a mission to create the most beautiful clothes that make any mum-to-be feel special during this important time in their lives, whilst at the same time designing each garment to be comfortable, practical and long-lasting. Her brand is winning fans in large numbers who have been on the look out for maternity chic wardrobes that make them feel and look great.
Read moreHave the confidence to follow your own design instincts....
"I think there is a lot of copying and insecurity in the creative industry, so people often aren’t secure enough to follow what they have designed and be comfortable with who they individually are. I would advise them to stop looking at Pinterest and other people’s design blogs and actually focus on who they are as designers and creative people, and that is where the individuality and uniqueness lies. From there you can go on to create products that are needed in the world and that people can enjoy, and customers will appreciate the authenticity of your brand and your products."
- Karin Rae Matthee founded Cape Town-based Dear Rae Jewellery in 2010. She crafts jewellery that celebrates the beauty and ease of simplicity and this translates into functional jewellery that can be worn every day. Karin studied a BA fine Art (Jewellery and Metal Techniques) at Stellenbosch University and then advanced her studies at the Pforzheim Hochschule in Germany. All of Karin's pieces are lovingly hand-crafted in her in-store studio under the watchful gaze of customers.
Read more"Dream big, keep on trying, this is our time. This is Africa’s time."
- Ethel Cofie is a Ghanaian-born entrepreneur and founder of Edel Technologies. This techpreneur is passionate about technology, female leadership and empowering women entrepreneurs. Ethel is a Mandela Fellow for President Obama’s Young African Leaders initiative(YALI), and has beenfeatured in BBC and CNN for work in technology and women leadership. She is the founder of Women in Tech Ghana, initiator of the 1st Pan African woman in tech meetup and was shortlisted for the UN GEM Tech Award for her work supporting women in ICT.
Read moreSometimes it's best to simply get started....
"Everyone starts from somewhere, so just start, get your business idea out there - it is better to have a product or business with feedback than a perfect one without."
- Zeze Oriaikhi-Sao is thefounder and owner of Malée Natural Science, a healthy luxury fragrance and body care range created in South Africa in 2010 inspired by the beauty and wealth of breath taking landscapes, wildlife, culture and history of Africa. Zeze combined her passion for pamper treats with her love for the African continent to create her business. She studied for a Masters in International Business at Grenoble graduate business school before launching her startup.
Read moreHow to start up with limited capital....
"I started at the very basic and that is the module I have kept and practised over the years. We really never needed to raise capital. It’s been basically about re-investing in my business and not taking much money out…. we started very small and very basic and we only spent on things that were really necessary and not things we would like to have."
- Nkemdilim Begho is founder and Managing Director of Future Software Resources Limited, an IT solutions provider focused on online solutions, e-learning and IT security. As one of a few Nigerian women in the industry, her success is founded on a passion for driving innovative thinking, building a globally recognized technology brand and setting trends in the Nigerian Technology space.
Read moreThe Keroche Foundation, the brainchild of Keroche Breweries CEO, Tabitha Karanja, whose 18 year journey to create the first truly Kenyan owned beer manufacturer has become a celebrated benchmark for locally owned businesses in Kenya and Africa, has announced it will spend about Sh20 million to mentor nine young and established entrepreneurs in the second phase of its business academy.
Read moreTo commemorate Earth Day on 21 April, Nigeria’s inspirational social entrepreneur, Bilikiss Abiola, founder of WeCyclers, teamed up with Uber to create an innovative new campaign called ‘operation recycling unwanted waste’. The campaign was launched to be in effect throughout Lagos, in line with the initiative of Uber and WeCyclers to promote a clean and healthy environment.
Read moreWhen women succeed, we all win. That’s the premise of Breaking Through, a great new book by Martine Liautaud, one of France's pioneering female investment banking executives and entrepreneurs. Women are: the majority of the world's consumers, the engines of entrepreneurial growth, roughly half of the world's workforce, known to be risk takers and innovators, and the developers of new approaches to business. Still, they do not occupy enough of the top jobs in business, and they are underrepresented among the most successful entrepreneurs. Breaking Through is the complete guidebook to mentoring women for ceiling-smashing success.
Read moreFollow your heart....
"Follow your heart, go with your gut, don’t be afraid of a NO, just keep going. Remember at all times to remain upbeat, that is my own personal mantra. Because it is difficult, and there are major struggles as an entrepreneur, but if you are passionate about what you do, and you are doing something that you love, then the money eventually comes."
- Victoria Verbaan the founder of Victoria Verbaan & the Smoking Daxi is an established designer, artist and illustrator. She works in a wide variety of artistic disciplines ranging from illustration and painting to the design of bespoke rugs, wallpaper, limited edition fine art prints, fabric and more recently, ceramics. Her commissioned artwork and fabric can be seen in local and international homes as well as restaurants and boutique hotels. Wallpaper Magazine recently named her as 1 of 20 reasons to visit South Africa.
Read moreFor decades, the world’s discerning shoe lovers have turned to European and US design labels to satisfy their desires for beautiful, handcrafted shoes - but now, Africa is staking a claim on the global footwear map, thanks to a new generation of trendy and creative designers from the continent. Their bold and innovative designs are grabbing attention and winning new fans.
Read more"Africa needs far fewer charity brands and much more of its own powerful brands whose global equity it can leverage for its own good. Most importantly in the creation of the prosperity that comes from well-paid, sustainable jobs. Good jobs mean people can afford to finance their own solutions and not wait for a handout to do so."
- Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu is founder and Managing Director of soleRebels, the world's fastest-growing African footwear brand and the only Fair Trade-certified footwear company in the world. Growing up in a poor suburb of Addis Ababa, Bethlehem decided that there was only one way to defeat poverty – use local craftsmanship to make products that can compete in the global marketplace. She decided on footwear and today 70,000 pairs of shoes leave her factory every year. soleRebels has been expanding rapidly and today exports to no fewer than 45 countries and is targeting 50 stand alone soleRebels retail stores across the United States by 2018 and 500 worldwide by 2022.
Read moreWomen entrepreneurs understand the power of the media to reach communities and to provide essential communication and education to both adults and children alike, in particular to women in remote communities. Kristine Pearson, the founder of Lifeline Energy, knows only too well how much of a lifeline radio can be, hence the name of the enterprise. By harnessing the power of solar, she is creating access to radio to millions of listeners who would previously be denied the opportunity - she is a real game-changer on the African continent.
Read moreInterior design company, Mash.T Design Studio, is on a mission - to create beautiful spaces. Inspired by its creative founder, Thabisa Mjo, the company prides itself by continuously providing its clients with highly creative solutions to their spatial challenges. The company is constantly working to solidify its status as a design company synonymous with cutting edge, inspired design.
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