Start as you intend to finish....
"Start as you intend to finish. Too many times we cut corners in the beginning so that when we finally succeed we are embarrassed by things we did when we were just starting out. Register your company, pay your taxes, and leave nothing to chance."
- Thiitu Karega is the founder of Binti Naturals in Kenya, a beauty company that makes organic hair and body products from natural oils and extracts found on the African continent. Thiitu is trained in International Relations and Management and worked for 10 years in the corporate world before start her beauty company. Her goal is to become a premier organic beauty company built on the values that African beauty is historically known for.
Read moreTran Thi Viet, founder and managing director of Viet Trang Handicraft in Vietnam has been announced as winner of the 2016 Empretec Women in Business Awards by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at a ceremony in Nairobi on 21 July. Five African women were included among the 12 finalists for the awards that celebrate exceptional micro and small businesswomen who have benefitted from Empretec, UNCTAD’s global entrepreneurship training network. Their businesses and their contribution to the socio-economic development in their countries is well worth celebrating.
Read moreWe've spoken in previous newsletters about the strategy of the flower - making sure that your core service or product is surrounded by a set of world-class services (the petals of the flower) to make up a compelling "whole product". But, it's not enough to just build your flower. You must also make sure that your company and its "flowers" are well positioned in the total ecosystem of your industry.
Read moreThere is not a single entrepreneur out there that doesn’t experience stress along the journey to building a successful business and brand. The challenge is in understanding and managing that stress. In her new book Stress Gone!, emotional change catalyst and author, Bridget Edwards, provides a really practical guide for all those entrepreneurs who need to deal with stress on a day to day basis.
Read moreOn 21 July, around 70 of Johannesburg’s women entrepreneurs representing all sectors of business and industry, gathered for a morning of inspirational startup story sharing and great networking at the latest in the highly successful series of Lioness Lean In Breakfast events. As always in this popular Lioness Lean In destination, the event took place in the city’s Rosebank district at the Standard Bank Business Incubator in Rosebank, where the surroundings create a great entrepreneurial vibe for all those attending.
Read moreCreatives and their work need to be seen to be appreciated, and often finding the right outlets and platforms to achieve that visibility is tough, particularly in Africa. One entrepreneur, Amanda Sibiya, co-founder of Conté Magazine is looking to change that, by creating a high quality, content rich publication and accompanying exhibition event that aims to put the continent’s creatives on the map.
Read moreThe world of public relations and brand positioning is a highly competitive one, particularly on the African continent, but Mary Njoki, the founder of successful Kenyan PR firm Glass House PR, is determined to be an industry leader by building a foundation of innovation and creativity.
Read moreChanging perceptions and creating opportunities are objectives at the heart of The Tianar Models, an organisation created by Robertinah Nzula, a Kenyan entrepreneur on a mission to make a difference to the lives of others. She is not only changing an industry sector for the better, but she is empowering young people to follow their unique career and life paths.
Read moreMany women entrepreneurs in Africa are inspired to create businesses as a way of not only fulfilling personal ambitions and goals, but also of creating solutions or products that can help others. Binti Naturals is one such company that is looking to make its mark on the African beauty scene and provide natural beauty solutions for women who want an organic alternative.
Read more"There is power in having a vision, but it has to be articulated and be made a reality."
- Khanyi Dhlomo is the founder and Managing Director of Ndalo Media, which she founded in 2007. She is also the founder of DestinyConnect and the founding editor of Destiny Magazine. Before starting her own media company, Khanyi was editor of True Love magazine for eight years. In 2013, Khanyi ventured in retail and launched Luminance, a high-end fashion and lifestyle department store. Khanyi was named most influential woman in South African Media by The Media Magazine in 2003 and made the 2011 Forbes list of 20 Young Power Women in Africa.
Read morePublished on Jul 19, 2016 --- Gathering leaders from business, civil society, Government, the UN and academia, the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit highlighted how the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a tremendous market opportunity for business and other stakeholders to innovate, invest and collaborate to create a more sustainable future for all. In this video is Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu the Founder and Executive Director of soleRebels.
Read more"The most crucial lesson I have learned as an entrepreneur is that you must have a never-say-die attitude."
- 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 moreMany women in Africa struggle to find well made, proper fitting, beautiful lingerie that has been specifically designed and crafted for larger bust sizes. But now, one Kenyan company is providing a solution in the country. Double Dee's is designing and retailing a beautiful new range of lingerie for women with larger breasts, and as a result, making a name for itself in the marketplace.
Read moreYour business is stuck, bogged down, cannot move forward... That’s when many of my clients come to me, so this week we’re going to look at how a de-coupling strategy can help some ventures to move forward.
Read moreStarting your own business is one of the most empowering things you’ll ever do, especially if you’re a woman. It’s also one of the most challenging. This is something that author and entrepreneur Melina Druga knows only too well. Her new book, Enterprising Women: A Practical Guide to Starting Your First Business aims to help aspirant women entrepreneurs to overcome some of the initial hurdles and challenges that can prove the hardest in the early months and years.
Read moreEvery fashion designer dreams of one day having their designs worn by the stars and photographed at red-carpet events, and for Johannesburg-based clothing brand builder, that dream is already starting to come true. Kendi Sapepa may be in the early days of creating a brand to be reckoned with, but already her designs have graced the red carpet of the prestigious SAFTAs, the South African Fashion and Television Awards. This is a brand to watch in the future.
Read more"The truth is, for every stereotype of corruption or extremism you hear of, there are a million motivated and driven Nigerians who add value and impact positively in and out of Nigeria."
- Deola Sagoe, leading lady of African fashion, is a haute couture fashion designer from Ondo State in Nigeria. Deola has been at the cutting edge of high fashion since 1989 and became the first black woman to present a collection at AltaRoma, Rome’s celebrated fashion week, back in 2004. Her "globally appealing" style has earned her an enviable clientèle that ranges from Africa's first ladies, to society girls like Lydia Hearst, top model Alek Wek, and famous personalities such as Oprah Winfrey.
Read more“In my experience women and men suffer the same experience; the only difference is that women have more responsibilities. As a player in the business world, you are still expected to be a mother, wife and homemaker. That increases the number of things you are responsible for. Men in our African culture, all they do is business and everything else at home is taken care of.”
- Njeri Rionge is one of Africa’s leading entrepreneurs and one of the very few women pioneers in the ICT sector on the African continent. This serial entrepreneur founded numerous companies including co-founding the internet service provider Wananchi Online, one of east Africa’s leading providers of pay-tv, broadband internet and VoIP services. Today she splits her time between strategy consulting, speaking engagements, and investment work, either personally or through one of her portfolio businesses. Her focus is on working with SMEs and entrepreneurs to grow indigenous businesses that can be scaled across Africa.
Read moreThe environmental issues confronting Africa today are well documented. The issue is pressing, but where will the solutions come from? In Africa, many of the innovations to solve Africa's most pressing environmental problems are emerging from women. Specifically, from young women entrepreneurs who are successfully linking sustainable business to environmental consciousness and concern for societal well-being. This is the basis for a new wave of women-led ecopreneurship taking root in Africa, resulting in a new generation of women-led startups with environmental consciousness at their core.
Read moreMany women entrepreneurs in Africa are inspired to start their businesses because of a personal passion, and in the case of Kenyan entrepreneur Shikha Vincent, her jewellery design company SHIKHAZURI, was motivated by just such passions. Her fascination with ethnic and tribal jewellery from across the African continent, combined with her desire to support wildlife conservation in her country, resulted in the creation of a jewellery brand with a strong backstory and purpose which is resonating with customers at home and abroad.
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