In the last 6 months, I have been broken by the passing of two dear entrepreneurs and the critical hospitalisation of one. If a distinction is not made on the importance of self-nurture, the body and mind take the biggest knock and who will run the business when that happens? The things that matter need minding and it is time the entrepreneur pauses that business button and presses the mind me button.
Read moreOwn your Time
I’m sure we’ve all had conversations about how quickly the year is going. When we are heading towards the end of the year, we start getting ready to put the old behind us and start preparing for the new. It’s a time of shifting away from old and unhealthy patterns and creating space for newer, healthier practices.
Read moreWhat is holding us back as women entrepreneurs?
I’ve coached and worked with hundreds of women entrepreneurs making between $75k and $750k in revenues, and in my book Million Dollar Women I profiled women who successfully built multi-million dollar companies. When only 3% of women entrepreneurs are reaching $1M in revenues, we know that the women who make it “big” are more the exception than the rule. So exactly what is getting in our way of catching up with men in turning our business ideas into ones that make bank?
Read moreQuote of the Day Tara Fela-Durotoye
"Mentorship is important and you can’t go wrong if you are counselled rightly from someone who is indeed worthy to be called a mentor."
- Tara Fela-Durotoye is a Nigerian-born lawyer turned Africa's leading beauty and makeup entrepreneur. She started House of Tara at the age of 20, from her living room, whilst an undergraduate at university back in 1998. She's since gone on to launch Nigeria's first ever bridal directory in 1999, and in 2004 she opened the country's leading beauty academy. Today, Tara has over 3,000 reps spread across Nigeria and 14 stores to her name and she is steadfastly dedicated to realising her vision of building a globally respected beauty company of African origin. Tara remains an inspirational role-model and mentor to make-up artists and aspiring beauty business owners across Africa.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Thabisa Mjo: Persevere and adapt
Thabisa Mjo, founder of Mash.T Design Studio (South Africa)
Persevere and adapt....
"Just do it. And listen, listen to your critics, listen to what your customers are saying. Persevere, adapt and don't be afraid to ask for what your time and or, products are worth."
- Thabisa Mjo is the founder of Mash.T Design Studio, a South African interior design firm, specializing in design for the retail and hospitality sectors, and has recently branched out into furniture design. With her background in television set design and interior decorating, Thabisa decided to launch her own company, Mash T Design Studio, in 2013. Thabisa employs up to seven additional people whenever the job calls for extra sets of hands.
Read moreMozambique’s leading women entrepreneurs set to inspire and connect at the 3rd Lioness Lean In Breakfast in Maputo
Mozambique’s women entrepreneurs are making positive waves as they continue to build successful and sustainable businesses, some of which are beginning to capture global market attention. A new generation of young women is also being inspired to follow in their footsteps in the country. So to celebrate the achievements of all those women entrepreneurs who are putting Mozambique on the global map, and to further inspire this new generation to build successful businesses of their own, Lionesses of Africa and Standard Bank will be hosting the 3rd in a series of highly popular Lioness Lean In Breakfast events in Maputo this month.
Read moreQuote of the Day by Esmeralda De Souza-Obwaka
Esmeralda De Souza-Obwaka, founder of Spez Limited (Kenya)
"When opportunity comes knocking, do not ask it to come back another day! Take it and RUN!"
- Esmeralda De Souza-Obwaka is the founder of Spez Limited in Kenya, a premium outside catering service operating under the brand 'Spez' and they also create decadent cakes and pastries under the brand 'The Missing Slice'. Her culinary journey began at university where Esmeralda began baking small cookies and sold them at a nearby restaurant. Today, her thriving business boats a client list that includes many of the leading corporates and multi-nationals in Nairobi.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Njeri Rionge: The buck always stops with you as an entrepreneur
You must take responsibility for all aspects of your business....
“When you’re in business you are responsible for the good, the bad and the ugly, pay attention at all times and take responsibility for all that you and your organization does throughout its tenure.”
- 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. She co-founded internet service provider Wananchi Online that has since been transformed into Wananchi Group Holdings – one of east Africa’s leading providers of pay-tv, broadband internet and VoIP services. Today, she describes herself as a global citizen doing business with internationally trained experts from Africa and the African diaspora. Njeri leverages global abilities with local needs and offers 'glocal' expertise to champion African business opportunity.
Read moreQuote of the Day by Jessica Bonin
Jessica Bonin, founder of Lady Bonin’s Tea (South Africa)
"Failure is the only way that you learn and it’s absolutely necessary."
- Jessica Bonin is the founder of Lady Bonin’s Tea, a Cape Town-based company that blends and distributes organic loose leaf teas sourced direct from farms that use sustainable farming practices and are community driven. The teas and herbs, by their source, are exceptionally high in quality, improving nutritive content and flavor density. Tea is Jessica’s business, her passion and her practice.
Read moreEugénia Langa, a Mozambican entrepreneur making waves in the construction sector with her dedication to high quality procurement and logistics
Eugénia Langa, founder of Nweba (Mozambique)
The construction sector in Africa is traditionally a tough sector to enter, and a complicated one from a procurement and logistics perspective. However, for entrepreneur Eugénia Langa, founder of specialist company Nweba, this is a challenge she is meeting head-on, providing the best procurement and logistics management practices and risk management to her clients.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Ola Orekunrin: Getting your business funded can be really tough
Getting your business funded can be tough....
"It’s the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, without a doubt. Now my company is actually running I can laugh at all the times I spent carrying my laptop around sourcing for funding and coming home in tears."
- Dr. Ola Orekunrin is a medical doctor, helicopter pilot and the healthcare entrepreneur founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria, West Africa’s first Air Ambulance Service. She's dedicated to bringing trauma care to the most remote parts of Western Africa and her company, an air ambulance service based in Lagos, is doing just that. She was motivated to start the company after her younger sister tragically died whilst traveling in Nigeria as a consequence of there being no medical air service available to transport her to hospital. Ola graduated as a medical doctor from the University Of York in the UK and is a member of the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine.
Read moreQuote of the Day
"I admire anyone who turns what they believe into a reality, despite the obstacles along the way."
- Khanyi Dhlomo is the 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 into 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 moreMariana Agness Francisco Eria, a Mozambican entrepreneur turning her passion for flowers into a contemporary floral design business
Mariana Agness Francisco Eria, founder of House Of Agness (Mozambique)
The art of flower arranging has a long and beautiful history, but today has been taken to a whole new level as floral gifting and interior decoration has become part of our everyday lives. For Mozambican entrepreneur Mariana Agness Francisco Eria and her floral design business, House Of Agness, this represents a wonderful opportunity to bring her unique floral design aesthetic to her customers.
Read moreQuote of the Day by Janet Nkubana
Janet Nkubana, co-founder of Gahaya Links Cooperatives (Rwanda)
"We take pride in the fact that we are a socially responsible firm and believe that giving back to our community and sharing our wealth of knowledge and experience is the only way of building a healthy and economically sound future."
- Janet Nkubana, co-founded Gahaya Links Cooperatives with her sister Joy Ndungutse shortly after the Rwandan genocide ended in 1994. These inspiring sisters had a vision to turn ancient basket weaving skills into a source of livelihood for thousands of rural women. Many of the women, like Janet and Joy themselves, were returning refugees or survivors of the genocide. Today, Gahaya Links manages a network of over 4,000 weavers across the country, organised into around 52 cooperatives that help provide much needed income and stability. The sisters have successfully opened the business to international markets, partnering with the likes of Macy’s, Walmart, Oprah Magazine, and Kate Spade. Today, Gahaya Links "Peace Baskets” are sold and admired the world over.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Emma Kaye: Choose your team very carefully
Emma Kaye, founder of Bozza (South Africa)
Choose your team very carefully....
“You can see your company turn in a heartbeat from just a couple of bad people. So the most powerful thing for me is choose your team very carefully because your team is you. Always employ people who are far better than you at what you do, and empower them.”
- Emma Kaye is the founder of the Cape Town-based company, Bozza, a Pan-African digital music distribution platform that provides African artists a formal platform to promote and sell their work. Bozza offers a service that is trusted and transparent, enabling artists to connect with fans who want locally relevant content via their mobile devices or desktops. It is the platform to discover the next generation of talent. Emma Kaye has a number of other seminal and enduring business and industry ventures to her name.
Read moreEsmeralda De Souza-Obwaka, a Kenyan entrepreneur taking her flair for creating delicious patisserie and creating a leading food brand in the country
Who doesn’t love a decadent slice of cake, or a platter of beautifully crafted pastries, enjoyed with a cup of coffee or created for a special occasion? Kenyan entrepreneur, Esmeralda De Souza-Obwaka, founder of Spez Limited, is building a culinary name for herself in the patisserie world with her deliciously decadent brand “The Missing Slice.”
Read morePesika Odera, Winnie Ochieng and Doreen Okal, three Kenyan entrepreneurs creating a beautiful natural soap brand
Winnie Ochieng, Pesika Odera, and Doreen Okal
Many entrepreneurs are driven not only by passion, but also a desire to make a difference, particularly when it comes to creating employment opportunities in local communities. In the case of the Kenyan natural soap manufacturing company, Wipedo Ltd, its three women founders are not only creating world class natural soap products, but also creating employment for others, extending the value chain of this unique and proudly Kenyan brand.
Read moreSea, Salt and Sand
There’s something breathtaking in the shimmering beauty of a moving blanket of water and foam that seems woven together by microscopic gems of different hues. Spread across a vast expanse of space the body of water moving rhythmically swaying gently to its own tune, to its own invisible authority. The breadth, depth and width of the sea inspires supernatural possibility in our measured humanness, thinking beyond the immediate on what we can envision, what is possible, what can be. This great expanse that kisses the edge of the horizon unearths desires for equaled greatness lying within us. Picture the scene of designs that can be visualized, dreams that can be realized, and concepts that can be materialized. There’s something freeing and foreboding about the sea all at once.
Read moreOn the journey to wealth, consider this important step first!
On your journey to wealth, you have decided to take the jump or the first step and that is already gutsy. It takes a certain kind of mindset to decide that you want a better life for yourself or family, and all that is necessary now is to get going! But wait....there are many things to consider.
Read moreESSENTIAL READ: Real Tales of a Mompreneur - True Stories of Babies, Business and Balance by Kendra Garcia
Kendra Garcia
There is an art to attempting to balance the challenging demands of motherhood and career, and it only gets more strenuous for those mothers who decide to take the risk and bank on their business idea. The demands and pressure of that lifestyle are extremely difficult to understand without actually experiencing it. In her new book, Real Tales of a Mompreneur, author and business coach Kendra Garcia tells it like it is.
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