We hear so much about the importance of having a personal brand, but what does that really mean? Put simply, your brand is your reputation, which is the culmination of almost everything you have ever done and said. As Amazon’s Jeff Bezos says, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
Read moreConfronting the friendly giant called “The Media” as an entrepreneur
The media sometimes comes across as a scary monster. Being a visual thinker, I always imagined it to be a big creature sitting behind a desk chewing papers. To sum it up in one word…it seemed intimidating. As of late and out of my personal experience as an entrepreneur, I can safely say…the media is and can be a friendly giant.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Pheliswa Nomdatya: Just believe!
Pheliswa Nomdatya, co-founder of Ndima Yam NPC (South Africa)
Just believe!...
"Know your talents and strengths. Know what you are good at and what your talents are. Utilise your abilities and stay positive. Most of all, just believe!"
- Pheliswa Nomdatya is the co-founder of Ndima Yam NPC in South Africa, an organisation that provides financial educational training to the low-income population in communities to enable them to experience a greater degree of financial freedom. Pheliswa is a Certified Psychological Coach from the South African College of Applied Psychology (SACAP) and has a natural ability to bring out the best in others. She has experienced the power of collaboration and believes that this is the best approach to assist clients in achieving their goals. Pheliswa is a humanitarian and activist at heart and is passionate about her work in the community.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Charmaine Ngobeni: Believe in YOU!
Charmaine Ngobeni, co-founder of Conté Creatives (South Africa)
Believe in YOU!...
"...there is no such thing as a man's world. Do not allow that "term" make you feel insecure and less confident, or give you the idea that you are not in charge or enough of a leader. I advise you to take that idea you have stored up in the back of your mind and apply yourself. I believe that all ideas are great ideas as long as you start. Even if you fail, you've already succeeded because you actually "started" something. The only way you can truly fail, is to fail yourself by not believing that you can start something of your own and reap the rewards of that passion-filled project. Ultimately, always BELIEVE IN YOU!"
- Charmaine Ngobeni is the co-founder of Conté Creatives, a brand styling and consulting agency in South Africa. Charmaine is highly talented, driven and flexible creative designer completed a Degree in Illustration and Digital Imagery from Parsons The New School of Design in New York. She has a passion for the Arts and all things creative.
Read moreQuote of the Day by Chinwe Ohajuruka
Chinwe Ohajuruka, founder and CEO of Comprehensive Design Services (Nigeria)
".... the entire world and especially the African continent is waiting for the rise of the African woman. The rise of the hardworking, passionate African woman, who is so tenacious, and does what she has to do each day without complaining or expecting a reward - we need to support, encourage, reward and nurture these women. The world is waiting for we women with our passion and our creativity, our inability to look at suffering, and our desire to make a difference, to rise up and take charge."
- Chinwe Ohajuruka is the founder and CEO of Comprehensive Design Services in Nigeria. Chinwe is a US-based architect who splits her time between the US & Nigeria working on sustainable housing development projects. She is a passionate championof green building solutions for Africa and she engineers and builds affordable green houses that are both energy and resource-efficient.
Read moreQuote of the Day by Ethel Cofie
Ethel Cofie, founder of Edel Technologies (Ghana)
"I think one of the challenges is that women don’t have enough mentors that really do push them beyond their comfort zones, encourage them to dream bigger, to think bigger, and to really supersize their dreams."
- 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 been featured 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 moreEntrepreneur Advice from Mogau Seshoene: Surround yourself with like-minded women
Mogau Seshoene, founder of The Lazy Makoti (South Africa)
Surround yourself with like-minded women....
"Get started - asap! With the little knowledge, experience or capital you have, get started. Ask for help. There are various mentorship programmes, look them up and make use of them. Surround yourself with like-minded women who can provide a nurturing support system, because tough times will come and you will need to be able to draw strength from sisters."
- Mogau Seshoene is the founder of The Lazy Makoti in South Africa, providing intimate and informative cooking lessons for the modern Afropolitian who would like to learn the lost art of preparing favourite authentic South African dishes. Mogau pivoted from a career in finance to pursue her passion and today has a team of 4 people who handle the entire process, from design to delivery of the cooking merchandise, as well as television shows and social media.
Read moreThe importance of creating an engaging and ethical company culture
As entrepreneurs, what are your thoughts on the company culture you are creating in your own business? Bottom line is that every company should promote an engaging and ethical company culture. This will not only create a happier workforce, but we know that happy employees are productive employees and will therefore give you the competitive edge.
Read moreESSENTIAL READ: The Conscious Entrepreneur - A Guide to Maximizing Your Potential for Success, Freedom, and Happiness by Laura Cannon
Laura C. Cannon
In her book The Conscious Entrepreneur, author and coach Laura C. Cannon teaches you how to harness your unique gifts and the power of your own consciousness to maximize your satisfaction - and deepen your enjoyment - of your business and your life.
Read moreFuneka Bango, a South African entrepreneur on a mission to create great fitting clothes for professional women with curves
Funeka Bango, founder of Pride Journey (South Africa)
Niche South African clothing brand, Pride Journey, designs, produces and sells exclusive ready-to-wear pieces for professional women with curves to ensure a perfect fit and comfort while maintaining a graceful sense of style.
Read moreTracy Mulei, a Kenyan logistics entrepreneur providing customers with a new approach to delivery services
Tracy Mulei, founder of Shujaa Delivery (Kenya)
Finding the gap in a key marketplace is always a positive factor when starting a new business, and for Kenyan entrepreneur Tracy Mulei, founder of Shujaa Delivery, this gap came in the form of specialist courier services. Today her company is bringing a much needed delivery service to Nairobi’s business and consumer community.
Read moreOwn your calendar
“You are what you repeatedly do, then achievement isn’t an action you take but a habit you forge into your life. You don’t have to seek out success. Harness the power of selected discipline to build the right habit, and extraordinary results will find you” – Gary Keller, The One Thing.
Read moreNo business owner is immune to overwhelm
Do you ever feel like no matter how much you get done in a day, your to-do list keeps getting longer and longer? In a culture and society that’s obsessed with being busy and “swamped” with work, I often hear something along the lines of this from women entrepreneurs: “I’m so overwhelmed I don’t know what to do next.”
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Robertinah Nzula: Embrace positivism
Robertinah Nzula, founder of The Tianar Models (Kenya)
Embrace positivism....
"As a female entrepreneur, my advice to fellow women is that they should follow their hearts and give a deaf ear to all the negative energy thrown their way. Embrace positivism and never compare your own journey to that of others. Yours is unique."
- Robertinah Nzula is the founder of The Tianar Models in Kenya, a company that discovers and nurtures raw talent in modelling, art, dance, music, poetry and theatre, and event management. Robertinah is on a mission to become the first ever modelling NGO in Africa, creating a platform for community empowerment, women’s empowerment, and youth mentorship. She has always been a entrepreneur at heart and on her way to achieving a 1st Class Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree she used to juggle her student commitments with her entrepreneurial activities.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Teresa Nanjala Lubano: It takes Passion, Drive and Persistence
Teresa Nanjala Lubano, founder of The Nanjala Company (Kenya)
Passion, drive and persistence turn desires into reality....
"I believe that if you are passionate, have the drive and just keep at it, the universe just makes you gravitate towards realising your desires. I think women have the backbone to achieve so much as we are intuitively wired to nurture. We just need to focus on what we want to achieve, lock onto it and go for it!"
- Teresa Nanjala Lubano is the founder of The Nanjala Company in Kenya, an online store that creates and collaborates to deliver one stop solutions for design, customized gifts items and eye catching potted plants. All of Shop Nanjala’s work is locally sourced and made in Kenya.
Read moreAre you geared up to scale?
Every entrepreneur has at sometime or another probably daydreamed about their business or their new product becoming a huge hit, or even better an overnight success story, with customers beating a path to the door to buy what’s on offer. And, it sounds fabulous in principle. But in this fast paced world where social media can instantly take a product or business viral, bringing with it instant customer appetite, that quick success can also bring challenges. How many startup businesses are ready to instantly scale to meet customer demand? Are essential resources in place, is the supply chain geared up, are staff trained to cope with this rapid scale in the business? Chances are the answer to all those questions will be no. And whilst entrepreneurs are incredibly resourceful and resilient in the face of such challenges, the pressures to meet supply and demand can be huge without preparation. So, its better to make a plan from the start when it comes to being ready to scale your business. Question is, are you ready to scale?
Read moreQuote of the Day by Joy Ndungutse and Janet Nkubana
Words of wisdom for African women: "We are very proactive. We are strong women. We are great managers. We are great policy makers. We can be a great force for Africa.”
- Joy Ndungutse and Janet Nkubana, co-founded Gahaya Links Cooperatives 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. The women started weaving baskets in exchange for food. Initially bringing together about twenty women, the sisters taught them how to weave and how to enhance their weaving skills with new design techniques. Today, Gahaya Links manages a network of over 5,000 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 Sarah Collins: Have the courage to believe in yourself
Sarah Collins, founder of Wonderbag
Have the courage to believe in yourself....
"The Wonderbag journey has not been without its fair share of hurdles. Having the courage to believe in myself, even when the chips are down; facing the naysayers who predicted failure from day one and hiring too quickly and firing too slowly have all been hurdles that I have had to overcome. Also thinking people with smart degrees and foreign accents have the solutions to scaling the business has proven just not true on more than one occasion! I learned this the hard way. You need dogged determination, a very high pain threshold, and incredibly close friends to hold the safety net as you’re definitely going to need it when you fall, and you will fall - you have to - because it's a part of the journey."
- Sarah Collins is the founder and CEO of Wonderbag, a simple non electric slow cooker which works in mud huts in Africa to Manhattan apartments, possibly one of the only cooking devices that is globally relevant! Sarah is a South African adventurer, entrepreneur, and lifelong social activist. She thrives on challenges and has worked tirelessly over the past two decades to inspire change in the realms of gender-equality and environmental sustainability.
Read moreEntrepreneur Advice from Thato Kgatlhanye - Women entrepreneurs must take themselves seriously as business leaders
Thato Kgatlhanye, founder of Rethaka (South Africa)
As women entrepreneurs we must take ourselves more seriously....
"Women don’t take themselves seriously enough, so when we start talking about startup companies that women today are leading, we tend to talk about the types of businesses that people expect women to be involved with. Often, the talk is not around crunching the numbers - we need to be talking more about the net asset values of our businesses; let’s talk more about what our balance sheets look like and actually start taking our businesses seriously."
- Thato Kgatlhanye is founder of Rethaka, a woman-owned South African business that is focused on improving the world around them. Through their green innovations such as the Repurpose Schoolbags, they redefine societal problems into solutions. Thato makes it her business to uncover sustainable opportunities that create a far-reaching impact for low-income communities, with a particular focus on children and women.
Read moreEVENT REPORT: Women’s Month in South Africa kickstarted with a Lioness Lean In Breakfast event in Durban
Every year in the month of August, South Africa celebrates National Women’s Month, and to support this commemorative initiative, Lionesses of Africa headed to Durban on 1 August to host one of its popular Lioness Lean In Breakfast Events. As always, the event was powered by Standard Bank and hosted at its Kingsway conference centre in the heart of Durban. At the event, women entrepreneurs representing all sectors of business and industry, gathered for a morning of inspirational startup story sharing and great networking.
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