the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
Denise Duffield Thomas
For all those who are feeling burned out by their businesses, or sick of the 'hustle and grind' culture of their industry, then Denise Duffield Thomas, author of Chillpreneur thinks there's a better way! She suggests it’s time to get over your perfectionism and embrace the flow of the Chillpreneur.
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by Laura Camacho
You’ve been told that the most effective speech or presentation is focused on the audience. Here’s a tool to help you do that. The result is that your audience feels alignment with you and is more likely to accept your message. The tool is called Feel Know Do.
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by Aleshia van der Ploeg, Director, VDP Legal Consulting
Do you know your business? I mean, do you REALLY know your business? Do you know what your finances look like or does your accountant simply handle that? Do you know what money is coming in or going out every month and are you actually making a profit? Do you know what contracts you have entered into, what the actual terms are and how long they are valid for? Are your tax returns up to date or do you assume your accountant is responsible for that too?
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Aissa Dione, founder of Aissa Dione Tissus, Senegal
Senegalese entrepreneur and textile designer, Aissa Dione, has made it her lifelong mission to revive her country’s ailing textile industry, and in the process, create products that are highly desirable the world over.
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Rethabile Phoofolo, founder of 360 Communications (Pty) Ltd (Lesotho)
Every successful company knows that it’s essential to have great customer insights backed up by solid research data in order to stay ahead of the market. And in Lesotho, that’s where 360 Communications (Pty) Ltd comes in, headed by Rethabile Phoofolo, an entrepreneur on a mission to turn great data into valuable market information for her customers.
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Kirsty Savides, founder of Wriggle and Rhyme (South Africa)
Children instinctively love music, but one South African entrepreneur is harnessing the power of music to give children’s brains a full workout. Wriggle and Rhyme, the brainchild of Kirsty Savides, is a business teaching children to embrace music and movement as part of their development.
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by Phindile Dhlamini
Reflecting on this reminded me of the importance of intentionally setting an inclusive framework as I put together the pieces (people, places and projects) that I would like to include in my life in 2019.
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Rinat Keinan
If you have a product idea and want to start a new business or you just want to significantly increase revenue and expand into new areas of activity, The Pipeline Guide by Rinat Keinan can help you do exactly that. The Pipeline Guide is an 8 action item guide, based on many years of marketing experience in global industries and working with startups.
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by Claire Holden, Empowerment Coach
How many hats do you wear? How many roles do you fill? As an entrepreneur you’re a business owner and likely a finance manager, marketing director, accounts receivable clerk and operations manager too. Many of you will also be a wife, mother, daughter, sibling, team or group member, friend, volunteer…. The list goes on! The risk is that we spread ourselves so thin trying to be all things to all people, that we fail to prioritise the things that are most important to us personally and to our businesses. So, how do we change this? How do we cultivate a life where we clearly articulate our goals and set clear action plans in place for success?
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by Claudia Castellanos, ceo, Black Mamba Chilli
I believe most entrepreneurs agree on the fact that we could have chosen something easier to do in life (in fact I am convinced most of us are masochistic). From the sheer excitement of closing a great deal, to the doom of realizing you don’t have enough cash flow to pay salaries for your employees in a given month, being an entrepreneur is an eternal roller coaster. The levels of stress and anxiety can become intolerable some times. And those are the times when you need to be reminded that everything will be OK and that all your effort and hard work will pay off eventually.
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by Karen Wessels, founder of SnappSales and VA Connect
Sales really does get such a negative reputation sometimes, and I get it - most of us have a bit of a skewed understanding when it comes to sales, so we would rather steer clear than truly harness our sales powers.
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Jazeera Suwani, founder Say it with Chocolate (Kenya)
Just try!...
Jazeera Suwani, founder of Say it with Chocolate (Kenya)
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Magda Wierzycka, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sygnia Asset Management (South Africa)
Magda Wierzycka, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sygnia Asset Management (South Africa)
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What better way to start the year than with a great Lioness Lean In event for women entrepreneurs, and the first event in what will be an exciting programme for 2019 took place in Johannesburg on Friday 8 February. Over 100 women business builders came together to share, inspire and connect at the impact partner host venue for the event, the Volkswagen SA headquarters in Sandton.
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Dieketseng Mangope, founder of Grace Wedding Supplies (South Africa)
As everyone knows, one of the most stressful occasions can be a wedding. There are huge expectations, big dreams to fulfill, and everyone is emotional. That’s where great wedding planners and specialists come in. For one South African entrepreneur, Dieketseng Mangope, founder of By Grace Wedding Supplies, other people’s big days are where she comes to the rescue and takes all the stress away with her specialist wedding supply and event management services.
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Keren Pybus
Ethical Apparel Africa is a company co-founded by Keren Pybus based in Ghana and Benin, working with international brands who are interested in growing a manufacturing base in Africa with a positive social and environmental impact.
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Carrol Boyes, founder of Carrol Boyes (South Africa)
Carrol Boyes is an iconic South African designer who has built a global brand. She founded Carrol Boyes (Pty) Ltd in 1991 combining her artistic flair and talent in sculpture with her jewellery experience to create an extensive range of distinctive homeware, giftware, flatware and table top products. Today, her company designs and manufactures a meticulously crafted product range of well over 1000 items and sells over a million items every year. Products are always imbued with Carrol's trademark artistic flair and finesse. The brand is available through her 35 branded shops in South Africa and in over 30 other countries around the world.
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Sheryl O’Loughlin
In Killing It, the former CEO of Clif Bar, Co-founder of Plum, and serial entrepreneur Sheryl O’Loughlin offers insights about launching and growing a business while maintaining a fulfilled life in this practical guide filled with hard-won advice culled from the author’s own sometimes dark, raw experiences. The book contains a foreword by Steve Blank.
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by Clare Appleyard, founder of Katannuta Diamonds
Often, when we start out in business, we try to be everything to everybody. If somebody asks who your ideal client is, “Everybody!” is your enthusiastic response. And then, reality sets in. You realize that not everybody is your ideal client, and that’s okay. No business, be it a large conglomerate or an SME, will be able to serve everybody’s needs and wants.
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by Brigette Mashile, founder of Roka Roko
I have always said that I am more fearful of my success than my failure. I mean what is failure? How many rejections have you been through at this age; try and count and you will fail. In my case, from my first attempt to touch a candle flame, or my mom refusing for me to not make it into the NETBAL EERSTE SPAN in high school, and to the tertiary Dmerits! There have been failures, but yet I am here. So failure to me is just a T-Junction on a road - I went right but I was supposed to go left. But…success… you see success is a new can of worms I have never experienced. It demands another me I have not met before, and definitely feels like growing a new tooth.
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