the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
by Deyzes Pereira, founder of Startups Consulting in Mozambique
Many entrepreneurs are aware that one of the most important things required to start a business is the definition of goals. But what often happens is that many of them do not understand very well the importance of goals and how to define them correctly. Today I will talk about goals! After all what is a goal?
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by Elizandra dos Santos
Do You Know How To Wait? It is the challenge that I bring to the present moment. It’s worse for the quick fixers who want instant results, quick effects, quick responses, goals achieved in the shortest time and miraculous resolutions. I wish life were like this. Many people, because they don't know how to wait, end up frustrated, immersed in anxiety, anger, depression, becoming impatient. They are overwhelmed by their own emotions, counting the days, hours, minutes, and crazy seconds, until the time comes to get out of this confinement, go back to traveling, or have a supposedly normal life.
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Kemi Olawoye, ceo & co-founder, Babymigo (Nigeria)
Startup Story
Kemi Olawoye is the ceo & co-founder of Babymigo, Nigeria's largest pregnancy and parenting community. She is a veteran entrepreneur and an award-winning business leader. Kemi's business focuses of building an easily accessible online community for mums to gain information and bridge the communication gap on maternal health in Africa. She founded the business in 2018 and has over 150,000 members across Africa. The business employs 12 people.
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Aurora Matavel, founder and CEO, SCS, Lda (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Aurora Matavel is Founder and CEO of SCS, Lda (Mozambique). She is an experienced and award-winning entrepreneur. The business of SCS, Lda is focused on providing ecological cleaning services and integrated pest control that preserve the environment. She founded the business 2 years ago and now employs 5 people, many of them women from the Local Community. She has 5 years of experience in business and as customer service with one of the main banks in the country.
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Book Review
When it comes to getting practical advice, small business owners too often don’t know where to look, but Longtime Square executives Jackie Reses and Lauren Weinberg, authors of the book Self-Made Boss: Advice, Hacks, and Lessons from Small Business Owners, want to change all that. Part starter-kit, part encyclopedia, and part inspiration, Self-Made Boss is an essential survival guide for small businesses. Sure, you can find all sorts of high-level strategic tips from Fortune 500 CEOs. But what if you own a restaurant, and you’re trying to figure out how to source good fish, or if you’re looking to increase revenue from your plumbing supply store? You’ll be running a lot of Google searches before you hear from someone who’s actually stood in your shoes.
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Gwendolyn Mahuma-Madida
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Mahuma Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd, a South African investment business with interests in steel and infrastructure
Gwendolyn Mahuma-Madida is the CEO and founder of Mahuma Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd, otherwise known as MIH, a South African based investment company with interests in the steel and Infrastructure sectors. Gwen is equipped with an entrepreneurial spirit which has helped her in building a portfolio of investments in line with her vision of becoming a major player in the infrastructure sector by being a supplier and manufacturer of steel and concrete products to the rail, civils and general infrastructure sector.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
As far as business is concerned, ’Luck’, ‘Hope’, ‘Fear,’ are all four letter words (you know, the ones our Mothers always told us not to use), for a reason. In business we have to avoid relying, or getting carried away, or even dragged down by them. ‘Luck’ more often than not, is simply down to ‘Timing’ - good or bad, and timing we can work on (see our article here). ‘Hope’ is often involved because of bad planning on our part (and we have all been there at some point in our lives). ‘Fear’ is our sub-conscious telling us that we need to be more careful in the future before committing too far.
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by Clementina Busayo
Have you ever heard the saying that there is a book in everyone? Do you want to become an Author? There are several benefits to writing a book. From getting booked to speak; impacting lives beyond your current location; inspiring others to live their best lives through your story. The possibilities are endless, and the opportunities are matchless.
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by Brigette Mashile
The other day I was wondering why I am more comfortable to work with a lot of people today; and also why I am able to tackle any type of garment presented to me? In the beginning, in 2014, at age 27 I was more cautious, hesitant, and simply scared. Every enquiry I received, I had to analyze if it was something I had done before. Today my answer to the question, ‘Can you do this?’ is almost automatic. I believe I will be able to deliver on most challenges. That I think is confidence!
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by Anja van Beek, Talent Strategist, Leadership & HR Expert and Executive Coach
As an entrepreneur, I’m certain that we can all relate to the emotional roller coaster of ups and downs. One day you are so excited that you have started your business. You are on purpose making a meaningful impact in the world and the next day you feel like you made the wrong choice, especially if the target for the month is behind. The following day, you land a big new client and you feel energized and happy that you’re not working for a boss.
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by Ronel Jooste
A business plan is considered the most critical document for any business, whether you are starting a business or have an established business. There is a general perception that business plans are only required for funding purposes which is not true. A business plan provides the foundation layer of any business and can be effectively used for operational and strategic planning purposes.
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Jessica Lairs, founder, D'Lairs Encantos E.I (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Jessica Lairs is the founder of D'Lairs Encantos E.I, an event planning and decoration company in Mozambique. She started her entrepreneurship journey in 2019 with a combination of passion and good leadership skills. Today she has six permanent employees and six employees for occasional events. Her team is composed of men and women aged from 21 to 57 years of age. She brings to her entrepreneurial journey 9 years of experience in the job market as a trader and manager and has always worked with women in different areas.
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Startup Story
Gracia Bampile is the founder of fashion brand, Haute Afrika based in South Africa. The company has built a reputation for creating clothes for every occasion and every kind of person, inspired by traditional fabrics that are authentically African.
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Book Review
For entrepreneur Jenny Blake, author of the new book Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business, she believes that ‘Time is not money. Time is life force.’ Jenny Blake, author of the award-winning book Pivot and co-creator of Google's acclaimed Career Guru coaching program, is back with her signature blend of heart-based operating principles and practical tools. This book will teach you how to move from friction to flow through smarter systems and the three-stage Free Time Framework.™
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Jihan Abass
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Lami Technologies, democratizing insurance and helping improve the lives of millions in Africa
Jihan Abass is the founder and ceo of Lami Technologies, a game-changing B2B2C Insurance-as-a-Service platform and API. She grew up in Mombasa, Kenya and started out her career in finance as a commodities trader in London, trading on the New York and London sugar markets. After that short stint in finance, Jihan set up Lami with the aim of increasing insurance penetration in the developing world. She has an undergraduate degree in finance from Bayes Business School and an MBA from the University of Oxford. She started Lami Technologies in 2018 and today it employs 48 people.
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By Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
Lionesses of Africa prides itself on being apolitical as our central role is to guide, train and create a safe community for our incredible and inspirational membership where they can work with, and learn from, each other, but sometimes world events overtake and impact us in a way previously never imagined. The terror of war, any war, be it (as recently seen) in Syria, Ethiopia or now Ukraine is simply unimaginable for those of us sitting safe in other countries watching on CNN.
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by Laura Camacho
If there’s one thing you can do to make things better for your employees and your company, it’s asking for feedback. But asking a general, “Do you have any feedback for me?” can be overwhelming for an employee because the question is too broad. One principle of excellent communication is the proactive practice of making it easy as possible for others to do what you want them to do.
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by Lori Milner
Life has not been the same since March 2020. We are in ‘the new normal,’ which seems to change its rules every few weeks depending on the latest statistics or new variant of Covid emerging into our lives. As you feel like you are getting the hang of remote work, your lounge suddenly becomes a school. Although you know what to expect, you are still walking on eggshells, wondering when things will change again. Impermanence and change are part of life; it’s what keeps it exciting. However, you like the surprises that you know about. How can you create certainty for yourself and minimize those anxious, ruminating thoughts about how you are meant to get it all done in a constantly fluctuating world?
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by Carla Wasserfall
You are the CEO of YOU before any role in family, business or sport. As the CEO of you, you give yourself daily instructions to go in a direction, what you will focus on, and what you give your energy to.
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by Zodidi Gaseb
How many cups of coffee does it take you to run your business daily? On average, an entrepreneur who drinks coffee doesn’t even have time to count the cups of coffee they’ve drunk per day. Why am I bringing up a delicious, caffeine filled drink and what does that have to do with entrepreneurship? Exhaustion has become an integral part of running a business and we have come to accept that in order to make it in life and be successful, you have to hustle…hard!
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