the pride of Africa's women entrepreneurs
by Lori Milner
Some of us need accountability partners, like hiring a personal trainer to get us to the gym or joining a group so we have other people to motivate us. The problem with this approach is that you always rely on others to keep your promises to yourself. What happens if they don't show up? Will you keep the commitment or be silently grateful you got out of the run or the gym session?
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by Brigette Mashile
One of the biggest challenges we face as businesspeople is realizing that YOU DID IT. Most of the time it is because while the success of that is happening, another hurdle is appearing. Or the very success is coming with bigger challenges and you are aware you are not ready for all of them. Therefore, we don’t sit in the success, we don’t take the time to see that we have achieved a task list we set out to achieve.
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by Safiyyah Boolay-Jappie
Our logical mind is an imbecile. Too slow to see what is happening right in front of of it, only to be gobsmacked when it finally catches up by the clues strewn all around it. This is the story of my logical mind this past week.
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by Phillipa Geard
The year 2024 is in full swing and stands as a crucial juncture in workplace dynamics, setting the stage for the future of work. Traditional, rigid work practices are fading into obscurity, making way for a landscape characterized by technology, skill diversification, and flexibility.
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Carla Mahumane
Lioness Launch
Mozambican environmental consultancy, Redes de Luxo e Servicos, founded by Carla Mahumane, aims to contribute to the protection of marine ecosystems through female and community empowerment. The business has launched a new product line of accessories and clothing using recycled fishing nets. The business is not only providing an environmental solution to the problem of discarded fishing nets, but is also upskilling local women and girls. Redes de Luxo e Servicos has also developed training programmes for women and girls in cutting and sewing techniques and weaving fishing nets to produce accessories such as bags, earrings, necklaces, wallets, and clothes from the reuse of discarded fishing nets.
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Lovable Shiro Dladla, founder, Luvast emp (South Africa)
Startup Story
Lovable Shiro Dladla is the founder of Luvast emp in South Africa, the umbrella company for her two companies, Luvast Bakery and Luvast Baby Pureer. Luvast emp started in 2020 and has been growing ever since. Luvast bakery deals with baked goods and also teaches baking lessons and caters specifically for children’s events. Luvast baby food for now just deals with baby food puree, an organic baby food puree with no preservatives or sweeteners. The business makes its baby food in its most natural form, and is currently in the process of being approved.
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Roxanne Campbell, founder, designer & creative director, Victoria Orpen Jewellers (South Africa)
Startup Story
Roxanne Campbell is the founder, designer, and creative director of Victoria Orpen Jewellers, a luxury goods manufacturer and sales business launched in 2015 in South Africa. As an entrepreneur in the jewellery design and manufacturing industry, she is a goldsmith by profession. Roxanne recently completed an enterprise development programme in diamond manufacture and processing. Her work experience extends beyond a jeweller and diamantaires bench, to international trade shows in Paris, Miami, and New York, to liaising with clients in Scotland, London, Denmark, New Jersey, and Chicago for new business development and sales within the luxury goods sector.
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Amanda Etuk
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Messenger, a logistics platform that provides financing and aggregation for end-to-end logistics and supply chain operations in Nigeria
Amanda Etuk, co-founder of the Nigerian logistics solutions business, Messenger, is an accomplished, results-driven business management professional. She has a depth of experience in supply chain management, logistics and distribution, and sales and marketing. Amanda has a proven track record of business optimization. She has driven the competitiveness of organizations in the healthcare industry, the FMCG sector, e-commerce, and logistics, where her passion lies. In all her roles, she has delivered business and revenue growth and efficiency gains, and successfully strengthened client relationships.
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Liz Steblay
Book Review
Veteran solopreneur and nationally recognized mentor and advocate for self-employed professionals, Liz Steblay, knows what it takes to succeed in business. Her new book, Succeeding as a Solopreneur, is the definitive guide to launching and growing your own business as a self-employed professional. For current and aspiring solopreneurs, this book will help you master the critical steps for achieving success at every stage of your solopreneur journey, from determining if you’re ready to “go for it” to setting a marketing and pricing strategy to lowering your tax rate to keep more of what you earn.
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by Lori Milner
When my son was seven, he asked me for a guitar. I was elated because I thought he was tapping into some creative instinct, so I was happy to go along. He sat down with the guitar and then burst into tears a few minutes later because he had imagined he would pick up the guitar and instantly be able to play. He hadn't considered there would be lessons, hours of practice and feeling out of his depth in between. That's not what he signed up for. He wanted instant gratification! That's what TV and YouTube had sold him, and he wanted the dream. Now! He wanted the outcome without the messy process.
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by Nicolene Schoeman-Louw | SchoemanLaw Inc | Specialist Technology, Commercial and Contract Law Attorney
Whether a loan agreement or acknowledgement of debt ("AOD") falls under the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 ("NCA") and specifically meets the criteria of being at arm's length could be the line between enforcement of an agreement and it all falling apart.
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by Vuyelwa Gxakushe
Launching a business during the cold months can present unique challenges, but with the right marketing strategies, you can turn the chill into an opportunity for growth. As an AI-driven company specialising in Google Ads for small businesses, we understand the importance of leveraging technology and creativity to maximise your success. Here are five effective marketing strategies to help you thrive during the cold months.
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by Safiyyah Boolay-Jappie
What enables some people to emerge from challenges with their lives recreated, and even strengthened, while others crumble in a crisis? This is such a vital question for anyone who is seeking a rewarding relationship with their career, leadership, loved ones, and life if general. We live in a world where things change at unprecedented speeds; and resilience and flexibility are becoming essential life skills, without which we never be able to live beyond our survival zones, let alone in our comfort zones.
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Suzanne Tregenza Moore
Book Review
In her debut book, Hang On Tight!, Suzanne Tregenza Moore addresses one of the key challenges of being an entrepreneur - how to navigate the ups and downs of the business building journey. She reminds us all that, when we feel like we are riding a roller coaster with its highs and lows—financially, physically, and emotionally - we are not alone. Women entrepreneurs experience all these things and more while building a business and concurrently caring for loved ones. So Suzanne says, buckle in and learn to ride with arms stretched high as you yell, “Woohoo” instead of gripping the safety bar in terror.
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by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
As we reach the end of our four-parter look at the investing and funding world and how we can gain more of it, here, here, and here, so this weekend we dive into why collecting data on the jobs we have created, the wages we pay, the lives we have changed is so important, and why now is the best time to start.
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Lwazikazi Kwaza, founder and CEO, The Melanin House (South Africa)
Startup Story
Lwazikazi Kwaza is the founder and CEO of The Melanin House in South Africa, an Afro-centric manufacturing powerhouse that currently designs and manufactures specialized luxury fragrances in all categories. The Melanin House was founded in 2020 with the aim to represent the elite African luxury market, where simplicity meets elegance, in an afro-centric, majestic, and fragrant way. The Melanin House manufactures utilizing the highest quality standards guidelines such as the SABS ISO:9001. This ensures high-quality fragrances are manufactured with sustainability in the process through the use of organic products. The Melanin House is committed to producing high-quality fragrances that tell fragrant and majestic African stories, which will remain in the charts of African-conscious business history, through memory.
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Nuria Arbelo, founder, Brincadeira (Mozambique)
Startup Story
Nuria Arbelo is the founder of Brincadeira, a vibrant earrings brand with an exclusive design located in Maputo, Mozambique. Born in the Canary Islands, Nuria arrived in Mozambique for work in 2018. In 2021, she founded Brincadeira without knowing that, two years later, the brand would lead her to leave her profession as a project manager to become an entrepreneur dedicated to the design of unique earrings.
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Sylvia Omina Otsieno
Lioness Weekender Cover Story
Omina Otsieno, an innovative fashion brand in Kenya, renowned for its distinctive jewellery crafted from banana fibre.
Sylvia Omina Otsieno is the founder and creative director of Omina Otsieno, an innovative fashion brand in Kenya, renowned for its distinctive jewellery crafted from banana fibre. Born and raised between Nairobi and Busia, Sylvia's formative years in Busia ignited her passion for crafting, where she found abundant materials at her disposal. Inspired by her familial heritage of creativity, including her mother's adeptness at crocheting and her grandparents' tradition of weaving handcrafted baskets for livelihood, Sylvia began her journey of artistic expression. Driven by a steadfast commitment to social impact and artistic innovation, Sylvia continues to redefine the boundaries of fashion entrepreneurship, inspiring change not only in the lives of individuals but also within their communities. The business has created jobs for 17 local people.
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by Lori Milner
It's astounding how four simple words can simultaneously create so much anxiety, fear, excitement, and intrigue… What do you want? Most people don't know what they want because they have not spent time reflecting. Or they're too fearful of saying it out loud because what if it's wrong? Or they don't know what they want because they base their needs on what others want. Why does it matter knowing what you want? How do you know what to say no to without knowing what you are saying yes to first?
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by by Nicolene Schoeman-Louw | SchoemanLaw Inc | Specialist Technology, Commercial and Contract Law Attorney
A trust is a widely used legal entity for various purposes, including estate planning, asset protection, and the management of assets for the benefit of specific individuals or entities. Within the context of trusts, there exists a legal concept known as the "alter ego" of a Trust, which is an essential consideration for trustees, beneficiaries, and anyone involved in trust-related matters.
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