How compliance and paperwork can assist you with funding readiness

June 24, 2025 Melanie Hawken

A recent finfind report, in partnership with African Bank , titled “finfind South African MSME Access to finance report 2025”, the report states that accessing necessary capital has always been a tremendous obstacle for a small business looking to establish itself. I am sure this statement is true not only in the South African context, but across the world, and I am equally sure that most of you can relate with personal experiences, as you have been navigating your journey.

Bootstrapping – the often “unsung hero” of funding your business

May 17, 2025 Melanie Hawken

It is no secret that there is a huge challenge in access to funding generally and specifically for women-owned businesses. In fact, I recently read somewhere that the funding gap globally is $300 billion for funding women-owned businesses. Access to traditional funding remains skewed, with women entrepreneurs receiving a fraction of available capital globally. We therefore need to look at other means, where possible, of funding, especially our start-ups, on our way to building our businesses.

South African Business Deregistration Alert: Make sure your business is not at risk!

March 23, 2025 Melanie Hawken

Fellow Lionesses, it’s been a minute! As we step into a new year, I find myself reflecting deeply on my journey in 2024—the lessons I have learned and the priorities I am setting for the year ahead.

Happy 2025 - My Lessons from 2024

January 5, 2025 Melanie Hawken

About being ghosted

April 26, 2024 Melanie Hawken

What does the term “ghosting” even mean? I looked it up on Google and this is what comes up: “Ghosting is when someone who used to be friendly or even romantic with you suddenly cuts off all communication without explanation. While most people think of ghosting in a digital context, meaning a friend or dating partner stops responding to texts, emails, calls, etc., it can happen across all social circumstances.” For me, where it says it can happen across all social circumstances, this is true. However, I daresay it happens across the spectrum, professionally too.

Let’s talk about payment, late payment or non-payment issues

September 13, 2023 Melanie Hawken

All in the day of a small business owner in South Africa.

It’s been a minute and my creative writing juices dried up while I was chasing some business opportunities and non-paying clients out there. So, these past few weeks, I have been finalizing some projects, dealing with good news of funding applications I submitted on behalf of clients being successful and all sorts of other things. My spirits have been high after landing these successes and I was excited at the prospect of my bank balance swelling, if only a little bit.

Should it be more about attention management and less about time management?

March 26, 2023 Melanie Hawken

Counting the number of hours spent on any given task, is it really practical? I know that in some management consulting firms, pay is arrived at using time-sheets of how much time you have spent on a particular project. I have also come across APPS that help you manage your timesheet to make it easier to collate and send to those who will be paying you for your time and maybe vice-versa - it could be you paying a consultant/contractor you have hired, based on time.

Being bullied and harassed in the workplace - My Story

November 20, 2022 Melanie Hawken

There have been a lot of articles, social media posts and research done on this topic of bullying and harassment in the workplace. It seems that this is a huge challenge festering and lurking out there and one is left wondering if, like issues of sexual harassment, discrimination etc, which some companies even go to the extent of having an HR Policy about, are the ones that occupy our minds more.

Is there such as thing as divorcing a client?

November 5, 2022 Melanie Hawken

I am an independent business consultant, meaning I earn my revenue from paying clients, who are prepared to pay for my time and expertise. I get most of my clients from word-of-mouth, followed by social media. In the last few years since I started this consultancy, I have realized that it is very important to know your worth and be confident in what you can deliver. If you don’t know your worth, you will be chopping and changing things such as your fees, the minute a client complains about your fees. You don’t want to get into such a debate with a client, especially if the client is not even one of those that contribute a lot towards your monthly revenue. Once you get into such a debate, then rest assured the client will always come back to you with this line of cornering you into lowering your fees.

Why is it so difficult to ask for help?

July 3, 2022 Melanie Hawken

In an article that I recently read, which led me to a TED talk with the same topic by Heidi Grant, I came across some very useful tips, coupled with a deeper understanding of why I am always struggling to ask for help. I used to be the top student in my class since primary school and getting a prize at every prize-giving ceremony was etched in my childhood memory. Seeing my parents sitting there and watching with pride as I stood up to claim my prize. I never participated in any sports. Could it be that the individual achievement was an incentive for me to perform well and that all the praises were for me and not a team? Could it be that I valued being viewed as an independent person who was good at solving her own challenges without “bothering” others and asking for help? Luckily, as I progressed in life, I quickly learnt that collaborating and asking for help is very normal and was not a sign of weakness on my part.

My journey of “heart-breaks” in choosing business partners and associates - what I have learnt

April 17, 2022 Melanie Hawken

In my line of work, as a sole business owner of my consulting business, I often rely on a professional network of associate consultants to get some of my work done. Example - if there is a specific project that I want to work on, be it responding to a published tender or putting together a proposal for a specific project, I often prefer to gather professionals in my networks to ensure we put our best foot forward and we offer a team with as diverse skills as possible. I also welcome other consultants approaching me to work with them on their own projects, especially if I can add value to their projects.

Are New Year’s Resolutions Still Relevant in My Life?

January 16, 2022 Melanie Hawken

2021 is gone and here we are in the first days of 2022, with 52 weeks at our disposal. The first weeks of January, that crazy time when we are tempted to put together some new year’s resolutions that we may never look at again until 2023 comes, and we do the same exercise again.

Funding - The F’ Word in Business

October 29, 2021 Melanie Hawken

Often in my line of business I come across lots and lots of small business owners who are looking for funding for their business. Clearly access to funding is one of the biggest challenges that small businesses are faced with. To begin with, I think the big question is, actually do you really need the funding? Have you looked at other options? What are these other options?

Three Lessons Learnt - My life from Corporate to Business Owner of a Franchised Store

January 30, 2021 Melanie Hawken

A little bit about me. I have worked for more than 25 years in corporates since 1989. These included Unilever, SAB, The Coca Cola Company, Momentum and finally Nedbank. I held various positions from being a technical trainee going through the brilliant graduate programmes of these illustrious companies. These positions offered me very well-rounded general management skills, from logistics, financial management, project management, human resources as well as transformation/B-BBEE.

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