Just start building

I am a great fan of other successful women entrepreneurs, particularly those who build solutions to challenges or problems that we can all use as consumers to make our lives and businesses better or more efficient. When reading about these women or meeting them in person, and hearing at first hand their unique business building stories, I learn something from each of their experiences that I can apply to my own entrepreneurial journey. I firmly believe that we are never too old to be inspired by others, or to learn something new, we just need to be open to new ideas and ways of doing things. So this week, I loved reading the story of Julia Hartz, the co-founder with her husband Kevin of Eventbrite, the highly successful event ticketing platform, which incidentally we use every day at Lionesses of Africa. She shares a philosophy that resonates with me, and that is to not waste precious time theorizing about life and business, but instead to go with ‘gut feel’ and just start building. It worked for us at Lionesses of Africa, and it certainly worked for Julia - she launched the business whilst pregnant with her first child, worked in cramped conditions in the early days to get the business off the ground, and learned all aspects of the business as she went along. The approach paid off and in 2018 the company filed for a US$ 200 million IPO. Proof positive that seeing a gap in the market and then building a business solution to fill that gap from the bottom up, works.

Have yourself an inspired entrepreneurial day! — Melanie