Everyone talks about how lonely this entrepreneurial life can be. Over the years that I have travelled across the African continent, talking to women who are building independent businesses and lives, many of them first generation entrepreneurs with no family business mentors to rely on, this is a sentiment often shared. It is why we need our friends, other women in business who understand what we are going through, to walk this entrepreneurial journey with us. I was reading a quote recently from one of my favourite ancient Greek philosophers, Epicurus, which really resonated with me on this subject of the importance of friends in our lives, and it is relevant to their role as support systems to us personally as women entrepreneurs. Epicurus believed that people were best able to live and enjoy a self-sufficient life when surrounded by friends. He said, “It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us, as the confident knowledge that they will help us.” How true is that - often we just feel better knowing that we have someone we can rely on if we ever need advice, or a sounding board, or a shoulder to cry on when things get tough. Just knowing they are there is a comfort and gives us confidence to keep going. So keep your fellow women entrepreneur friends close to you, and be there for them when they encounter their own challenges or anxieties. After all, that’s what friends are for!
Have yourself an inspired entrepreneurial day! — Melanie