You never know when you are going to meet someone who could be key to your business success, so having the perfect elevator pitch ready is a must. In essence, your elevator pitch is the act of describing your business plan or concept to another person, in a very short amount of time (generally 30 seconds to 2 minutes). So, imagine that you’re standing next to somebody very important in an elevator and your only chance to pitch to them is right before they exit the elevator. Here are some tips for delivering that perfect elevator pitch. Pick an interesting hook to get their attention. Maintain clarity in your speech and above all, maintain eye-contact. Deliver your pitch like a story and spark their interest. Be ready for questions and have all the answers good to go. Use proper language, but don’t over-complicate things! Final word - deliver your elevator pitch with confidence and passion for what you are doing - after all, people do business with people, so they need to engage with you personally. It's well worth practicing the perfect pitch now for when that opportunity arises!

Africa needs more women entrepreneurs to emerge in the coming few years if the continent and our communities are to thrive. To achieve this goal, businesses need to focus on investing in girls’ education at early and primary years, as they represent tomorrow’s entrepreneurial future.  As the Global Business Coalition for Education marked the International Day of the Girl Child this month, it published a survey on the impact of businesses who invest in girls’ education. It found that while there is a strong focus on empowering girls in secondary years, less than 10% of their education budgets is spent on early childhood development. The report argues that investment in early and primary years would be transformative. Sarah Brown, Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education, said: “We know all too well that the economic empowerment of a woman does not start when she is an adult. It starts when she is a girl. Education is critical for her success at work and across her family life, and there is a compelling case for the private sector to consider how best to engage and make a difference.” Africa’s entrepreneurial future for women is relying on it.

Here's an interesting thought for the morning, inspired by Carl J. Schramm, the American economist, entrepreneur, and former President and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and often known as the "evangelist of entrepreneurship.” In his book, The Entrepreneurial Imperative, he reminds us that the movement that built the first national democracy was not triggered by an uprising of the masses; nor was it led by intellectual theorists demanding utopian change. It was led by entrepreneurs. This makes complete sense when you think that starting a business develops precisely the traits that make democracy work - independence, tremendous effort, self-discipline, collaboration, self-belief, and the recognition that you can only succeed by serving the needs of others.” Something to think about as the world and the African continent battle to achieve real democratic progress - perhaps the solution lies with entrepreneurs!

Today, many successful organizations and smart global leaders are using the technique of investing in women as a strategy to address pressing issues across communities. And here in Africa, what they have realised is that, through such investment, women aren't the only ones who benefit. Oprah Winfrey has already found that “dedicating resources to a single woman has a ripple effect on her entire community.” In fact, according to “Women, Wealth and Impact: Investing with a Gender Lens (2015),” a report put out by Veris Wealth Partners, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that if women received resources (credit, land, information, training, seeds, and fertilizer) on par with men, the additional yield could reduce the number of undernourished people by 100-150 million. Investment with a gender lens benefits all of us, from investors looking for positive financial returns, to the men and children who live in the same communities as the women receiving the investment capital. 

Talking to would-be entepreneurs globally, the fear of failure is most often cited as the reason for not taking the plunge and starting up an entrepreneurial venture. Yet interestingly, this differs widely from country to country. For example, 81 percent of Ugandans polled by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor said they saw entrepreneurial opportunities in their economy, and only 15 percent cited “fear of failure” as a factor holding them back. In the United States, in contrast, which is generally cited as the most entrepreneur-friendly economy in the developed world, only 43 percent surveyed reported seeing entrepreneurial opportunities, and the fear of failure rate is 32 percent, twice that in Uganda. But the bottom line is that failure is part of entrepreneurship, and we need to recognise that failed entrepreneurs remain entrepreneurs and the failure rates of second start-up attempts are much lower than for initial efforts. Entrepreneurs learn from failure, it’s part of the journey. 

For many people, when they hear the word ‘entrepreneur’, they think of innovators, wealth creators, risk takers, startups and business mavericks. However, what if those same peole were to start thinking of entrepreneurship in a completely different way, and instead see it as a powerful social game-changer in our world? Steve Mariotti, co-author of 28 books on entrepreneurship, global speaker, and the founder of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a global nonprofit organization that has educated more than half a million students, passionately believes in entrepreneurship as a transformational experience. His latest book, An Entrepreneur’s Manifesto, takes a completely different view of the role of entrepreneurship, seeing it as a catalyst for social change, and a way of closing the wealth gap. He believes that entrepreneurship can completely transform the lives of communities and people in schools, prisons, villages, and inner cities. Something to think about!

"What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They are the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up, and remake the world for the better." - David Bornstein: journalist, author and specialist writer on social innovation. Social entrepreneurs are those individuals who are lazer focused on making a difference to society and the world we live in by making positive change happen. They look for new ways of doing things, or finding solutions to key problems or challenges that exist in the environment, society or the communities we live in. Social entrepreneurs come from all walks of life and all types of communities, and they all share the same underlying drive and passion to see their ideas through. Many of them are having a huge effect on the world and the communities they live in, yet most people have not even heard of them. Here in Africa, we have some of the most passionate and committed social entrepreneurs, many of them women, who are creating powerful enterprises that are making a difference - whether it is bringing the work of the continent’s rural women makers and crafters to the attention of world markets; or finding innovative micro-financing solutions to empower a whole new generation of women entrepreneurs who previously had no access to finance; these social entrepreneurs are real game changers.

Nobel Laureate, Muhammad Yunus said: “everyone is an entrepreneur, but only the lucky come to know it”. Today, starting a business is a real option for everyone to consider in their lives, yet interestingly, it is only a few that decide to take the leap and turn their ideas or concepts into a reality. So, what is it that makes entrepreneurs different? They share a number of core strengths in common, such as extreme determination, confidence in their ideas, and an innovative approach to finding solutions to key challenges. However, how they embark on their journey to finding success is always different. What unites them all is their determination and drive to succeed, and the confidence to take calculated risks in order to create the right business or product that can meet a need.

“The biggest problem is getting beyond the “you can’t” syndrome. The moment you figure that out, you’re on your way to flying.” --- These are the words of Bill Drayton, CEO and Founder of Ashoka the pioneer of the social entrepreneurship movement. Every entrepreneur will encounter challenges and problems to be solved on their business journey to success, but the trick is to see those challenges as an invitation to be creative. It requires a can-do attitude, combined with an ability to see and do things differently, and a desire to make use of existing skills, ingenuity and resources and find a solution. Entrepreneurs by their very nature are driven, persistent and open to new opportunities and ways of thinking, so the word ‘can’t’ is not in their vocabulary. Instead it is seen as a direct challenge to find an interesting idea that can provide the solution. So today, if you are facing a new hurdle or challenge on your own business journey, see it as an opportunity to try a new approach or to revolutionise the way things are currently done. 

An interesting new survey published in the US this week by the Business Journals, which shares a parent company with BizWomen, makes for great reading for women entrepreneurs around the world. It appears that if you want to get ahead, then start a business. When it comes to income and wealth, it's better to be a female business owner than a woman climbing the corporate ladder. The study was based on a survey of 1,354 owners, partners and C-suite executives (434 of which were women) at companies with between five and 499 employees.The results reveal women owners have considerably higher net worth than their corporate counterparts. Interestingly, the survey also highlighted the fact that 58% of the women surveyed said that the meaning of their work is a higher priority than achieving financial success. Food for thought this morning!

If there’s one thing that startups know, it’s that finding ways to stay competitive and relevant in a fast-changing market is key. As a result, startups have to be flexible and open to the idea of pivoting - switching a core facet of a business model or changing the focus of the business or product development. In the early days of a startup, finding out if your business idea will be a winner is hard without experimentation and market testing. Finding out what works, and what resonates with customers, might mean changing an idea or product until it becomes a success, possibly in another form from the one originally conceived. Interestingly, research points to startups that pivot in their early days are more likely to achieve better growth and faster scale-up further down the line. So, it really is okay to pivot as a startup.

As entrepreneurs, we have probably all done it at some point - we sit there reading the news on our smartphones, IPads and laptops, seeing yet another meteoric rise of a brilliant young techpreneur who has created the next big app and with it a megabrand or company, and wonder when it will be our turn. Whilst we applaud these entrepreneurial megastars, we need to remember that for most of us entrepreneurs, success takes time. It is usually a long and interesting journey to realising our business dreams and aspirations, and there can be many bumps and turns along the way, not to mention full scale pivots for some. The trick is to enjoy the journey, embrace every challenge as you go, and above all, be patient. There will always be those seemingly overnight successes in the entrepreneurial world, but they are not the norm, so never be discouraged at the pace of your own journey. The old adage ‘patience is a virtue’ comes in handy at times like these.

One of the keys to success as an entrepreneur is having a strong support network, particularly if you are a solo-prenenur, or in the early days of starting up your business. Surrounding yourself with a variety of supporters, both at home and in the workplace, can be a great source of encouragement and advice, particularly if they have a wealth of experience and skills you can tap into when needed. Setting up an advisory board can also be helpful, particularly in helping to assess new products or service ideas, or advise on strategies for opening up new markets, or simply being there to challenge ways of thinking or doing things. So, continue to build a strong support network as you go, take advice when you need it, bounce new ideas around with them, and let them help you to take your business to the next level. 

In the early days of getting a business off the ground, the ability to convince others about the viability of your new idea, concept or product is key. Potential customers or investors need to feel as excited and positive about your business and its future as you do, so your ability to demonstrate confidence in your business is so important at this stage. We are not talking overhyping here, as that can be dangerous territory particularly if you don’t deliver on the hype, but we are talking about feeling confident about the business you are building, the product or service you are launching, all backed up by the hard yards you have put in during the development or research phase. It is easier to feel confident about what you are doing if it is backed by some hard market or development facts and figures, or customer insights. So, in the important early phase of building your company, when there is both everything to lose and everything to gain, this is the time to exude confidence in what you are doing and about the future.

When starting up a new business, there can often be a temptation to head straight to investors with your idea at concept stage and hope for a good initial reaction that will then propel you into the entrepreneurial stratosphere. Yet, that very seldom happens. Instead, investors often take an would-be entrepreneur’s eye off the ball, getting them to alter their presentations or advising them to change direction in their marketing thought process. This is wasting precious time when you should be developing your product or idea into something meaningful and tangible and ultimately viable. Bootstrapping is a good way to go. If you spend time really researching, developing and building a great product, service, prototype, using your own hard-earned money, however little that might be in the first instance instead of chasing down the investor money before you even start, then you have a very different proposition to go to market with. You will also have a fully tested concept, hopefully an engaged and interested community looking to know more, and a proper plan as to how to execute your business once launched. Plus, by bootstrapping you will also have demonstrated your own commitment and resources in making your business happen - that sends a very different message to possible investors in the future.

Have you noticed how, here in Africa, the concept of collaboration still seems to be a new idea and one that many shy away from initially? Startup entrepreneurs still have an inbuilt fear that if they share an idea, or look to bounce a new concept for a business around with others, that their idea will be stolen. Yet, if there is one thing that the game-changing internet culture has shown us, it is that collaboration and crowdfunding are the new way of doing things in the startup world of business. No longer are the successful startups of the world sitting on an idea and keeping it in the ‘it’s mine’ space, instead they are looking to get it to market quickly by collaborating with others to make it a reality. Here in Africa, we can learn from this approach and change our mindset to ensure that our homegrown ideas and products can be realised quickly through collaboration, and our entrepreneurial ecosystems grown into powerful socio-economic drivers in our countries. It just makes sense!

No one ever said that being an entrepreneur was easy. There will always be challenges to be overcome along the way; problems to be solved; finding solutions to the never-ending battle with cashflow in the early days; not to mention the uphill struggle to get new products developed and out to market, and trying to get seen and heard about the competitive clutter. However, the key lesson to learn is to roll with the punches and find practical ways to detach yourself from disappointments and set backs that will inevitably come on your entrepreneurial journey. Simply dust yourself off, and begin a new day with determination and the will to succeed, and above all, retain your sense of focus and optimism. By doing so, you will lift and inspire everyone around you.

How many times do we make a buying decision because we identify with the personality and the ethos behind a brand? As customers, we are naturally attracted to those companies and brands that appeal to us, not just on an aesthetic level, but also on an ethical or interest level. As human beings, we are hardwired to make emotional connections with people we feel think like ourselves and have similar likes and interests. So, it stands to reason that many of the most successful entrepreneurial ventures and brands have the personalities and stories of their founders woven into the very fabric of their company DNA. At the end of the day, people do business with people, and in a crowded marketplace, it makes sense that if your business or products have a unique and personal story to tell, they are more likely to appeal and resonate with the very customers you are trying to attract and connect with. Today, authenticity is key!

For many women entrepreneurs in Africa, starting out in business means going solo - taking that initial idea or business concept and bootstrapping it into reality. Yet, some of the most successful women entrepreneurs on the continent have achieved their business success by recognising the power of teamwork, harnessing the power of collective ideas, inspiration and networks to get to market faster and in a bigger way. Being part of a team also provides a great support mechanism on those days when the going get's tough. You can bounce new ideas off one another, test out new ways of doing things, explore new marketing ideas, and generally be open to innovative ways of thinking when you are part of a team. So, instead of thinking solopreneur, maybe start thinking team and your business could really get wings!

You know the feeling - the one where you are so excited about the work you are doing and the business you are building, that your excitement spills over into other project areas, until you find yourself juggling a whole load of balls, trying to keep them all in the air. It is a challenge confronting literally thousands of women entrepreneurs across the globe. Now, don't get me wrong - taking your passion and seeing where it can take you on your entrepreneurial journey is a good thing, but you can't afford to drop the ball during this time. It sends the wrong message to all those around you. So, remember to get the balance right and don't stretch yourself and your precious resources to breaking point. Focus on 2 to 3 projects, instead of chasing 20 possibilities. Remember, juggling is a skill, and so is the ability to recognise and appreciate the projects that matter most to you, and dedicate yourself to those goals as a priority.