As entrepreneurs, we are often focused on acheiving the next big goal and working out how quickly we can get there, or the next big challenge and how quickly we can find a solution, but the fact is that there are no quick fixes in entrepreneurship. As the old adage goes, it’s a journey not a destination. I was reminded of this again when I was reading a great interview with the highly successful US entrepreneur, Tory Burch, who said: “We may live in an age of instant messaging, instant gratification, and Instagram, but there is no way to short circuit the path to success. It takes hard work, tenacity and patience.” How true!

One of the mega-trends to emerge globally last year was the Maker Movement, which in turn has been credited with the rise of the Maker Economy. It represents a more collaborative, creative economic model for the future. Basically, it takes an age-old concept of traditional makers and crafters working in communities and applies a new technology-based approach to create a contemporary culture which focuses on art, crafts and creativity. This new interest in a growing global Maker Economy has to be good news for Africa’s women entrepreneurs who are building businesses based on making and creating things in the arts and crafts space, but harnessing the power of technology to build those businesses. After all, women in this part of the world have been working in communities and crafting beautiful arts and crafts for centuries. The opportunity today exists for women entrepreneurs who create a new contemporary approach to traditional African craft and tap into this global Maker Movement to expand their business potential into new markets.

As an entrepreneur, the smallest things in life can bring the most happiness. It could be a new business enquiry, a positive media article, a new social media fan, or a satisfied customer telling you how much they love the work you are doing. On their own, these may seem like small insignificant things in the day-to-day hurly burly of entrepreneurial life, but when you are in charge of your own business and destiny, each one of these small things represents a great step forward and matters hugely. There is something really satisfying about receiving positive acknowledgement and feedback as an entrepreneur, in whatever form it takes, and that is worth celebrating. At Lionesses of Africa, we still remember the complete joy of welcoming the first person to join our community, or the excitement of receiving our first comment on social media, or the immense satisfaction of publishing our first daily newsletter, and we still celebrate each one today with the same enthusiasm as the first time. So, take the time to recognise every small thing that happens in your entrepreneurial life, it can bring the most happiness.

The whole concept of entrepreneurship, by its very nature, is empowering, and therefore it stands to reason that if more women in Africa are encouraged and supported in realising their own entrepreneurial dreams and aspirations, then the continent will benefit. Through entrepreneurship, women are free to follow their dreams, test their ideas, not be the vehicles to delivering someone else’s vision, and as a result, encourage a new ‘can do’ era of entrepreneurship and innovation in their communities and countries. Women’s entrepreneurship in Africa can act as a catalyst for greater empowerment and positive change. So, surely its time to provide the right support, particularly in terms of mentorship and access to funding, to ensure that women-led enterprises can flourish. It's time to recognize and value women-owned businesses, and acknowledge that an investment in women's entrepreneurship can and will change Africa for the better.

Many aspirant entrepreneurs are ultimately deterred from pursuing a business because they don't believe their idea is original or differentiated enough, thinking that unless they have a business concept that has never been done before, it is not valid. Yet, success depends less on the originality of the idea and more on how it is executed, and that can be the key differentiator. Many highly successful entrepreneurs launched their companies, brands and products whilst there were others in the marketplace with similar offerings. However, what set them apart was their vision for the business, their marketing strategy, and their sheer determination to make it a success.

There is much talk about the need for entrepreneurs to understand that failure is often part of the journey, and that success doesn’t come easy or necessarily the first time around. Understanding that a business venture might fail, and that this reality doesn’t worsen your prospect of succeeding in the larger scheme of things, gives you perspective. Most successful entrepreneurs around the world will tell you that they have experienced failure at some point in their lives, and many have failed multiple times before getting it right. The trick is to have the right attitude to thoughts of failure. There is a great quote by the hugely successful Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Bakeries in the US. She began her business in 1977 in Palo Alto, California, and since it has grown into over 650 retail bakeries in the U.S., yet she faced a barrage of sceptics in the early days who warned her of impending failure. She famously said: “The greatest failure is not to try. Had I listened to all the people during the course of my life who said, “You can’t. You’ll fail. It won’t work. You don’t have…,” I wouldn’t be here today.” Acknowledging the fact that failure is a natural part of the entrepreneurial journey means you are less likely to see setbacks as insurmountable, or to view any isolated failure as catastrophic, or to let a failure get you down.

Over the holidays, I came across a really interesting article based on a book by leading behavioural economist and Harvard Professor, Sendhil Mullainathan, entitled Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much. It looked at how having a narrow perspective severely limits a person’s options and prevents them from seeing new and interesting opportunities that exist around them. It made for really interesting reading. From an entrepreneurship perspective, one of the keys to success is learning to keep an open mind, being ready to rethink existing ideas, being prepared to adapt to new circumstances, and being open to pivoting in order to take advantage of new opportunities.  

There is nothing quite like the start of a new entrepreneurial year to get the adrenalin pumping and the creative juices flowing. A new year is always so full of possibilities to be realised, new opportunities to be explored, and energy to be unleashed. The trick is to hit the ground running and to put in place and implement the new business strategies for the year ahead. By kickstarting the year with a strong direction, renewed energy and new goals to be achieved, it provides much needed early momentum that will set the tone for the months ahead. 

Behind any successful entrepreneurial venture is usually a team of people working tirelessly and energetically to achieve the end goal. Even solopreneurs have a network of people who support them on their ventures. But all too often, we get so caught up in the day to day challenges of building our businesses that we forget to tell our teams, co-workers, partners and supporters just how much we value having them on our entrepreneurial journeys and how lucky we are to be working with them. Being an entrepreneur can often be a lonely experience so having teams of people around us to give us the encouragement we need when the going gets tough, and to celebrate the wins when they happen, makes the journey all the sweeter. So let’s remember to continually acknowledge those teams of people who are taking each of those business steps to success with us.

Over the holidays, I caught up with some reading and revisited Eric Ries’ book, ‘The Lean Startup’, now a classic read. I was once again reminded about the importance of measuring success as a startup in order to learn and grow in the future. The whole concept of the lean startup is based on a constant, and very sensible, ‘build, measure, learn’ cycle. It encourages a startup to be agile, to work through failure, adapt to customer needs and constantly learn from experience - all very practical advice. Yet, as entrepreneurs it’s all too easy for us to feel too busy to build proper feedback loops into our products and business models. But without ways to effectively measure our success, it is all just guesswork. Ultimately it’s all about making sound business decisions based on evidence, not being afraid to try new things and measuring the difference it makes, whether it’s positive or negative. It is learning from this experience that can help our businesses to grow.

If I look back at the last year, I can honestly say that much of it happened at such lightening speed that some of the small yet significant events are somewhat of a blur when I look back. I am sure that for many of us as entrepreneurs, this is often the case in our busy lives. So, one of my resolutions for the year ahead is to learn to cherish each and every day, to record each of the highlights as they happen, and to value all the memories made on of each of those entrepreneurial days of my journey. I realise that every moment, no matter how big or small, is worth remembering and celebrating, and makes life purposefully more interesting.

The start of any new year brings thoughts of exciting new trends that lie ahead. And, behind every new trend are innovative people who are reinventing traditional ways of doing things, ways of seeing the world, and ways of creating things. The world of entrepreneurship is full of such people who are driven by a need and a passion to do things differently, and they are the force behind refreshing new ideas. Ultimately, trends define the future, and entrepreneurs are leveraging those trends to the full in order to create exciting new business opportunities. So the question is, will you be a trendsetter or a follower in 2016? 

For me, this time of the year is really special. It’s not just a time to wind down a little and spend some quality time with family and friends, but it’s also a great time to reflect on the past year and everything that has been achieved from an entrepreneurial perspective. Most excitingly, it’s the perfect time to start thinking about the year ahead, planning new goals and new ways of doing things, and improving upon experiences from the year just completed. In a relaxed, more reflective environment, it’s so much easier to get into a productive rhythm early and be refreshed, ready to innovate and hit the ground running when the first working day of the New Year arrives.

I was doing some holiday catch up reading this week and came across a fascinating article on the founder of mega retail fashion brand Zara, Amancio Ortega, which told the story of his journey from poverty to one of the fashion retail world’s real game changers. What stood out for me reading the story was that his secret to success was listening to what customers want, understanding that need and responding to it rapidly with quality yet affordable products, and ultimately remaining passionate about the work and the brand. By putting customers at the heart of the business, those customers have become its biggest brand ambassadors. A lesson we can all learn as entrepreneurs!

When we reach this time of the year, there is always the temptation to take that well-deserved break and just switch off, recharge the batteries, and relax. However, there is something else that can be done during the holiday downtime that will help to prepare for the year ahead and get it on the right track from day one - that is thinking about how your planned activities will result in your most productive year yet. There is nothing better than kickstarting a new business year with a really solid roadmap, clearly outlining your objectives and the steps needed to get you there. Having a practical and focused Q1 action plan in place will give 2016 a great start.

As many successful entrepreneurs will tell you, to reach the pinnacle of success you need the right people in your life to help you get there. Positive people, with positive energy and the right inputs when required. So now is a good time to take stock of all the people you have around you on your entrepreneurial journey. Ask the hard questions - are they still the right people, or do you need some additional specialists in key areas such as finance, marketing, sales, etc? Make sure you contact people now that you want in your life next year. If you are lucky enough to still have all the right people around you, then remember to thank them for all their help so far and get them back on board for 2016.

Having a key goal to work towards is so important as an entrepreneur, it helps to keep you focused. So now, as the end of the year is fast approaching, it is the perfect time to set that one big goal that you want to accomplish for yourself and your business in 2016. Think about it carefully, write it down and set out a clear action plan to achieve it by this time next year. Create the milestones to be reached throughout the year, identify the resources required to get you there, and the people you will need to work with to make it all happen. On New Year’s Day, set a daily countdown to your goal on your computer or in your daily diary, and then start working towards making that goal a reality. Hopefully by this time next year, you will have something great to celebrate.

In our busy lives, it’s all too easy to get so wrapped up in the craziness of our entrepreneurial journeys in search of the life-changing business success that we crave, that we forget to celebrate the small successes as we go along. Yet these are just as important as they validate our decision to become entrepreneurs. They help to make us more determined to keep going, even when things are challenging, and they send a message to all those around us that we are on the right track. By allowing ourselves those moments to pause, recognise the progress we are making, and celebrate our small successes, we stay inspired and get to really enjoy this unique entrepreneurial journey we are on.

We all know it’s competitive out there in the marketplace, and as entrepreneurs we know only too well that no matter what our line of business, we are going to have competitors who are offering similar products or services - after all, there is very little that is new out there. Everyone talks about finding ways to distinguish a business from the rest, to identify a unique selling proposition (USP), to differentiate a product offering from the rest of the pack. But the bottom line is that ultimately it’s all about giving our customers a memorable, positive, life-enhancing experience, whether they are buying a product or a service, and that is what makes a business stand out. If we can captivate customers, get them on side, make them feel valued, they become our best sales team out there as they share their great experience with other potential clients. 

As entrepreneurs we all understand the need to be courageous in our lives and our business - to think big, to go for our dreams, to keep going when things get tough. But we also need to have more courageous conversations in our daily lives, the ones that can make a real difference to us as individuals and to our businesses. Whether it is picking up a phone to the CEO of a company we want to partner with in the future and pitching a possible new collaboration idea; or contacting a global entrepreneurial icon to make an inspirational connection; or arranging a meeting with a VC to talk about future, life-changing investment opportunities in our businesses. We need to make room for these courageous conversations each day - they can make a big difference when it comes to realising those big dreams of ours.