Yesterday's International Women's Day saw leaders from across the world pledging to take action as champions of gender parity. The 2016 theme for the day was “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”. Events happened across the planet, media was buzzing, hashtags were trending, and generally there was a great deal of excitement about the day. But, as with so many of these events, the big worry is we wake up the next morning and go back to the status quo. Here's why the world cannot afford for this to be the case. Simply put, the cost of not reaching parity is just too high. McKinsey Global Institute has put a price on it. They found that if women were to participate in the economy identically to men, they could add as much as $28 trillion, or 26 percent to annual global GDP in 2025. This is roughly the combined size of the economies of the United States and China today. So, there is a very real economic imperative for yesterday's talk to increase the economic participation of women to be turned into action. Women need to be equal partners in society and in the economy. The world cannot afford for it not to be so.

A UK report released yesterday by Coutts and the Centre for Entrepreneurs (CFE) provides a really interesting insight into how serial entrepreneurship is beneficial to the health of an economy. Serial entrepreneurs bring with them a wealth of experience, knowledge, contacts and capital that are key ingredients in any successful business. By encouraging more first-time founders to do it a second time, you can expect to see more start-ups and higher survival rates, along with improved economic growth, job creation, living standards and innovation. The report makes the interesting observation that millennials are widely challenging the notion that entrepreneurs hang up their boots and retire after just one business. Entrepreneurs are starting businesses younger and have faster expectations to sell - these factors together with longer life expectancy means we are starting to see a new breed of serial entrepreneurs. Instead of starting businesses from scratch, more of these seasoned business owners are now investing in and mentoring a portfolio of companies. There is huge untapped potential for serial entrepreneurship and the role of experience seems invaluable to success. Unlocking that further could provide significant economic benefits. 

If you're in the throws of launching a startup you'll know what I mean by this -- for most entrepreneurs your business is started from a place of love. You invest so much of yourself into the new venture -- your passion, commitment, and dare I say your love! It's an all consuming relationship. It's your baby! And, just like any relationship those early giddy days slowly start to be clouded and replaced by every day tedium, the ups and downs, the rocky road, the knocks and bruises that go hand-in-hand with being an entrepreneur. So, this is why it is so important to hold on to the things that influenced you to startup in the first place. It's a good idea to find a quiet moment every day to reflect on this question: Why do I do what I do? And, hopefully you fall in love with your business all over again.

We’ve all been there - in the early startup days of a business when you are so keen to get customers onto your books that you will jump through hoops to firstly get them to notice you in the marketplace and then secondly to sign them up and get them on board. We want those customers to love us and our products, and stay with us for the long term to give us some stability. But the reality is that finding those customers who are a real fit for your business and where there can be a positive ‘win win’ relationship that goes beyond the initial order, is harder than it looks. Not everyone is going to love you and your business first time around, and that’s ok - not every potential client is meant to be. You wont be the right fit for everyone and not every client is the right fit for you either. The trick is to keep focusing on what you do best and what makes your business unique, and keep working to find those customers who just get it!

When the whole trend towards social investing first started, women were viewed predominantly as beneficiaries of that investment rather than those making sustainable social investment decisions. But, things are beginning to change. The advent of gender lens investing, a more women centric approach to building investment portfolios with a high social impact, puts capital behind women in a much more systematic way. Today, instead of women simply being the beneficiaries of social investment, they are also the decisionmakers who are building innovative and effective ecosystems for social investing in women-run initiatives that have high social impact potential. This should make complete sense, given that female investors have been shown to display more positive attitudes towards social investing than their male counterparts. A recent US survey found that half of the wealthy women interviewed expressed an interest in social and environmental investing while only one-third of wealthy men did. In the same survey, 65% of women thought social, political and environmental impacts were important, as compared to just 52% of men. Ultimately, social investors realise that focusing initiatives like microfinance lending for women owned enterprises turns out to be the most effective way to make whole communities more prosperous. 

For many startups who are bootstrapping their way to success, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is access to finance, particularly in the early days. When the business magazines and networking hubs talk about ‘closing a round of financing from a venture capital firm or a group of angel investors’, it sounds a lot sexier than securing money from your mom, dad, extended family members or friends. But the reality is that when you are just starting out, this highly personal and trust-filled approach can be just as effective in getting a company off the ground and running. Many a globally successful entrepreneur has started out in just this way. If a young startup company uses these initial funds responsibly, it could be the only funds they need to raise for quite a while. This means not diluting the company’s shareholding structure and having to meet the expectations of external investors, but instead, leaving the power in the hands of the founders when the time comes to consider a future business expansion requiring outside financing.

There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that supports the idea that women who are open to sharing their knowledge and abilities with others in a real spirit of entrepreneurial collaboration, are more likely to achieve the best results, and a number of scientific studies have backed this idea up. Knowing when to delegate tasks and when to tap the expertise an networks of others is a crucial business skill. It can help women to run their businesses more efficiently and effectively, and enable them to gain a competitive edge over others playing in a similar marketplace. In contrast, constantly trying to be a jack of all trades and micro-manage all aspects of a business can have disastrous consequences in the long-term for any business, as well as causing potentially unmanageable levels of stress and pressure. The best business leaders tend to be those who know how to put a good team together of collaborators and who then go on to make full use of everyone’s talents.

There was an interesting article published this weekend featuring insights on the importance of social and emotional intelligence for entrepreneurs by Simon Baron-Cohen, professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. The article reinforced something that we already intrinsically know, that women entrepreneurs possess a whole range of skills and strengths that make them excellent leaders and decision makers, and one factor that sets them apart is their superior social and emotional intelligence. This can help women entrepreneurs in business in a number of ways - it can help in building strong interpersonal relationships that benefit their businesses; it helps in building trust and growing influence; it certainly helps in building positive and creative working environments; and it undoubtedly is a key success factor when responding to customer needs and desires. Ultimately, it’s good for business, good for brand building, and certainly good for the bottom line.

Networking events for women entrepreneurs are important as they can open up opportunities for collaboration, information and experience sharing, and of course doing business. Yet, managing and cultivating impactful business networking relationships can be challenging for many. Kathey Porter, the co-author of a great book that is well worth a read, “50 Billion Dollar Boss: African American Women Sharing Stories of Success in Entrepreneurship and Leadership.” has some great insights on this subject. She believes that to create a network that will help grow your net worth, you should follow these 6 key steps: Strive to build relationships that are more than just transactional; Stay engaged and in touch with your network; Understand that every kick can be a boost; Be consistent and deliberate when using social media; Be more interested than interesting; Pay attention to industry trends, and know what is now but focus on what is next. These all make common sense, but when used as a checklist for getting the most out of your valuable networking activities, they can help you to achieve the impact you are looking for.

There’s lots of talk right now about Millennials surpassing previous generations in terms of their entrepreneurial attitudes, but the fact is that the full force of this generation’s entrepreneurial impact will only really be felt in a few years’ time. So in the meantime, where are the other new entrepreneurs going to come from? Well, look no further than the baby boomers. A new Gallup Survey suggests that baby boomers (those aged between 55 and 64) are twice as likely to be planning to start a business within a year than Millennials. In fact, the percentage of entrepreneurs as a whole in this age bracket has risen steadily over the past 15 years. The reason for this rise? Well it could be that access to capital might be less of a hurdle for a greater number of entrepreneurial baby boomers than for their Millennial counterparts. Interesting!

For many women in Africa, entrepreneurship is not just a route to financial independence, it’s also a means of building confidence and fulfilling potential. Yet, if these women are to be given the opportunity to build businesses that can generate not just a living for themselves, but also create jobs and opportunities for others, then they need to have greater access to mentors who have successfully been on the journey before them. Both mentoring and technology have been extolled as powerful tools for women’s empowerment within development circles. By combining them together, it’s possible to create access to mentor networks from around the world that can help to widen the possibilities for growth and success for women entrepreneurs in Africa. The exponential rise of mobile technology and access to the internet on the continent means that global women mentors are able to share their experience and business insights, open up vital business networks in new markets, and just provide support when needed. 

Here's an interesting statistic to start the day. Did you know that Africa is the leading continent for female entrepreneurs? 25% of women have set up their own businesses here, the highest rate on the planet! This is music to our ears at Lionesses of Africa! But, what is making Africa such a pro-entrepreneurship environment for women? Well, according to the latest Marketing Mobile Survey undertaken by MMA France, its all down to digital technology. Women on the African continent are capitalizing on digital technology in a big way in order to find innovative solutions to many of the challenges that exist here. The internet and mobiles are often at the heart of business development for African women. These two channels are enabling businesses to launch at low cost, get products and services to market quickly, and importantly, and open up their contacts beyond just the people present in their immediate areas. Platforms such as Facebook also offer a springboard for women who are looking to establish their businesses and brands, and to sell their products outside of their local market. Women entrepreneurs are helping to drive an exciting new digital Africa that is open for business.

As entrepreneurs, there are times when you have to look for sources of external funding, particularly when your business is in scale-up mode, but as a rule of thumb there are many more advantages to building a business organically and without taking on any debt. Firstly, you won't have to give away any of the equity in your business. Secondly, you won't be paying heavy amounts of interest on a loan. Thirdly, and especially important, is that you won't have to answer to an investor who's more interested in short-term financial return than in your long-term growth and goals. Instead, when it’s your own hard-earned money you are investing back into the business, you will learn to invest wisely in its future growth. Growing the business organically might take more time, but in the long run it might cost you less, not just financially, but also in terms of maintaining control. That's good advice for life in general, not just for running your own business.

I recently read and reviewed the brilliant book by Kathey Porter and Andrea Hoffman 50 Billion Dollar Boss: African American Women Sharing Stories of Success in Entrepreneurship and Leadership (read LOAs review of the book). In the book they examine why more women than ever before are choosing the entrepreneurial route and the findings are quite surprising. Kathey Porter says there are many reasons that drive a person to start a business, however, for women, many surveys suggest financial gain is included but is not the primary driving factor. Some of the top reasons include: Opportunity to be their own boss; Greater control of their own destinies; Desire to pursue their passions; Financial gain; Desire for work/life balance; and Flexibility to spend more time with family and children. I am sure these findings will strike a chord with many women entrepreneurs here in Africa.

Okay, did that headline catch your attention? This advice from Arianna Huffington, CEO of the Huffington Post, isn't as shocking as it might first appear. She is talking literally about how sleep is vital if you want to reach the pinnacle of success in your entrepreneurial life. The bottom line is that, no matter how busy your life becomes, if you skimp on your sleep you are causing both harm to yourself and your business. All the studies show that if you are sleep deprived your decision-making becomes compromised; you are more likely to get sick; your physical fitness will be affected; and your business and personal life will both suffer. Sleep will have a big impact on your chances of success as an entrepreneur. With so many demands on you as a business owner, it can be easy to forget to take care of yourself. But in order to thrive you have to put your needs, and those of your family, first. So get some rest! 

In the US, the renowned Kauffman Foundation and the Public Forum Institute have together just published their latest report “Entrepreneurship: the key to a new era of American growth and opportunity”. It comes at a time when the US is reflecting on its socio and political future as part of the election campaigning that is reaching fever pitch. Interestingly, entrepreneurship is taking a central place in the discussion. The report acknowledges that entrepreneurs are known to be the primary source of net new job creation. Their innovations challenge existing firms to improve and contribute to economic dynamism, which results in a faster growing economy that provides greater opportunities for upward mobility. The entrepreneurial creation of new products, systems, and processes breeds new efficiencies. New businesses are also especially important when it comes to the job prospects of young workers. Young companies employ younger workers more than older firms and these workers enjoy higher incomes. On top of all of this, experienced entrepreneurs often act as mentors to aspiring business owners, generating more of the new ideas our economy needs to grow. Simply put, entrepreneurship is an engine of economic growth that creates opportunities for economic independence and can no longer afford for entrepreneurship to be treated as a policy afterthought by politicians. Africa can learn these lessons too.

As entrepreneurs we all know that our work and lives are closely intertwined, particularly when we are bootstrapping our businesses in the early days. It’s almost impossible to get the work/life balance we aspire to when we are juggling our roles as company director, bookkeeper, sales person, administrator, customer service manager - you name it! Each of these roles is critical to our business success but it doesn’t leave much time for anything else - especially a so called ‘normal’ kind of life by other people’s standards. The life of an entrepreneur can be something of a roller-coaster. So, we need to appreciate that life and work are almost impossible to separate, but be ready to grab any free moment that presents itself and use it as our time to stop, rewind and refresh.

Many successful entrepreneurs will tell you that you will meet lots of negative people along your business journey - those who say you will never succeed, or that you should stick to a‘proper job’ in the corporate world, or that your idea will never take off. There are lots of reasons as to why these naysayers will not be supportive. It could be a fear of the unknown and feeling more comfortable in a 9-5 job; or they could simply be ignorant of what the entrepreneurial world is really like; or perhaps they are jealous and don’t want others who are perhaps more adventurous to succeed. Whatever the reasons for their negativity, as an entrepreneur you can’t afford to have such people around you and to have their negative attitude to life rub off on you - you need to stay positive and focused. The highly successful US entrepreneur, Tory Burch, CEO and founder of lifestyle brand Tory Burch, says she learned from her parents to treat such negativity as simply ‘noise' to be ignored and blocked out. Instead she surrounded herself with people who would lift her higher – and she reaped the rewards. A good lesson for all of us to learn!

I was listening to a really interesting radio interview yesterday with Wharton management professor, Ethan Mollick, who has published some new research on why men still outnumber women in becoming entrepreneurs. His findings make for fascinating reading. When it comes to thinking up new ideas upon which to found a business, and having the skills to turn a startup into a success, men and women begin on a level playing field. But in practice, it doesn’t stay that way. Mollick reckons that if you look overall at the chance of someone starting a company, it turns out that gender is a really strong predictor of whether or not they will become an entrepreneur. He says women are less likely to be entrepreneurs than men, and this has been a big puzzle, because women are just as innovative as men and companies run by women are as successful. So why aren’t women launching companies at the same rate? Apparently, it comes down to being overconfident. You have to believe that you’re better than everyone around you. In fact, overconfidence is the biggest psychological predictor of whether or not you’re going to become an entrepreneur. Having misplaced confidence in yourself and thinking you can win when other people always lose is a strong predictor of entrepreneurship. It would appear that men are simply hardwired to being more overconfident out there!

Do you remember the days when every entrepreneur was told to get their 30-second “elevator pitch” ready for the opportunity to pitch a business idea or a concept to a potential buyer, investor or collaborative partner? Well, today things have changed. With the fast paced world of social media driving our brand exposure and our connectivity with the outside world of influencers, movers and shakers, it’s all about the “tweet pitch.” This morning we should be asking ourselves if we have that perfect, attention grabbing, 140-character, one-line “tweet pitch” at the ready. The tweet pitch gives you just three seconds to make a first impression, to entice the audience to bother to read the next paragraph, or to click to see the details. Not enough of these one-liners make an impression, but as entrepreneurs keen to make an impact, we need to make sure that ours do! So, what are you waiting for, go out and perfect your “tweet pitch.”