For many aspirant entrepreneurs here in Africa, in fact anywhere in the world, often the hardest challenge in getting started is finding a gap in the market that is waiting to be filled by the next innovative product, service, or new way of doing something. There is often the temptation to put off starting a business because there doesn’t seem to be a blue ocean to play in, that uncontested market space where there is room to thrive because the competition is irrelevant (take a look at the fabulous book Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne to gain some fascinating insights on this subject). But the fact is that often it’s not a case of finding that rare marketplace where no-one is playing yet (these can be elusive and often tough to find), but rather more about creating a business, product or service that can stand out in the crowd in an existing one - a business that is unique with a very different customer proposition. So, don’t be tempted to procrastinate about setting up a business because there isn’t an obvious brand new marketplace to make your mark in, instead think about how you can bring something fresh and new to an existing one and stake your entrepreneurial claim there.

Everyone talks about how important it is to have a great elevator pitch at the ready, as you never know who you are going to meet that could be a game-changer in your entrepreneurial life, be it a potential investor, a future client, or a possible business partner. The elevator pitch is that 15 second, highly compelling introduction to your business that grabs the attention of the person you are speaking to, and holds their interest. Last evening, I was in the audience at the Standard Bank Incubator in Rosebank, Johannesburg, listening to the elevator pitches of eight up-and-coming entrepreneurs as part of Demo Day, an event aimed at connecting entrepreneurs with potential investors. Some pitches were more compelling than others, but all of them exuded the passion that only entrepreneurs can convey for their businesses. However, what was really interesting at this event was the informal pitching and connecting happening off-stage amongst members of the audience. It was a great example of what happens naturally when you put a large number of entrepreneurs in one room with members of the eco-system - everyone makes the most of the opportunity to pitch their new ideas, explore possible collaborations and reconnect with existing connections. So, if you don’t have your 15 second elevator pitch ready to go, you are missing a trick!

How many times when speaking to would-be entrepreneurs and innovators do you hear them talk about how they are not able to realise their business dreams because they are held back by fear of the unknown? Their path to success is blocked by nagging fears and doubts such as fear of failure; fear of the idea or invention not being perfect and therefore not ready to launch; fear of not having enough money to take the leap to being an entrepreneur; fear of not having enough time to make the entrepreneurial dream a reality; fear of ending up broke if the idea doesn’t work. But the fact is that every entrepreneurwho has ever developed a new business or invented a new product has faced the same questions and challenges, and there are always unknowns and potential roadblocks on the entrepreneurial journey. The trick is not to let the fear of the unknown paralyse you to the point where nothing gets done. You need to battle your fears, find solutions to each of the challenges that will inevitably confront you, and just launch - after all, what is the point of having a great idea or product concept if it is the world’s best kept secret? 

I was catching up on some reading this weekend and a great entrepreneurial story in the US caught my eye. It was the story of Stanford-educated engineer Debbie Sterling who founded a unique toy company in 2012, GoldieBlox, with the aim of encouraging young girls to start tinkering with toys and building machines. Her narrative-driven construction toy sets she hopes will get young girls interested in the world of building, engineering and construction at an early age. Her goal is to raise the percentage of female engineers in the world, hopefully with these young girls growing up and forging careers in these male-dominated sectors in the future  (currently just 14% of engineers in the world are female). So far, Goldieblox has sold more than 1 million of these construction toy sets. Debbie Sterling has also created an award-winning mobile app, and her company has landed a coveted SuperBowl advertising slot worth US$4 million for free. But what I found really fascinating about the article was Debbie’s response when asked what she attributed her business success to - she said it was not being afraid to ask for help. She says: “I think the biggest mistake you can make as an entrepreneur is pretending that you know everything, or feeling you need to come across like you do. The key is admitting freely that I don’t know the answer to something or don’t know how to do something, so long as I seek somebody who does.” That’s great advice that we can all take as entrepreneurs!

Take a look at some of the most successful women entrepreneurs in Africa and they share a number of traits which have undoubtedly contributed to their achievements in business over the years. We need to be open to constantly learning from these women who are making it in the competitive world of business and brand building, so this morning we are sharing some of the traits that differentiate them from the pack. Firstly, they tend to be ambitious and have clear goals they are aiming for in their businesses - this helps to keep them focused and on track. Secondly, they have a clear vision which permeates every aspect of their businesses and in particular helps their employees and customers to engage with their brands. Thirdly, they are innovators prepared to constantly think ‘out of the box’ and to create new and exciting products, services or ways of doing things. And finally, they have the ability to turn a challenge into an opportunity, a great attribute to have given the twists and turns that will inevitably happen along the way to building successful businesses.

For the majority of startups, self funding rather than relying on external financial support is the trend, according to an interesting new UK survey by FreeAgent which interviewed 500 micro-businesses. Although this was a UK report, the findings are just as relevant to entrepreneurs here in Africa. It points to the fact that most freelancers and micro-business owners are self-funding rather than relying on external financial support, with 43 per cent using their personal savings to launch their business ventures. Additionally, the research shows that just 4 per cent of micro-businesses say they had used a loan from a friend or family member to get their business idea off the ground, while as little as 2 per cent use their credit card or secured a bank loan, and only 1 per cent used government assistance. While getting started does not seem to be the problem, the research finds that life can be more of a struggle once those businesses actually get off the ground, with 41 per cent of micro-businesses saying they do not make enough money to cover their costs, or ‘only just’ make enough to cover them. Many micro-business owners are also focussing their attention on their business at the expense of taking time off; nearly half of respondents (44 per cent) say that they had not felt in a position to be able to take a week or more of holiday during the last six months. So the challenge seems to be not so much getting started from a finance perspective, rather it’s a case of ensuring operating costs for the first year or two of the business can be covered as part of the early planning stage. Something to think about carefully before launching that dream business.

There’s no doubt about it, millennials are the most mobile, engaged and socially networked segment of the population, and that makes for interesting challenges when it comes to reaching them from a business marketing perspective. Traditional advertising doesn’t work for them, in fact they are fairly sceptical of the well-worn, conventional approaches to selling them products and services. As a truly mobile generation that is permanently connected simultaneously to a range of mobile devices, content marketing becomes an effective means of engaging in conversation with millennials and getting their attention. As entrepreneurs trying to tap into this increasingly influential market segment, this means getting a whole lot more creative in the type of information you put out there to reach them. It’s about entertaining, informing, engaging in conversation and presenting content in a highly visual way. Just look at the rapid growth of platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, both highly visual, personal and connected. So when it comes to marketing your products and services to millennials, think mobile. 

Have you ever wondered how some of the biggest and currently most successful businesses in the world, particularly in the online space, manage to maintain their market position? Ask entrepreneurs like Jeff Bizoz, ceo of Amazon, and he will tell you that communication is key - but not just any form of communication - storytelling! He believes that if you want to make a connection between your brand, your investors and your customers, it isn’t about spending vast amounts of money on high profile events or expensive websites, instead it’s all about telling a powerful story. He says: “You can have the best technology, you can have the best business model, but if the storytelling isn’t amazing, it won’t matter. Nobody will watch.” Every entrepreneur can learn this lesson from one of the best in the world, understanding that everyone has a story that’s unique - the power comes from how you tell it and how you connect with your audience through that story.

Talking to many women in the corporate world who are toying with the idea of fulfilling their entrepreneurial dreams but are scared to leave the security of their current job to take the plunge, there is no doubt it’s a very scary proposition. And, let’s be honest, it’s not one that everyone can afford to take. So perhaps the most pragmatic approach to take, and many would-be women entrepreneurs around the world have done exactly this, is to put a toe in the water by building a business whilst they are still employed. It’s particularly common amongst millennials who have branded the term ‘side hustle’ as part of their day to day existence - in fact, google ‘side hustle’ and you will literally read thousands of stories of millennials who are out there creating businesses, products, apps, all manner of things, whilst at the same time working a day job. So, if you are one of those people who are not quite sure if they are ready to make the full-on leap into the world of entrepreneurship, then consider launching your business whilst you are still working. It could be the solution for all those passionate, creative working professionals who long to start their own business whilst keeping the security of their current job.

If you want to stay ahead, get a hat! Old joke, but staying ahead of the pack in business is no laughing matter. It’s competitive out there, no matter what industry sector your business is operating in. So it’s essential to know what those around you are doing, what new trends are emerging, what customers are saying they want - you name it, keeping informed and up to date is critical. You need to be ready to tweak your product or service offerings to capitalise on a new market trend or in response to your customer feedback. You might need to pivot a little (or a lot!) if you spot a new opportunity or a gap in the market. Staying ahead of your competitors is not just a matter of survival, it’s more about being responsive to your valued customers, being innovative, being engaged with your marketplace, and above all, staying relevant and fresh. So, keep yourself informed, get lots of feedback from your customers on your products and services, and stay ahead of the pack. Your business will thank you for it!

Any busy entrepreneur knows that feeling - you open your email in the early morning, or after a long flight from a business trip, and your inbox is literally screaming at you, bursting at the seams with unanswered new mails. A full inbox is a reflection of time constraints, and if you let those emails pile up unanswered, it becomes a pressure point and ends up taking more time out of your day playing catch up. There is also the possibility that lying somewhere in the midst of that huge email backlog is a new business client, news of a new business win, or a new and exciting opportunity opening up for you. Time is often of the essence in responding to these opportunities, so time constraints or not, the trick is to keep on top of those emails and turn them into great conversation starters. Personally, I’m a great believer in tackling groaning email inboxes early in the morning and last thing at night, given that we work across multiple time zones, and when one marketplace closes the other one is still opening. I actually quite enjoy that quiet time in the early hours of the morning to catch up with emails, start conversations with new people coming in to my network, and chat to the amazing women entrepreneurs in my network. It’s a great way of turning what could be a chore and a stress point, into a positive networking time.

The legendary saying that ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ holds true, particularly when it comes to the world of entrepreneurship and building a new business, brand and product range. The journey always takes longer than you plan - usually much longer. But you can take encouragement from the fact that some of the most successful, new generation companies and brands that we all know and admire so much today, such as Snapchat, Uber, or Facebook, all evolved over time and were not overnight success stories - much as they might seem like it. Growing a business takes time. It takes continual work to build a great product or service; it takes time to get the essential feedback and market reaction needed to evolve; it takes considerable time and effort to build that critical social following; and it takes a huge amount of marketing to build that customer base. So, it’s okay to enjoy the journey no matter how long it takes, and if you don’t enter the world of entrepreneurship expecting an overnight success, then it will be all the more rewarding when you finally achieve it.

Entrepreneurs are never short of people around them willing to give advice, or offer an opinion, whether it is wanted or not. It comes with the territory. However, it can be a little overwhelming and often confusing. The trick is not to listen to those who tell you exactly what to do, and instead to listen to those trusted people who encourage you to make the decisions that you intrinsically know in your heart are the right ones. Surround yourself with people who can help you on your journey to becoming the person and the entrepreneur you aspire to being, and who themselves reflect the person you want to be.  Choose friends, confidants and advisors who you are proud to know, people you admire, people whose own entrepreneurial journeys can be respected. Ultimately, the people in your life make all the difference to the person and the entrepreneur you are capable of being. Life is just too short to spend time with people who don’t make a positive and life-affirming difference to you and your journey. 

Ask any woman entrepreneur about the challenges and obstacles they face when first starting up and they will tell you they are considerable - from fear of failure, to getting products and services to markets, to finding financing for new ventures - to name but a few. Yet one of the keys to success lies in having supportive ecosystems that can provide the right support, advice, encouragement and, above all, environments where fellow women entrepreneurs can network and collaborate. The Kauffman Foundation, a research organisation focusing on entrepreneurship, found that nearly every one of the more than 360 major metropolitan areas in the United States had such a network in place, helping to drive a new wave of women entrepreneurs in the country. Here in Africa, we also need to work towards creating such positive ecosystems for women entrepreneurs in every major city across the continent, providing an environment where women led businesses can grow and thrive.

Mention the word ‘bespoke’ and it immediately conjures up images of personalised luxury products, created with the personality of the wearer or user in mind, produced in small quantities and using the finest ingredients. I was reminded of this last evening when I was treated to a luxury perfume blending experience, and given the opportunity to create my own signature fragrance. It reminded me of a recent interview I read with the incredibly talented Tammy Frazer, a proudly African luxury perfumier and founder of Frazer Parfum, based in Cape Town, South Africa. Speaking about the notion of bespoke in the context of the world of perfumery, and explaining exactly what a bespoke perfume is, she said: ’It is a unique, signature scent designed for an individual, and based on in-depth consultation and learning. The bespoke journey is a series of private consultations charting the client’s scent history and influences, and exploring the true essence of both frequently used and rare botanicals.” As the world becomes increasingly more aware of, and interested in, AfroLuxe products, proudly produced on the continent, the market for producing bespoke luxury products for individual clients that reflect their personalities, will surely also grow. 

It’s quite amazing how many times when women entrepreneurs get together, the subject of fear comes up in conversation. Fear of moving from a corporate career to becoming an entrepreneur, fear of the unknown when starting up a business, fear of not getting the balance right between business and family life, and fear of failure, to name but a few. Yet the important thing to remember is that no one is without fear; it’s what you do with that fear that separates you from those who succumb to it. There’s a great quote on the subject by the seemingly fearless Arianna Huffington, Editor in Chief of The Huffington Post. She says: “Fearlessness is not the absence of fear. It’s the mastery of fear. It’s about getting up one more time than we fall down.” What a great way of putting fear into context - something to think about when you next get one of those fear-ridden, anxious moments on your entrepreneurial journey!

What do you get if you combine the ‘out of the box’ thinking and innovative ways of doing things of a millennial entrepreneur (18 to 35), with the vast experience of an encore entrepreneur (50+)? You potentially get a new business or product being launched that has a new competitive advantage in the marketplace. It appears that this whole movement towards creating collaborative communities (look at any great business incubator, innovation lab or tech hub), has unearthed an interesting dynamic. If you harness the wisdom, skills and life/work experience of older people and combine them with the energy driven, tech-savvy millennials in the spirit of mutually beneficial collaboration, you build better startups, businesses, and entire societies. Intergenerational experience is the new competitive advantage, something to remember when you are out there looking for the perfect partner to create the next game-changing business success story. 

It can be pretty daunting starting a new business - you do all the research, all the hard work getting your product, services and brand ready for market, and then you have to get it out there in the public domain and actually launch. Yet, learning from so many of the startups that go on to becoming successful businesses, the trick is to soft-launch in the first few days and weeks, using social media as a great way of testing the water and the market reaction to your new business. By harnessing the power of personal social networks to announce a new business, it means you can see your first ‘friendly’ users signing up or reacting to what you are launching from day one, getting a feel for what the greater reaction would be to a full-scale market launch. If a few things don’t work exactly as planned, it allows you to fine tune and tweak as you go, or fix minor problems that inevitably emerge. By not going ‘big’ on your launch from day one, you can make mistakes and learn from them without much downside. The lesson to be learned? Sometimes it really is good to start small and take baby steps in the initial launch phase, growing as you go.

Have you noticed how quickly an innovative idea can become a global game-changer and, as a result, change the way people live and interact? Just look at Uber, a disruptive idea that has revolutionised the way people get around urban environments, particularly millennials, becoming a colloquial ‘verb’ in the process - to Uber. And, who is behind these disruptive ideas? - ‘out of the box thinking’ entrepreneurs such as the founder of Uber, Travis Kalanick. What is fascinating is that these game-changers are often sitting on the outside of the business sectors and industries they are looking to revolutionise. Travis Kalanick was not a taxi driver or a transportation company owner - he was simply a customer, needing a ride and frustrated at not being able to conveniently take control of a reliable and safe transport sourcing and booking process using a smartphone. One individual, one idea, one disruptor = change-maker and market game-changer. You have to love them!

How many times do you hear women entrepreneurs talk about building their businesses from behind the scenes, not wanting to be in the limelight and preferring to focus on the business mechanics instead? But the reality is that the founders of any startup business  are the startup, and as such, it’s vital to be seen and heard. In the early days, when you are just launching your business, products and services, and particularly when resources are stretched, it’s critical to invest as much time as possible connecting your personal brand with your company’s brand - they are intrinsically linked. Remember that people do business with people, and you need to put a face to your company and its work. Customers, investors and partners all need to know the people who make up the startup team behind the business, so proactively get out there and introduce yourself to the world as a creator, an innovator, an entrepreneur with a vision. Putting a face to the business is particularly key for early adopters who tend to make buying decisions from startups based on the story and personality behind the brand.