One of the biggest barriers to the growth and development of entrepreneurship in Africa is corruption. How often do you read in the newspapers or hear people talking about business owners being approached for a bribe by an official in order to get a contract. Such ethical issues are detrimental to the spirit behind entrepreneurship and ultimately have a widespread effect that at the end of the day reaches every facet of the community. When bribes are paid, it stands to reason that those additional costs will be passed on to consumers; or for those who don’t pay bribes, they will experience delays and inevitable frustrations in getting things done, translating into product and service supply challenges for the consumer. Corruption has far-reaching tentacles that keep the continent in a vicious cycle that hinders entrepreneurship and ultimately stunts growth. There is a quote by leading Rwandan education publishing entrepreneur, Lydie Hakizimana, that sums up the real cost of corruption on entrepreneurship, she says: “Corruption leads to a lot of missed opportunities, .... Corruption stops someone to think that he can be an entrepreneur. Corruption makes you fear to take the risk. When you have corruption in a country, people are just discouraged. There is no hope. They don’t see themselves successful in the long term.”

Have you noticed a golden thread that connects successful women entrepreneurs? And it’s not what you might think. It’s not that they all went to similar universities and share an MBA in common, or have developed a particular type of high growth business plan, or that they are in women-centric business or industry sectors. If you look at their personal stories about how they have started and grown their businesses and what makes them tick, the common thread is that they are also passionate about the power of community. For so many women entrepreneurs, it’s not just about making money and being successful for the sake of it, it’s about building a business that can also make a real difference in the lives of other people and supporting the growth of strong communities. They understand that with this approach, everybody benefits.

This weekend on Sunday 12 August, the world commemorates International Youth Day, a time when we look at how the youth in our countries are being supported to help them realize their true potential. In Africa, there is a real need to proactively engage our young people, to provide them with the encouragement, recognition and mentoring they need to help them become tomorrow’s game changers on the continent. At Lionesses of Africa, we are passionate about inspiring a new generation of young aspirant women entrepreneurs to fulfill their dreams. Our Young Lioness Lean In events in different cities across the African continent each month create a sense of community, where these young women can come together to network, share ideas, get inspiration from other successful young women entrepreneurs they look up to, and ultimately, gain the confidence to embark on their own entrepreneurial journeys. So today, let’s celebrate all those young women entrepreneurs in Africa who are about to take the leap and turn their business building dreams into reality, and let’s support them with encouragement, advice, mentoring and a sense of belonging to our community.

Have you noticed how much broadcast and social media talk, and how many newspaper and magazine column inches, are dedicated to talking about innovative technologies like AI and blockchain. And there’s no doubt that these have a lot of potential. But there’s a tendency to forget that the biggest trend in business is on how we understand and treat our customers and ensure we continue to meet their needs. New UK research indicates that consumers place a significant value on human interaction in the customer services process, with 87% reporting they tend to stay more loyal and increase their business with companies that offer a real person to talk to at the right stage of their customer journey. So while all this talk about innovation is exciting, there is no substitute for world-class customer service delivered by people who really care about the customer experience, who are responsive and open to listening to what customers really need. It’s why there’s nothing quite like the human touch.

As every start-up knows, in the early days you have to wear many hats and fulfill many roles, it’s just part of the journey. But not every entrepreneur is a natural marketeer, or a talented designer and content creator, or a detail oriented accountant or business strategist. And, taking on a specialist workforce during the start-up phase may simply not be an option. So it makes sense to work with freelancers who bring their skills and expertise to the table and undertake individual projects or key tasks when needed. The advantages of this approach can be seen on both sides. The freelancer gets the opportunity to build a multiple client and work portfolio, and the entrepreneur finds a solution to dealing with non-core work demands as they happen, freeing up essential time to focus on the things that matter most in the business. Time is a precious commodity to any entrepreneur, so it makes sense to ensure that it is maximized by outsourcing to specialist freelancers when needed.

Co-working is rapidly becoming the norm in the world of start-up businesses. And it’s interesting to see how big business is also starting to tap into this way of thinking, with many of them setting up satellite offices for their innovation or intrapreneur teams in trendy co-working spots. As a result, co-working spaces are not only providing a sense of community for the independent entrepreneur who is looking to be part of a like-minded community, but also an inspirational environment for employees who want to think more like entrepreneurs. It makes for interesting and dynamic spaces. Because they are often accessible 24/7 and people can come and go as they please, these collaborative spaces encourage interaction on what can often be an isolating entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial journey. Co-working is now a part of our entrepreneurial lives and thinking, and whilst it may not suit everyone, that sense of community created in these dedicated spaces is definitely a draw card for many. That’s why many businesses are now incorporating co-working into their strategies, seeing the value that can be generated from the experience.

There’s a big difference between starting a business and then successfully running and growing that business over time. It can be a hard slog with continual stress, pressure to effectively manage finances through the inevitable peaks and troughs, managing and developing your employees, retaining your existing clients and finding new ones, and still finding the time to innovate and develop new products and services along the way. It can be a lot to deal with, and unlike corporate employees, you can’t simply leave it all behind at the office each day when you are an entrepreneur. Stress management amongst entrepreneurs is a continual challenge. That’s why you need a really effective support network of fellow entrepreneurs, friends, family and people who can be there when you need them, to offer advice, a shoulder to cry on, a familiar face to have a moan to when the going gets tough, and a cheerleading brigade when you have something to celebrate.

2018 is shaping up to be the year of natural beauty, with smaller niche brands and their sustainable products and strong back stories rising to prominence. Consumers are increasingly interested in sourcing and buying local, ethical, handmade and environmentally friendly natural products where the provenance and impact are known and appreciated. Women between the ages of 25-45 are choosing to spend their money differently and more thoughtfully. This gap in the market for premium quality natural beauty products has created an opportunity for independent brands to emerge, and particularly across the African continent. The global natural and organic personal care market has been growing at a rapid pace over the past 5 years, and according to a report by Persistence Market Research, this market is projected to be valued at $21 billion by the end of 2024. This natural skincare trend means that opportunities are growing for Africa’s women entrepreneurs who for years have been creating high quality artisanal products, to break through into the mainstream market. And whilst some of these independent products and brands will inevitably be acquired by larger brands to enjoy wider distribution and brand recognition, many will grow simply by leveraging their independence and continuing to cater to their loyal niche market.

It’s said that a business is only as good as its people, and in a startup, everything revolves around people. In those early days of building your business and developing your products and services, it’s essential to build the right team, and often that’s the hardest part of the journey. Make the wrong hiring or partnering decisions, and it can cost the business quickly, but get it right and build a team that works and thinks well together, and it can be the fastest way to success. This is a fact that most entrepreneurs underestimate. A dream team is made up of people who bring the right combination of skills and experience to the table, but most importantly, the right collaborative mindset and a winning mentality. It’s not just about bringing in as many people as possible in the early days in order to speed up the process, it’s all about getting the right people to the table and into the team. South African entrepreneur, Emma Kaye, founder of Bozza, has some great insights on the subject. She says, “You can see your company turn in a heartbeat from just a couple of bad people. So the most powerful thing for me is choose your team very carefully because your team is you. Always employ people who are far better than you at what you do, and empower them.”

It’s often said that there is never a perfect time to start a business and make the bold move into the world of entrepreneurship, and that’s particularly the case when you are creating something new and innovative. But talk to any uber successful entrepreneur about what it took to galvanize them into action and start their businesses, and they will tell you that the prospect of never having tried was far more regrettable than the prospect of giving it their all and failing. Ultimately, that was the key factor compelling them to take the leap. We all know that there are no guarantees when starting a business, and that failure is often part of the journey, but surely it’s better to have tried and failed than to live with the regret of never having started. As Ellen DeGeneres so aptly says, “When you take risks you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important. It's failure that gives you the proper perspective on success.”

An overlooked benefit of women’s entrepreneurship to their economies is their natural strength as skills coaches and job trainers. Women are not only creating much needed new jobs through their businesses, but are also heavily invested in training up their staff. It is often said that the best kind of training is that received on the job, and it is here that women entrepreneurs are making an incredible contribution to training and skills development in their communities. It stands to reason that having created a job the entrepreneur has every reason to ensure the new hire is able to do that job productively and to the very best of their abilities. So whether it is a new sales person, a new machinist, or a new admin assistant, women entrepreneurs are not only creating the new job, but are also training up the new hire. And, because these women know people are their most valuable asset, they are more committed to training people than just about anyone else. In a nutshell, women entrepreneurs across Africa are not only job creators, they’re also great job trainers. It’s time policy makers start to recognize this fact and start to better support women entrepreneurs.

It may not be something that immediately comes to mind, but humility is a core component of entrepreneurial thinking - that’s according to a study undertaken by the University of Washington Foster School of Business. It drives even the boldest business builders to challenge their existing thought processes and ways of doing things and recognize their potential for continual improvement. The study identifies three essential aspects to humility that can enhance your effectiveness as a leader and an entrepreneur. Firstly, humility means having the ability to listen, to actively solicit feedback from customers, colleagues, and community. As a result this boosts employee morale, improves your product offerings and develops customer loyalty. Secondly, humility means never assuming you’re right and being open to test your assumptions to gain genuine insight into what’s working -- and what’s not. Thirdly, humility means admitting mistakes and not seeing them as a sign of weakness but instead a sign of being human. Humility may not obviously be the most glamorous signifier of success, but it’s an essential part of being an entrepreneur.

What makes some businesses succeed and others fail? Well, according to the CB Insights Survey, the top reason for failure is creating products or services that consumers don’t actually want or need. Tackling problems that are interesting to solve rather than those that serve a market need was cited as the No. 1 reason for failure in 42% of cases amongst the companies surveyed. Product "pricing/cost issues" and "user-unfriendly products" were near the top as well. Businesses fail when they are not solving a market problem and when they don’t understand what consumers need and want. It sounds simple, but if it was easy then everyone would be doing it. Success comes from solving a large enough problem, need or pain point that can be addressed with a scalable solution. As author and business guru, Seth Godin says, “Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”

For women entrepreneurs in Africa, there are few things that will help you build traction in your business and support your growth aspirations faster than creating a strong network. It’s essential to have a great network of fellow women entrepreneurs for a number of reasons. Firstly, it can be isolating building a business, particularly if you are a solopreneur. Having access to a network that comes with a variety of specialist resources can increase your access to information, knowledge, expertise, advice, and importantly, access to opportunities to promote your business and brand to others. Secondly, if you work from home or are based in a remote area without access to face-to-face networks, then tapping into virtual online business networks means you can still connect with like-minded entrepreneurs and raise your business profile to potential clients and business partners. Another great way to build networks is to simply participate in specialist forums, e-mail discussion lists, and chat rooms that relate to your business or the type of customer you want to attract. Building a strong business network is key to success.  As Robert Kiyosaki says, “The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work.”

Many successful entrepreneurs will tell you that their businesses have grown and been sustainable over the years because they have taken conscious decisions to live frugally in the startup years and reinvest back into the businesses. It’s a wise strategy to adopt, particularly because so often one of the biggest challenges facing fledgling businesses is managing cashflows at critical times, and ensuring there is always a source of critical capital available when the business needs it most. But the temptation is always there in any startup business to take cash out in the moment, instead of reinvesting it for the longer term. So take some advice on this subject from one of the most successful women entrepreneurs on the African continent, Divine Ndhlukula, founder of Securico Security Services in Zimbabwe, one of the country’s most successful businesses. She says, “Don't be tempted to take cash out of your early-stage startup venture....when a bit of cash starts rolling in, have the discipline to know that it is not your money yet.  It is still the business’s money because you want the business to grow. So for you to sustain it and enjoy phenomenal growth, that anyone going into business wants, you need to reinvest all the little bits of cash that you get then you can be assured that your business will grow.” Great words of advice!

Pick up any magazine or newspaper, or flick through the reports from some of the leading entrepreneurial conferences this year, and the rise of impact investing continues to be a key talking point. A number of interesting industry shifts seem to be indicating a new direction for impact investing in the year ahead. One of those shifts seems to be in the area of wealth transfer, where it’s estimated that in the US alone, around $40 trillion in wealth will be transferred over the next 30 years to women and millennials. Both of these groups have expressed strong interest in investing aligned with their values, with millennials demonstrating they are deliberate about the social impact of their retirement funds.This could signify an interesting potential opportunity for women owned businesses in Africa who are looking to find socially responsible global impact investors to support the continuing growth and development of their businesses. Increasingly, investors are also focused on ensuring that they are “actually doing good” and that their investments are having a positive social or environmental impact. This industry shift could prove to be a real ‘win-win’ for both women owned growth businesses and investors alike.

So here’s an interesting fact! Did you know that most businesses in the world are family businesses, and that’s certainly the case in the US, where most small businesses are family businesses and, to the surprise of many, most large businesses are also family businesses. You may never have heard of them because they tend not to be traded publicly, and they do not go out of their way to advertise who owns these companies. But strong families and values are behind their success. In these businesses, the family relationship is as vital to the success of most companies as any other factor. So why are family firms more productive than their non-family owned peers?  Well, it seems one key reason is that family owned firms tend to see not only higher employee engagement levels from staff, but as a result of this, they also secure higher productivity levels as well. There is a personal connection between employees and a family owned brand where the founders live the vision and mission of the business and set the right example for everyone to feel part of.

Have you noticed a particular trait that is shared amongst the most successful entrepreneurs? They seem to display an inner restlessness, a desire to never stay still, never sitting back and just enjoying their success. They seem to always be on a mission to strive to improve, or create the next innovation, or find another solution to a key challenge. Over the years, this restlessness has always propelled entrepreneurship and innovation forward. It usually reflects a need to make a difference or an impact. Often this restlessness is personally motivated, with entrepreneurs getting frustrated with the status quo, and indeed, there are usually very personal and passion driven stories  behind many successful social or business ventures. So if you feel you are getting stuck in your business or in your life, and feel a little restless, then harness that inner restless dissatisfaction and those feelings and use them to propel your business and your life in a new direction.

If you have ever been in a sporting team environment (think back to your school or college days), you will probably remember the well-worn phrase, “There’s no i in team”, which is usually used by the coach to rally the team members to start working together on the pitch or court to get that all important win. And there is no doubt that it’s important to create a team spirit when it comes to your business, with everyone pulling together in the same direction to achieve the same goals. But the downside is that this approach  can often leave the entrepreneur founder of the business downplaying their own accomplishments, always referring to ‘we’ when talking about the company instead of ‘i’. And it’s not a matter of bragging rights, it’s more a case of taking ownership and a leadership role, one that allows you as the founder and driver of the business to convey your worth as a leader in your field, both to your employees and to your customers.

Building trust in your business, particularly amongst your employees, is a critical foundation stone for success. As the founder of your business, it’s so important that those around you have trust in you, your judgement, and your leadership. When your employees, your shareholders, your suppliers and your customers trust you, they are more likely to engage with the business. And that’s where transparency comes in - if as the founder of the business you are transparent in your leadership and your decision-making, then that in turn will inspire those around you to adopt your values in their own working lives. It’s really all a matter of practicing what you preach. It sends a message that openness, sharing, and collaboration are all core values in your business and ones that are adopted from the top down in the business. So if you want everyone to join you on this entrepreneurial journey and fully engage in all aspects of the business, then transparency is key to building that all essential trust that is needed for success.