How many times do you hear people saying to you, ‘I could never leave my secure 9-5 job for the uncertainty of the entrepreneurship life’? Yet, today as economic challenges are impacting many African countries and big companies inevitably restructure and often downsize to mitigate the impact, there is no such thing as a secure job anymore. So the idea of abandoning the steady paycheck in favour of setting up a new business is perhaps not as crazy as it might once have seemed to many. One of the most common reasons people choose to start their own businesses is to have better control over their lives, to be the ones making the decisions for their futures. It is worth remembering this reason on those days when we question the entrepreneurial path we have taken, and the road gets a little bumpy! 

How often in business are you rolling along nicely, on an upward trajectory, with business looking good, and then life throws you a curve ball. All of a sudden, everything you thought looked certain is suddenly in doubt. Your plans which looked great on paper are now looking more like theory than practice. At times like this, it is useful remembering that business is like the stock market. There will be the inevitable ups and downs, but hopefully a positive upward trajectory will happen over time. During the downturns, it is essential to revisit plans, make adjustments for new business conditions, and keep focused and positive. A sustainable business is defined by how it makes it successfully through the challenging periods, not by how it breezes through the good times.

Risk-taking is part of everyone’s entrepreneurial journey - after all, as soon as you set out to take your idea for a business and turn it into what you hope will be a successful enterprise, you are taking a big risk. It means putting your money and dreams where your mouth is, experiencing vast amounts of stress, long hours, lack of sleep, loss of personal and family time, to name but a few of the inevitable consequences of embarking on this crazy journey. But being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean becoming a dare devil, it’s all about taking calculated risks, preparing well for any eventuality, and finding ways to mitigate the possible downsides of your business decisions. An important piece of advice to remember is that while taking risks is definitely something you should do as an entrepreneur, it’s equally important to make sure those risks are calculated and well thought through.

For those of you following our current Lioness On Tour travels as we take our Lioness Lean In events to women entrepreneurs across the African continent. The next part of the tour takes us from Zambia to Zimbabwe. Monday sees Lionesses of Africa arriving in Harare for the first time and we are so excited to finally meet women entrepreneurs there in person and get to know their businesses in this city. It’s going to be a great trip and we will be sharing it with you all through our special series of blog articles and Lioness Radio Show programmes. Also look out for our special feature article this week which showcases some of Zimbabwe’s leading and emerging women entrepreneurs. Prepare to be inspired! If you have booked your ticket for the Lioness Lean In event in Harare on Tuesday 9th October, see you there!

Entrepreneurs are often asked what their unique value proposition is, and why it sets their businesses apart from the competition. And it’s important to identify what makes our products or services different in the marketplace. It’s the ‘secret sauce’ that makes customers take notice of our brands and choose our products over someone else’s. If you haven’t defined your unique value proposition, then here are four tips to help you. Firstly, know your why! Identify why your product or service is needed and what makes it different. Secondly, know your audience. You don’t need to sell to everyone, you just need to know what your specific audience wants and needs and focus on them. Thirdly, buck the trend, don’t do what everyone else is doing, find the gap in the market and provide a product or service that is unique to you. Fourthly, learn from your competitors, don’t repeat their mistakes, and celebrate your uniqueness as a way of separating yourself and your brand from the pack. 

There is a myth that says big companies and big government are the solution to the job crisis on the African continent. In fact, just as in other big global economies such as the US, it’s small businesses that will actually employ the most people. In a country such as South Africa which has chronic unemployment (South Africa has had a 20% plus unemployment rate for over two decades), particularly amongst young people, more needs to be done to encourage and support young people to take control of their futures and create their own businesses. This should include support for entrepreneurship skills training and development, access to micro-finance, and support from corporates and government to provide access to market opportunities in the early launch stage. Importantly, if a new generation of young entrepreneurs is to emerge, not just in South Africa but across the African continent, they need to be part of an entrepreneurial community. They need to be mentored by experienced and successful entrepreneurs who can provide advice and guidance. They also need to be connected to other young entrepreneurs for peer-to-peer support. By building a young entrepreneur community that supports itself and is also supported by big business and government, these young business builders will not only survive, they will thrive and contribute to solving the job crisis.

As women, and as entrepreneurs, we instinctively know what our strengths are - the trick is to use those strengths and what makes us unique to our advantage. Yet often, we can be underestimated by other people in business, and sometimes by ourselves - so is this a good or a bad thing? In a recent interview, Sara Blakely, the founder of the successful Spanx apparel brand, spoke about this challenge. In the early days of launching her brand, she wasn’t taken seriously and no-one would give her a chance to get her product into the market. But they underestimated her confidence in what she was creating and her determination to get her product launched, no matter how many hurdles there were to climb over. Today, the Spanx brand is a huge global retail success story, and Sara is America’s first self-made female billionaire. Proof positive that you should never underestimate a woman entrepreneur.

More and more entrepreneurs are looking to collaborate in order to move their businesses forward into new and exciting directions. And having a collaborative mindset is definitely the future of business. There are so many benefits to collaborating as entrepreneurs. Firstly, new ideas and opportunities arise from the cross-pollination of individual expertise. Secondly, collaboration is a great tool for extracting the best out of everyone for a greater outcome. Thirdly, collaboration makes everyone think differently and with open minds to find the right solution to a challenge. Recently, we launchedLioness CoLab, a platform developed to bring attention to the great collaborations currently taking place between women entrepreneurs in our community. We have seen some wonderful collaborations emerging, with women bringing their specialist skills and expertise together to create new and exciting new products and innovations. They are a great example of how we can go ‘Further, Together!’ 

The great, late Kofi Anan famously said, “Information and freedom are indivisible.” And this holds true for Africa’s millions of aspiring women entrepreneurs, particularly young women. They have a right to be able to access all the information and resources they need to launch their startup dreams. We must create the resources and safe spaces for them to learn, to start conversations, to show support for one another and to tell their amazing stories. The Internet is the powerful enabler that allows us to do this. We can deliver entrepreneur information and education, manage meet up groups, make connections, give advice, find mentors, network, and so much more, in a positive and safe environment designed exclusively for women. Pleasingly, the pool of resources and information available to Africa’s women entrepreneurs, to help them advance their business, is getting increasingly deeper. And, importantly many of these resources are available for free online. So, as we celebrate the UN International Day for Universal Access to Information let’s all think about how we can contribute and better share information and help power the next generation of women entrepreneurs across Africa.

There's a saying that goes, “The fortune is in the follow-up.” Ask any successful entrepreneur and they will tell you that one of the most important and impactful activities is following up with customers. And it makes sense! It’s said that a typical customer will need to hear from you an average of seven times before they finally decide to make a purchase. Seven times! That’s why following up is key to success. Remember that great customer service and prompt follow-up has the potential to influence a customer’s overall experience with your company. It affects the way they feel about your business; it affects their decision-making; and it can result in that all important sale. So make sure your follow-ups are taken seriously as part of your business processes.

It’s always a great feeling when you get a customer referral from a fellow woman entrepreneur. It’s recognition that you are doing something right. But more importantly, it is a great example of the power of community - of women entrepreneurs supporting one another on their business building journeys. When you recommend a great product or service that you have experienced from another woman entrepreneur, the chances are that in the future, it will be reciprocated. By encouraging your customers to support other women owned businesses and products that complement your own, you are helping to create a real sense of community. One where everyone is committed to creating a great, shared customer experience - and where everyone wins!

Entrepreneurs and their businesses are seeing tangible and rapid improvements as a result of digital transformation. According to the 2018 Bank of America Women Business Owner Spotlight Survey, half of small business owners in the United States foresee a complete transition to digital payments in the next five years. And here is the good news, it is women who are leading the charge in using mobile devices to process payments and manage other transactions. The survey found that 33 percent of women entrepreneurs use a mobile device to process digital financial transactions, compared to 26 percent of men. They accepting more mobile payments from customers (71 percent of women versus 65 percent of men), and they pay their employees using mobile payments (19 percent of women versus 14 percent of men). Women entrepreneurs are also ahead of the curve in managing other aspects of their business on their mobile devices, including social media updates and hiring. It is good to see women harnessing the power of digital to help their businesses succeed.

Taking that first big step to starting a business is always a big decision to make for any young woman entrepreneur. And the importance of role models in helping them to make the leap should not be underestimated. Seeing other women succeed in building their businesses and brands is vital. As is being able to watch and learn from them at a practical level. Even more importantly for these young women entrepreneurs is having the opportunity to connect with their role models, to ask for advice and mentorship. Research indicates that for many young women entrepreneurs, their start-up decision was influenced by seeing their role models succeed - and, showing what is possible. Many would not have the confidence to embark on an entrepreneurial path without such positive examples in their lives.

There was a time when investors simply looked at a balance sheet and focused on a business’s ability to achieve a return on investment in the shortest space of time. Today, things are much more complex. Investment decisions are made by also taking into account the ability of the business to make money and make a difference. It’s all about creating impact and benefitting humankind at the same time. Investors want to see their money working for them and for the world. So if you are looking to pitch your business to potential investors, ensure your social impact goals are also clearly defined. And ensure you research the philanthropic or corporate social responsibility goals of the investors you are trying to reach, and ensure your own goals align with theirs. It will improve your chances of making that all important connection.

We’ve all heard about the entrepreneur overnight success stories that apparently happen to the lucky few - and we like the idea of it. But in reality, it’s just a myth. For entrepreneurs there’s no such thing as an overnight success! It takes years of hard work, tough times, sacrifice, and so much more, before all that effort hopefully pays off. Read the interviews with entrepreneurial legends such as Richard Branson and Elon Musk, to name but a few, and they will talk about the years of failure and frustration before success was achieved. An overnight success in reality takes around 7 to 10 years to actually happen - if you are lucky! It’s something to remember during those difficult times in our business journeys. Even the most successful entrepreneurs have been through similar tough experiences. They know that the road to success comes from navigating the ups and downs, and being in it for the long haul. As Leo Tolstoy once said, “Great achievements take time, there is no overnight success.”

As entrepreneurs, we all know that feeling - when despite putting in all the time, effort and passion into our businesses, we still get the inevitable rejections. And, it can be absolutely confidence crushing and fatiguing, no matter how long you have been in business. But the fact is, as an entrepreneur, you are going to encounter rejection - it’s part of the journey. You have to learn how to deal with it and move on without dwelling on it. Some people cope with rejection really well. They walk away, but they learn from it. Others find it harder - and it can hold them back. So how do you deal with rejection as a woman entrepreneur? Remember that you are not alone - entrepreneurs around the world are experiencing the same pain as you. So, if rejection is getting you down, reach out to another woman entrepreneur for a coffee and a chat - swop your rejection stories, exchange experiences, and share that pain with someone who knows what you are going through. It will make you stronger. 

Agriculture currently accounts for 32% of GDP in Africa, offering the greatest potential for poverty alleviation and job creation. A recent research report by KPMG and the UN Global Compact highlighted that increasing the participation of small and medium sized agribusinesses in value chains advanced sustainable development. It also pointed to the need to create more local value added goods, to meet the fast-growing demand in both African and overseas markets. Women entrepreneurs are seizing the opportunity to build businesses that transform locally grown raw materials into world class products and brands. They are generating market demand, both at home and abroad, providing sustainable incomes for local farmers and creating new sources of consumers for locally grown products. Women entrepreneurs are tangibly helping to build agriculture value chains across Africa, so when their businesses thrive, so do local agri-communities.

There is a tendency to think that our challenges as women entrepreneurs are unique to ourselves, to our cities and countries, and to our business sectors. But the fact is that, it doesn’t matter where you travel across the African continent or indeed the rest of the world, the business challenges we are experience tend to be just the same. As we continue to tour Africa’s business capitals with our Lioness Lean In events, meeting with really inspirational women business builders along the way, we hear the same challenges being honestly discussed. These range from getting access to capital, to accessing new markets, to juggling work and family commitments, to training and developing people, to name but a few. So as women entrepreneurs, whether we are building our businesses in Lagos or Lilongwe, Maputo or Lusaka, we can all learn from one another, share our experiences and insights, help each other along our journeys. That’s the power of belonging to a community of like-minded women entrepreneurs, and remembering that we go Further, Together!

As global economies are seeing their fair share of challenges right now, Africa’s growing business opportunities and strong economic growth are not only catching the attention of investors and big businesses. It seems the continent is becoming an attractive startup destination for women entrepreneurs in the African Diaspora too. This growing sense of optimism in Africa’s economic potential is backed up by some strong facts and figures. The IMF predicts that seven of the world's fastest-growing economies over the next five years will be in Africa; Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Congo, Ghana, Zambia and Nigeria, are all expected to expand by more than 6% a year. And women entrepreneurs who have been living and working abroad are increasingly looking to return and contribute to the continent’s future socio economic success story. They come armed with a wealth of experience, global insights, specialist business building skills, and above all plenty of passion. The future looks bright for women-led businesses across the Continent. 

Walk down global high streets or shopping malls at the moment and you will see a change beginning to happen. The appearance of newer, smaller, independent brands and stores beginning to appear. And it’s backed by an interesting trend that is being driven by a desire for a different type of consumer experience. These niche, small business retailers have a competitive advantage on their bigger, better capitalized, globally driven retailers - and that’s their personal touch. And it’s precisely this approach to seeing every customer as an individual, that is reshaping the retail landscape. The next big predicted trend in the retail space is that small is beautiful again, with a focus on personal, customer centric experiences that take place in both physical and digital retail spaces. It’s less about what is sold, and instead how you sell it. Market analysts attribute this retail shift to smaller niche player being seen as more authentic, connecting to local growers and value chains, and the power of story telling.