FCMB Supports Women Led Businesses With The She-Ventures Program
This article is sponsored by the FCMB SheVentures proposition. FCMB SheVentures is empowering female entrepreneurs, helping them build their businesses, and improving the overall success rate of businesses owned or run by women. Please click here to learn more about how FCMB SheVentures can support you and your business. We’ve seen time and time again that we are only going to be able to move forward as a community, if we all use our skills and talents to support each other. Over the past three months, several incredible women served as mentors for the FCMB SheVentures Program. These experts shared, connected, and bonded with the fourth cohort of this mentorship program supporting women-led businesses in Nigeria. Some of the feedback from the mentees, shows how impactful this program was to entrepreneurs across Nigeria. To learn more about how SheVentures supports the growth and aspirations of Nigerian women in business, visit www.fcmb.com/she-ventures.
3 ways to boost your likeability in business
Every person struggles with how to deal with people better. In business especially, the struggle is even more challenging as you not only need to win customers over but also make profits. Dale Carnegie observes in his book How to win friends and influence people that… “When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.” This is to mean that we are more likely to win people over by treating them better. Instead of criticizing, the legendary writer, Carnegie, says that the only way to get people to do anything is by giving them what they want. With this background, business people should thus ensure they provide what their clients and employees need. Here are three ways to increase your likability among your employees and clients. Don’t kick over the beehive Do not be obsessed with getting what only benefits you alone. As an entrepreneur, it is very rewarding if you shift out of focusing absorbedly on yourself and what you can gain from others. Instead, be genuinely concerned about those you are in contact with irrespective of their rank or background. Be open to other people and listen to what they say keenly and with curiosity. To be a good listener, try slowing down and look into your employees or colleagues eyes, and be truly concerned about them and what they are saying. It will not do you any good if you are the kind of person who only focuses on the goal without paying attention to the process of goal achievement. As a leader, drop the ‘just get it done’ approach. It leaves those you socialize with feeling drained and used. Additionally, the ‘expert’ role among entrepreneurs breaks the line of communication between them and their employees/colleagues. Playing an expert makes you big headed and closed minded to other people’s opinions, thereby stealing from you the opportunity to grow your business to the next level. [bctt tweet=”How to boost your likability in business: 1. If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive. Learn more…” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Diversity is a blessing We cannot all be the same. It would be unexciting to work or socialize with clones of yourself. Embrace diversity and differences, as it is through them that you learn who you are and what you want to become in the future. Engaging with those that are different from you sets you to becoming a better person, stronger and richer in knowledge and skills. By being open to diversity, business owners can be more tolerant, understanding and respectful of other people’s perceptions, practices and who they are. [bctt tweet=”To be a good listener, try slowing down and look into your employees or colleagues eyes, and be truly concerned about them and what they are saying.” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Listen and learn It is not enough to listen with an open mind and heart. Using the information you get to grow yourself and the business is even a greater gift. By being curious to listen to other people and show affection towards them, you get to understand their world, and thus opening up yourself to other perspectives on life and work. Such knowledge is not only good for business but also for your well-being as a social human that needs genuine connection with those around you. Dealing with people is difficult. Learning the art of increasing your likability among people can increase your chances of becoming a better entrepreneur and a better person among your social circles. How are you growing and glowing this month? We want to share your story! Click here to share.
Big Company Strategies for Start-ups/Small Businesses to adapt
Running a small business has its pros and cons, the same as running a large corporation. Large corporations may have endless resources to implement and execute elaborate and detailed strategies as they have hundreds of great minds constantly devising new ways to grow their business. Whereas in a small company, you have to keep overheads lean, hence, there is no massive budget for strategy sessions with great minds from Ivy league schools. In a small business, the entrepreneur is the great mind and the world is your Ivy league degree, you have to make do with what you have. But how exactly can you do that? I highlighted some solid, foolproof strategies that big corporations employ to achieve massive results and successes, which can be applied to your small business on a lean budget. Market Segmentation Enterprises spend millions annually on research to find out what market segment their products are best suited to. Market segmentation is important in every business as knowing your customer is the key to finding your market, which consequently leads to sales. You need to know who your customers are, where to find them and how to reach them. For small businesses, market segmentation helps you focus on a particular demographic or geographical area, thereby allowing you focus efforts on being the market champion in that market segment. To figure out your market, small business owners should ask questions like who is your ideal customer? Which customers are you avoiding? What markets are the most profitable? Answering these questions would help entrepreneurs prioritize and apportion resources to market segments that have the highest returns. Marketing Funnel A marketing funnel is basically a fancy term for all the points in your customer acquisition strategy where you contact prospective clients. As a prospective customer moves down the funnel, the better your chances of converting them into a paying client. Big businesses have a large team and budget to automate and implement this process, with small businesses on a lean budget, you can adapt this technique by being intuitive to your customer’s buying pattern. Ask yourself, how does a customer find out about your service? How often do they come to your page? When do they buy? What motivates this purchase? Asking yourself these questions gives you a clearer understanding of how to move your customer from being aware of your product to become paying clients. Partnerships That Work Large corporations usually cut deals with their counterparts that their customers can benefit from, small businesses should employ this tactic. By bundling your services with another that complements you and your customers, you rake up good points with your clients. For instance, if you sell hair extensions, you can offer your clients free hair care products, this would cause clients to be more inclined to your products, or event decorators could team up with an event space to offer a bundled service to customers. It’s about leveraging what you’re good at, not trying to be everything to everyone and giving your customer a more wholesome and rewarding experience. Chief Sales Officer Enterprises can afford to pay several people bucket loads of money. Especially people who work just to think about how to execute more sales every day. These people have access to real-time data and analytics. The data is what helps them make sensible insights, that make executing a large number of sales a reality. On the other hand, for small businesses, it is usually hard to have more than one person in this role. It is of utmost importance to have someone who is constantly thinking of ways the company can generate revenue. You must always know who your customers are, where they are and know what they want. As you scale, have more people in sales and segment each section of the market the person should be handling. By focusing on the customer and how to make them advocates, generating sales and loyalty. Most businesses have grown to become big businesses. If you’d like to get featured on our Facebook page, click here to share your story with us.
Young women, you can have it all – Amb. Kema Chikwe
71 years old Ambassador Kema Chikwe is a woman whose drive for inclusion and results earned her notable career opportunities in Nigeria. She has successfully held positions as the Minister for Transport, for Aviation and Chairman of Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB). Amb. Chikwe gracefully held the office of the National Woman Leader where she created opportunities for other young women to achieve career and political ambitions. In all of this, she remains optimistic about the future of women in leadership and is the founder and chairperson for Women in Leadership Institute (WLI). Talking with Amb Kema has no dull moment. Añuli Ola-Olaniyi, an SLA contributor, sat through an interview with this remarkable woman and shares with all the deets with us. How did you begin your career? I finished my secondary education at age of 17 and I got a job at the Pay Section, Ministry of Education, Nigeria. How did you become an Ambassador? I challenged myself to take the position. It was an appointment actually which I believe was given to me based on merit and results from my previous appointments. I served as the Minister for Transport and Aviation. Later I became the Chairman of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB). Also, I contested for the office of the Governor, Imo State. Hard work, commitment to public service, and my result-oriented attitude have always propelled me. What would you say is your proudest achievement today I am very grateful for all my accomplishments to date, some of which are my exposure to many years of public service and strong legacies. A notable accomplishment was the reformation of the Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport -MM2. As the Minister for Transport and Aviation, the reform projects spoke for themselves. As Transport Minister, we achieved 48 hours turnaround and 24 hours of port operations. While I was the Chairman of JAMB we embarked on the automation of the system and some of the results from this are the use of scratch cards for examinations. However, as a National Woman Leader, the adoption of the bill to mainstream disability in political parties was achieved. The office of the National Woman Leader was institutionalized, a Gender audit was conducted and we developed programmes for women running for office. We created and ran the E-Women Network for young women and we have to date, women who have benefitted and done well. What’s the boldest thing you’ve done? My boldest move was to contest for Governor of Imo State, Nigeria. I was the only woman campaigning in an era where the mindsets weren’t particularly ready for a female Governor. Did you encounter any setbacks, and how did you get past it? My biggest setback was not winning my governorship and Senate elections. When you invest a lot in something and it doesn’t end up the way you envisioned, it can be difficult to comprehend sometimes. I overcame it by understanding that failure is a challenge, you rise and fall. My dad (who was also my mentor) had a rhyme he used to encourage us and it says “If at first, you don’t succeed, always try and try again” After losing the election, I had tremendous support from people like President Yaradua and Baba Kingibe with the Ambassadorial posting. Please understand that when you work very hard, people support you and anything you do will eventually go well because people will recognize your efforts based on the legacies and results you have shown. Once you focus on your career, work, job or assignments and perform well, the recognition comes. I must add that there must be a virtue of hard work in Nigeria amongst young men and women. A person qualified for a role or position should get that role/position. No shortcuts. [bctt tweet=”I stay inspired by watching people succeed- Amb Kema Chikwe” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] One piece of advice to your 20-year-old self would be… Be more adventurous and courageous. I was nervous about stepping out of my comfort zone. Moving forward, I realized that life outside my comfort zone wasn’t as scary as I thought. With focus, determination and positive support. I was able to achieve my goals. Look at me now; many young women can be me or even greater. What would you advise people starting a career or going into politics? My best advice is this – convince yourself that it is what you want to do. Let it also be that you are meeting or creating solutions for the needs of people. I also encourage young women to know that you can have it all. Career, marriage, children, business, all of it. Raising a family is possible with a thriving career. There are many benefits of marriage. I understand that not every woman is lucky, but note that it is an important institution. [bctt tweet=”I want to encourage young women to know that you can have it all. – Amb. Kema Chikwe” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] How are you keeping up with the new trends The future excites me because the rate at which innovative ideas are quickly changing our lifestyles and the way we view the world gets me really excited to see what next is in store. Imagine some people who do not speak a word of English, operating a mobile phone with such dexterity. The internet culture has made this world a smaller place by bringing a better understanding of life. What are your future plans for the Women in Leadership Institute? I founded the Women in Leadership Institute and this is positioned to give a new orientation to women in Nigeria and Africa. It will change narratives, give women the opportunities to study and be experts in Women and Leadership Studies. The future is very exciting for women. If you’d like to get featured on our Facebook page, click here to share your story with us.
5 Powerful TED Talks every MotherlandMogul must watch
Getting addicted to TED is a habit that would not only spur you to greatness but would keep your mind bubbling with ideas. If you only watch TED videos once in a blue moon, it’s time to make a switch and come to the winning team. TED seeks to share great ideas with the entire world through storytelling and sharing insights. With the many TED Talks I’ve watched, it’s been hard to choose my favorite. However, those I liked were by women who have ignited my passion and encouraged me to chase my dreams. The following videos have left me sprawling with laughter, and I must tell you, they are the top TED Talks that every Motherland Mogul should watch. 1. Natasha Case and Freya Estreller –Female and Millennial Entrepreneurship If you think you’ve reached the peak of your entrepreneurial journey, this video is definitely for you. In this TED Talk, two co-partner entrepreneurs talk about their journey starting a distinct ice cream brand – Cool Haus. With over four thousand stores in the United States alone, Natasha and Freya are making a huge impact and taking a fair slice of the market. In this talk, they talk about their experiences navigating the business world as female CEO’s and the changing trends of women in business. Though a lot of data shows that there is still work to be done in bringing more women to the top of the corporate ladder, some women such as Natasha and Freya are already slaying! 3. Sara Nuru -Finding your Identity Do we get to choose what we do without existence? In this TED Talk, Sara presents a strong message of an identity of how we can make a choice on positive living. As a model and an Ethiopian activist, Sara has spent her life bringing impact to young children in Ethiopia. Her talk is both insightful and inspiring. She shows us that nothing stops us from being who we truly are if we dare to believe. [bctt tweet=”“Who you are right now might not be who you will be in the next five or ten years, sometimes all you need is a breathing space, to step back and look at your life” @therealsaranuru” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] 3. Whitney Thore – Living without Shame No one can achieve much without a healthy self-esteem. Having self-confidence and loving yourself should be something we strive for every day. Whitney is bold, powerful and very unlike any other speaker you have heard before. She spares no ground in sharing her experience of Obesity and it’s grappling effect in her life. She dealt with shame, something we all have experience in one way or the other. Using emotional intelligence, Whitney keeps you captivated with her story of self-confidence. At the end of the Talk, you are left with one lesson: learn to love yourself because nothing changes until you do! 4. Yvonne Orji – The Wait is Sexy You may not agree with everything Yvonne says but this girl knows how to work her space! She knows how to knead her dough. Yvonne is audacious in her choice of waiting until marriage and she explains her reasons for staying true to her stand. According to Yvonne, we all have to sacrifice short-term comfort to get a long-term quality relationship. This principle can be applied to everything including business and personality. When making decisions, we should consider principles such as compromise, purpose and taking a stand for what you believe in. Whatever you’re working towards will definitely be worth it. [bctt tweet=”“The wait is powerful, disciplined and focused. The wait keeps the main thing, the main thing.” @YvonneOrji ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] 5. Courtney Ferrell – Girl Up! The Secret to the Extraordinary Life This has to be my absolute best video! From the moment she walks on stage, Courtney keeps you wanting more. She cleverly engages the audience through picking one random person who she delivers her message through. Courtney’s intimate yet personal talk carried a strong message for women and girls. She believes these are the key to development in every society. Sometimes, all we need is to be who we are and say what we believe in. Though these are just a collection of some of my favorite talks. There are many more TED Talks that will inspire you, challenge you and expose you to many more great ideas. From Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to film director Wanuri Kahiu, there are a lot of Motherland Moguls who will definitely set you on the path to slaying. If you’d like to get featured on our Facebook page, click here to share your story with us.
CloudCover is hosting “Women in Business” with Afua Osei and Ore Onile-Ere for Entrepreneurs and Career Persons on April 11
Pioneer of the revolutionary multi-network mobile data services, CloudCover Limited, is hosting Women entrepreneurs and career persons on Wednesday, April 11th at an event in Lagos tagged Women in Business. Women in Business is an interactive session that brings together women from diverse industries and organizations in order to help address issues specific to women in all areas of economic endeavors. The event also aims to encourage networking amongst businesswomen. Set to speak at the event is the co-founder of She Leads Africa, Afua Osei who will be sharing insights on Building a Successful Business in Nigeria. Speaking about Women in Business, Group Chief Operating Officer of Cloudcover Limited, Eleanor Potter explained the essence of the event. “Women in Nigeria face a host of cultural and institutional hurdles. Despite these obstacles, they still continue to thrive because they are learning each other’s lessons and listening to voices of those who have gone before them” she said. “Cloudcover’s goal is to open up and connect people in business to increase productivity and ensure our users keep moving up the ladder of success” Eleanor continued. Launched in 2016, CloudCover has been providing multi-network mobile data services in Nigeria and over 100 other countries using its revolutionary virtual SIM technology that enables users to connect to the most reliable network available. Women in Business will feature top female executives, entrepreneurs, startup owners and other prominent women in society. The event will also be hosted by Actress and On-Air Personality, Omotunde Adebowale David popularly known as Ore Onile-Ere. Sponsored post.
WEBINAR WITH SUPRIYA SHARMA: TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR BRAND WITH DIGITAL MARKETING (APRIL 19)
Building a successful brand can be risky business and quite a challenge, especially in this forever evolving digital space! FYI – that’s all about to change…keep reading! While you should tailor your brand’s strategy to its specific goals, how can you ensure that your brand stays ahead of the game, amidst the disruption, through digital marketing? Allow us to school you!… [bctt tweet=”Join @HodanTV for a webinar on April 5th, to learn about building a digital community.” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Some of the topics we’ll cover Building a community with the power of storytelling Tips for innovative storytelling using YouTube Building your confidence as a digital entrepreneur and African woman Register below to get access to this opportunity and submit questions that you would like Supriya to answer. Webinar Details: Date: Thursday, April 19th, 2018 Time: Lagos 11am // Johannesburg 12pm // Nairobi 1pm Register for this webinar with Supriya below: [ninja_forms id=170] About Supriya Join Supriya Sharma, on Thursday, 19th April, as she teaches us how to take your brand’s success to the next level with digital marketing. Supriya Sharma is the Managing Director of SAS Business Solutions, a global service provider catering to big business houses, SMEs and educational institutions. She has spoken at some international events of repute on topics that include Leadership & Women, Time Management, Effective Business Communication, Being beautiful, Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace, Digital Marketing (take charge of your business) and Entrepreneurship. [bctt tweet=”Take charge of your business through digital marketing with Supriya Sharma on April 19th. Reg here: http://bit.ly/SupriyaSharma” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Some of the topics we’ll cover Steps to choosing the right marketing network Best practices to curating valuable and shareable content Tips for leveraging the right brand influencers A guide to effective content promotion via social campaigns Building a sustainable brand strategy with digital marketing Register below to get access to this opportunity and submit questions you would like Supriya to answer. Facebook Live Details: Date: Thursday, April 19th, 2018 Time: 11AM Lagos // 12PM Johannesburg // 1PM Nairobi Watch here: About Supriya Supriya Sharma, is a certified corporate trainer, coach and motivational speaker who began her academic journey as a scholar (gold medalist) in aerospace engineering. She was offered full scholarships at renowned US and UK universities and further developed her skill set to be an astute management professional gaining valuable experience in HR, corporate communications, sales and marketing. Seeing the current status of the world’s economy, Supriya decided to pursue a course in entrepreneurship from one of India’s Ivy League business schools, where the idea of SAS was born. In 2014, Supriya represented Nigeria in the Dreamforce Conference which was held in San Francisco, USA. To add, she has conferred the title of Ms Intelligent – Lagos & Ms Talented – Lagos in the Beauty Pageant organised by ICA in 2017. Supriya strongly believes in giving back to the society as a part of her responsibility. In this view, she actively volunteers her time to develop employability skills among the Nigerian youth and is closely associated with women empowerment missions across Asia and Africa.
Peggy Moele proves that Aquaponics is an innovative way to breed organic food for African communities
56-year-old Peggy Moele is one of the few women in South Africa practicing aquaponics and aquaculture-agriculture in her 10 hector veg and fisheries farm. The new system of aquaponics and aquaculture has helped Peggy win awards and getting much recognition and a helping hand from the Department of Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries in her country, South Africa. She was one of the few women of a group of farmers funded to go on an excursion tour and workshop in chines province to learn about the modern solutions to organic farming and fisheries in early 2017. Khethiwe Mndawe interviewed Peggy Moela after receiving her award as woman farmer of the year in her municipality and nomination nationally at the Woman in agriculture awards 2017. Peggy was born and raised in rural Bushbuckridge, growing up with values that depend on the land farming to create sustainable solutions for the community to never go hungry. As a young woman growing up in the nomadic homelands, the poverty of the families around her always touch her to work towards how she can bring solutions for other families and greater way of making a living. “I started out running a catering business, unable to find work in my area yet seeing the poverty and lots of lands always draw me to agriculture I came from a poor background and I’ve always see the challenges and need of the people in my community and it has always been a wish of mine to create employment” said Peggy Running Jubilee farms with her son they had decided that they wanted to go into fisheries and explored those possibilities after a visit for an official from the department of agriculture, in her province who expanded their knowledge and supported then in kick-starting building their first pond. After having built over 10 ponds and growing they started with 360 Tapia fish from Mozambique practice and Aqua phonic and aquaculture fish farming and organic veg farming and their journey in China studying the different options toward organic farming and fisheries. Mrs. Peggy Moele got her first recognition after winning as the female entrepreneur farmer of the year 2016, she was selected as the top female in agriculture in Bushbuckridge again in 2017 and awarded at the Provincial agriculture female awards by the minister of Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries 2017 and nominated in the nationals for her unique and developing farming business in her 10 hector farm. A system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. With pigs and cows that she has bread over the years, she had discovered with her son the proactive of aquaculture, using excretions from the animals being raised can accumulate in the same pond water, increasing toxicity. “With the aquaponics system, we use the water from an aquaculture system which we feed to a hydroponic system. The by-products are broken down by nitrifying bacteria into nitrites and subsequently into nitrates, which are utilized by the plants as nutrients, and the water is then recirculated back to the aquaculture system”. “We have been doing most of the work ourselves in putting these systems together and they have produced many results and accelerate the vision or organic farms and fisheries for the community and working toward commercial supply.” Said, her son, Boka Moele, Manager of the Jubilee farm “Seeing that I came from elders who always ventured into farming, feeding the communities and sustaining themselves through farming. It was easy for me to decide to go into farming. I took all my profits and saving from my catering business, and in 2011 I approached the chiefs in my village area and bought about 10 hectares of land” said Peggy Moele They started to use 6 hectors of the land and cleared, to begin seasonal crop farming. Things were very difficult in the beginning, I couldn’t afford any workers, those that worked for me, I would offer them and their families groceries and vegetable to sustain them as we were struggling and still growing. “After the department had heard about my farm in Bushbuckridge, they came to view our farm our progress and to hear what challenges we were facing. The official then introduced us to aquaculture and fisheries, he showed us how to build our first pond and ever since we have built much more on our own to cater for our fisheries business. We have since been breading the Mozambique Tilapia fish. Initially, we started with 360 fishes in 2013 and we are amazed at how much the fishes continue to grow and multiply. We have since been having a good relationship with the DPT of agriculture and they have been very good to us in assisting us and I am so grateful” said Mrs. Peggy Moele Today we have close to 20 ponds in counting, a good irrigation system and they have been adding their keep of cows and pigs. The farm sustains itself with the season veg crops they farm and they have opened not to various student and agriculture researcher to use and practice form. “We are so proud of her and we believe she is the best representative of women youth farmers. We hope form today onwards mayflies will follow her. It is inspiring to see our women in mud and surrounded by flies other that plastic hair and makeup because we admire that when they touch the land they subdue and multiply its uses to feed the nation and with this they can lead the men working with the land and producing form it to a point of economic contribution” said Minister of Agriculture and rural development and affairs in the Mpumalanga province, Mr. Vusi Shongwe They have hired a few young people and families in her surrounding communities, who work and contribute to the development and economic transformation of sustainable farm in the Mpumalanga province that is going commercial and exploring n bigger
Doreen Nyamaka: The Wedding Planner in Tanzania
Doreen Nyamaka has always had a passion for wedding dresses, decor, and planning, since her childhood. But she finally stepped into the business of wedding planning in 2015 when she was getting married and her husband had insisted they plan the wedding themselves without asking for contributions or help from family and friends. Doreen could not get a professional wedding planner to handle her wedding preparations, that was when she noticed there was a gap in the wedding industry. From there, Doreen quit her job, went to a wedding planning and management school and got a certificate in wedding planning in 2016. How did you get into wedding planning in Tanzania? Wedding planning is actually a new thing in Tanzania. Normally weddings are paid for by family and friends who help the couple with contributions and the whole planning process which is never professionally. As you’d expect, this leaves the couple super stressed and with no authority over their own wedding. I am determined to introduce it and make people save themselves the stress of planning a wedding, and reducing boring and repetitive weddings which do not represent their vision. How do you differentiate yourself from competitors? First, I take my job very seriously and treat every wedding as my own. I want to make it right for the things I could not do at my wedding. This is my passion, so I give it my all when I get a client. Apart from that, I am a professional, with an MBA and wedding planning, flowers and decor certificate. Most of my competitors go with passion and intention to make money. I have the passion, skills, and commitment to turn my client’s dreams into reality. What has been your challenges in this business so far? My biggest challenge so far is awareness. People do not know what wedding planning is, and how it can save them stress, time and money. It has been difficult to introduce the new culture and win clients over. Are there peculiarities to doing business in Tanzania compared to other countries? I guess so. In most countries, couples do not ask for contributions, the couple fund their own wedding with maybe a little help with close family members. I doubt that people go all the way to do a fundraising just to get money for their wedding. I think this only happens in Tanzania. What do you wish you knew before you started the wedding planning business? I wish I knew that this new culture of wedding planning will take a while to be acceptable and that the old culture of planning a wedding is deeply rooted and will take time to be uprooted. What is your best memory on the job? The last wedding I planned and coordinated in 2016. The father and daughter danced to Luther Vandross’s song “Dance with my father again”. That moment was so epic and emotional, I can still feel the goosebumps. Final words to other entrepreneurs… Before you jump into a business, make sure it connects to your core. Don’t go into it because of the money only, but because you love what you are doing from your heart. That way even if you face challenges and you can’t find a way, you’ll still hang in there, and step forward. Do you have a business idea that isn’t popular in your country? Let us know here.
Facebook Live with Sneha Shah: How to do business in Africa without fearing the risks.(Oct 13)
Want to do business in Africa successfully? Learn how to break down barriers and prove your worth. On Friday, October 13th, Sneha Shah – Managing Director of Africa for Thomson Reuters shared with us how the African business landscape is currently positioned for female entrepreneurs, and how you can take advantage of it. Sneha has initiated partnerships with leading international market development, and works in close collaboration with public and private sector organizations in each country, to tackle the opportunities and challenges around financial and capital markets development. [bctt tweet=”Learn from @snehasshah how to do business in Africa without fearing risks” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Register below to get a FREE downloadable guide with Sneha’s top 10 tips on how to do business in Africa without fearing the risks. Some of the topics we’ll cover Are there businesses that are easier to establish in Africa than others? Find out. How young start-ups in Africa are changing the game. Challenges and opportunities business owners should expect when operating in Africa. How the African business landscape is currently positioned for female entrepreneurs. Leveraging millennials for African growth. What Africa can learn from other emerging economies. Innovate or disrupt – how to prepare your company for the future. Watch the video: https://www.facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/videos/1949040855319225/ Sign up for the e-book here: [ninja_forms id=156] About Sneha Sneha Shah joined Thomson Reuters in 2001 in New York and has held several global leadership roles across the financial and media business units in operations, product development, and technology. She was appointed Managing Director of Africa for Thomson Reuters in April 2015, and leads all of the financial, risk, tax and legal businesses across the region, providing data, automation and digitization solutions to financial institutions, governments, and corporates. She is responsible for driving the profitable and sustainable growth for Thomson Reuters in Africa in a manner that contributes positively to the region’s economic development. Born in Kenya and having worked in many African countries, Sneha is particularly passionate about initiatives that help empower Africa’s success. Sneha is a member of the Board of the US Chamber of Commerce, US-Africa Business Center. She is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and the African Leadership Network (ALN) and has been actively involved in several initiatives of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, including the Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) (current), and the Global Agenda Council on Governance (2014 to 2016). Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, Sneha was a commodities trader for Cargill in South Africa and traded money markets and foreign exchange at CFC Bank in Kenya. She holds a BA (Hons) degree in Politics with International Studies from the University of Warwick in the UK.