Female entrepreneurs don’t have to model men

The Women of West Africa Entrepreneurship Conference is fast approaching and women across Africa are gearing to attend.

This year’s conference will look at issues ranging from creativity in PR, leveraging technology, and the passionate entrepreneur. Also, topics such as start-up-to-success, among others, will be anchored by experts in each field.

This year’s topics are a marked improvement from the topics discussed at the maiden edition of the conference last year at the Eko Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria.

The turnout of women at the WOWe conference last year and at other international conferences such as the recent Forbes Women Summit which took place in New York shows that women and the business world are beginning to realise that financial empowerment is the best route to achieving sustainable freedom for women, especially in Africa.

It is becoming archaic today to see a woman who sits at home as a full time housewife. I choose to define a housewife differently from a homemaker. A housewife is a trophy wife. She does minimal to non-work and in most cases, has a horde of servants to take care of the children and the house. Her main job is to look beautiful at all times and grace most social events.

On the other hand, a homemaker is a woman who must also look beautiful but with the primary responsibility of running the day-to-day activity of the home. She might sometimes actually receive a salary from her husband to run the home efficiently as she would run a business or an office. Women can agree with me that running a home is a full time job.

In today’s article, I will be addressing female students who may have great business ideas and housewives who are transitioning to become homemakers and entrepreneurs. This article is also for those who are homemakers and entrepreneurs as it is for the already established female entrepreneurs who are fortunate to have dependable support on the home front.

There is a global awareness now of the contributions of women to the economic growth of a nation. Therefore, every business run by a woman must be treated with utmost respect and professionalism.

According to the mecurynews.com, “Women are starting companies at a torrid pace. Between 1997 and 2014, the number of women-owned businesses in the US rose by 68 per cent, while the overall growth rate for companies was 47 per cent. And according to an American Express analysis of Census Bureau figures, they are starting an estimated 1,288 companies each day, up from 602 in 2011-12.”

This report didn’t however state how many of these companies succeeded or what ratio closed shop within five years of starting-up. This is an important point because what affects businesses run by men also affects those run by women.

The business climate is non-sexist. Female entrepreneurs need to understand that we must work as hard as our male counterparts to become successful, if not harder. No excuses!

That is why conferences such as WOWe and organisations such as Women in Management, Business and Public Service set up to develop the competence needed by female entrepreneurs to successfully run their businesses are laudable ventures.

My experience as a female entrepreneur, starting from zero to sustainable financial empowerment, has taught me one lesson. This lesson is that you don’t need to imitate anybody or try to pose, act or dress like a man to be successful in business. The secret lies in the mind. A smart mind is simply irresistible.

Most successful women in business will tell you that it is their brainpower and their ability to burn the midnight oil in personal development that did it for them. The skill of cultivating viable relationships and the ability to put together a motivated team make up part of the infrastructure needed to sprint forward in business.

It also helps to have financial liquidity, a business plan with SMART goals and a measure of patience to nurture the idea into a flourishing business.

The two business killers for most female entrepreneurs are money and a lack of a business mentor. I have spoken with several young women with fantastic business ideas. However, the recurrent drawback continues to be the lack of funds to turn their ideas into businesses.

Most are fortunate to get start-up capital either from the Bank of Industry, GEM — Access Bank or the recently launched Diamond Woman accounts or through Angel investors.

Others, however, have to deploy their Plan B, which ultimately leads to picking up paid employment to save up the funds needed to launch into the entrepreneurial terrain.

Now, this is where the benefit of having a business mentor comes in. A business mentor or start-up coach will help guide a budding entrepreneur to make the right decisions from the start, and chart a business blueprint which will ultimately ensure the success of the business and minimise mistakes.

These are the basic measures that should be applied to successfully launch and sustain a new business. To start-up a business with the idea that women must model themselves after men is behind the times.

Successful women bring their personalities and mind to the business. It is okay to celebrate your feminism. However, ensure that the mind is the centre of attraction. Projecting your mind before your physical assets will help you gain the confidence of your colleagues.

Also, building a formidable reputation as an intelligent business woman and not merely as a beautiful business owner will ensure you get a seat to play with the boys at the negotiating table.

It is time to redefine power by building sustainable businesses that are based on a sound structure, strategy, action oriented steps and a dose of common sense.

Please do share this with your friends on facebook, google+ and twitter, using the share and like buttons below.