A case for women entrepreneurs

Increasing access to finance, financial literacy and building networks of African women have been highlighted as ways to help more women become entrepreneurs.

In Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populated country, women are more financially excluded. According to a 2012 survey by Enhancing Financial Inclusion and Access (EFInA), 43.5 percent of Nigerian women are unbanked compared with 36.1 percent for men.

In addition to limited access to credit, the low degree of women participating in the formal sector and certain social norms, for instance women’s rights to inheriting property, restrict the role of women in the economy.

Though there are business opportunities equally available to both women and men, there are specific problems that women face when starting or running a business or a farm.

More women participate in the informal sectors such as agriculture and, wholesale and retail trade but their contribution is not captured. Nigerian women farmers produce less per hectare than their male counterparts – in the north the difference is 46 percent and 17 percent in the south.

The gap is output is both due to lack of inputs and lower returns when they have the same inputs as men. This is because they lack inputs e.g. labour, fertilizer, information, access to markets and poor education, according to World Bank report.

A little over half of the jobs generated in the fourth quarter of 2012 and first quarter of 2013 were filled by women, mainly in health and social services sector, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Initiatives such as the YouWiN for 3,000 women in 2013 are supposed to correct the imbalance. More can be done.

Addressing this problem calls for strategies that focus on equipping women at, for example, the bottom of pyramid through cooperatives, microfinance etc. While for those at the middle of pyramid skill sets like an MBA which will make them attractive to investors are likely more applicable.

Programmes for budding women entrepreneurs, for example, the five-year 10,000 Women programme sponsored by Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, are essential for teaching the fundamentals of business.

Women entrepreneurs have to understand financial management and embrace technology. They need to know how to run a structured business. They need to understand that you don’t take cash from sales to pay school fees. They need to overcome their phobia for technology because the businesses of today and tomorrow are tied to technology.

Corporate organisations keen on tapping into the significant economics and demography that women present can initiate programmes that target women by opening opportunities for them in their supply chain. There are several case studies of how companies are benefiting commercially from including women in their value chains. Big retail outlets can help women-owned micro enterprises to develop the skills to grow their business such as packaging, branding and book keeping.

Because procurements don’t require collateral such initiatives will in turn encourage banks to finance women. However, women entrepreneurs must be cautioned. Banks will make finance accessible if they have savings, no matter how much they earn. They must know that equity is important. Banks need to see commitment. Security is important for banks.

We totally agree that “investing in women is smart economics”. We are convinced and support the fact that there can be no inclusive growth if majority of Africa’s demographic is left behind.

However for both present and future businesswomen we cannot harp enough on the importance of getting involved, applying for programmes and grants and finding out what it takes to supply companies like MTN, Dangote etc.

From Business Day

3 THINGS MEN NEED TO STOP SAYING TO WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

IT'S NO SECRET THE FEMALE FOUNDERS FACE AN UPHILL BATTLE IN THE BOY'S CLUB OF SILICON VALLEY AND VC FUNDING. TWO WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS TACKLED THE SHIT MEN HAVE SAID TO THEM WITH HILARIOUSLY SPOT-ON RESULTS.

Between the obstacles to getting funding and cringe-worthy titles like “mompreneur,” is it any wonder that some women founders are fed up with how their male peers treat them?

Founders of the technology and culture website Model View Culture Shanley Kane and Amelia Greenhall recently compiled a list of nine things they are sick of hearing from men in the startup world.

While the list, titled “Shit Men Say To Women Founders” could be dismissed as a rant, many of the points hit on universal issues that women in the startup world encounter. Here are a few of the worst things you could say:

1. “GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PROJECT.”

It’s not a project. It's a corporation. It's an official, tax-paying, certified, incorporated business that is employing people, producing new products, contributing to the economy, making money, and getting things done.

We're working on it every day, all day, and every weekend. We quit our jobs to start it, put thousands of dollars into it, spent hundreds of hours filing paperwork to make it official. We code the app, keep the servers up, wear the pager. It is not a project.

2. “ARE YOU GOING TO APPLY FOR GRANTS?” / “HOW CAN I DONATE TO YOU?”

Turns out not every business run by a woman is a nonprofit or a charity, yet men in tech start the conversation by demanding to know how they can make a charitable donation to the cause.

Somehow, they never seem to ask about the business model first and sometimes have a hard time believing that women-run companies may be capitalistic, for-profit, or have a business plan that involves selling things to people in exchange for money.

Yes, many women run essential nonprofit and charitable organizations, but not all of us do.

3. “WHAT'S YOUR REAL JOB?”

Yes, many women start their companies on the side because quitting their other job or leaving other responsibilities to work on something full-time isn't possible due to work, financial, family, and other commitments.

But the assumption is always that women's startups aren't their “real jobs,” but rather just side projects or hobbies. Even when a woman is getting her startup off the ground while working at another company, why isn't she commended for “bootstrapping” rather than having her work minimized by constant suggestions that it isn't “real”?

Are you a woman entrepreneur? What are some of the ridiculous things that have been said to you?

From Fast Company

To Be A World-Class Entrepreneur, Should You Be A Sprinter or Marathoner?

Watching Usain Bolt run the 100-meter dash is shared joy. Watching Stephen Kiprotich win the marathon is shared (and joyful) agony. But what it takes to win in each sport is as different as night and day.

The 100 meters is a joyful burst of speed. The marathon is a painful bout of endurance. To be a world-class entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, you need to be a world-class sprinter and run like a lightning bolt. To be a world-class entrepreneur outside Silicon Valley, you need to be a world-class marathoner and endure (and perhaps relish) long-distance pain.

Silicon Valley Model

The Silicon Valley model is best exemplified by entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and even outsiders such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. It involves the following requirements:

• Get in an emerging industry: 88% of the world-class entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley were in emerging industries. The Valley is built to dominate emerging industries. It stinks when there is no emerging industry or they try to create one.
• Get in at the right time: Once the lead horses have taken off, it is very difficult to catch up. You need to get in before they have established a huge lead that cannot be overcome.
• Don’t worry about what you know or don’t know because you are competing with others who are equally in the dark: At 20-something, you are not counting on experience, you are counting on chutzpah and swagger. If you don’t have this, get it before you move to the Valley.
• Gamble with VC to boost your rocket ship: 80% of all VC-funded ventures fail, and only 1% become a home run where you become insanely rich. So do you feel lucky?
• Get VC later if you want to stay in control of the rocket ship: World-class entrepreneurs who delayed getting VC till Aha kept control of the business and of the wealth they created. If not, the VCs controlled the business and hired “professional” CEOs. This means that you are relying on the expertise of others — and they may turn out like the CEOs of Apple between Jobs I and Jobs II.

Rest-of-the-World Model

The Rest-of-the-World Model is best exemplified by entrepreneurs such as Steve Ells (Chipotle), Kevin Plank (Under Armour), Harry Stine (Stine Seed), Richard Burke (UnitedHealth), Michael Dell (Dell), Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg), and Amancio Ortega (Zara). It involves the following requirements:

• Get into an emerging industry or a fragmented industry or an industry where you have some experience: World-class entrepreneurs outside Silicon Valley grew in a variety of businesses, including emerging (Dell), fragmented (Chipotle), or oligopolistic (Stine, Burke and Bloomberg).
• Get in at the right time and/or you have the right experience: They got in when the industry was taking off or when they knew they were ready.
• Worry about what you know since you may be competing with better-funded and bigger competitors: Their race was a marathon. They needed to know all facets of the business and they learned it. Then they learned how to excel.
• Become capital efficient to grow without capital: They did not want, or could not get, VC. They stayed capital efficient and built billion-dollar companies. It can be done. You don’t have to get VC, except perhaps in the Valley. But even there, become capital efficient and delay.
• Stay in control: The world-class entrepreneurs in the Rest-of-the-World did not cede control. They stayed in charge of the business and of the wealth they created — and they kept more of it. This was the same strategy used by those who delayed VC, such as Gates and Zuckerberg.

MY TAKE: The secret to success is to know yourself and then pick the right strategy for you. If you are in an emerging industry and you are a gambler and a sprinter, move to Silicon Valley. But if you want to keep control of your venture in Silicon Valley (or elsewhere), get to Aha before seeking VC. If you are not in Silicon Valley, and you still want to succeed, become a marathoner. Learn capital efficiency.

From Forbes

The numbers that show Africa is buzzing with entrepreneurial spirit

From ambitious teens taking on the world and tech pioneers breaking boundaries to maverick slum dwellers dreaming big and trailblazing innovators tackling social problems, CNN's African Start-Up has been following the efforts of the continent's innovative and determined entrepreneurs to make their business dreams become reality.

Indeed, all across the continent, a growing wave of grassroots self-starters are taking risks and defying obstacles to bring their money-making ideas to life. Armed with a can-do attitude and hopes of striking it big, they're navigating a conundrum of challenges to pursue opportunities at a time when many African countries enjoy unprecedented levels of economic growth.

"The entrepreneurial landscape in sub-Saharan Africa is absolutely excellent," says Mike Herrington, executive director of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and professor at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. "It's on the increase because Africa, at last, has been emerging and the economies are booming -- several countries are starting to really increase entrepreneurial activity and move to opportunity entrepreneurship, rather than necessity entrepreneurship," he adds. "Opportunities abound and a positive spirit is emerging amongst the population of these countries."

So, Africa's entrepreneurial spirit is alive and thriving -- but how does it compare to the rest of the world?

Earlier this year, GEM published its annual report looking at the state of entrepreneurship globally. It found that sub-Saharan Africa is the region with by far the highest number of people involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA), with Zambia and Nigeria leading the world rankings.

It's a woman's world

Africa also leads the world in the number of women starting businesses, with almost equal levels of male and female entrepreneurs. In fact, in countries like Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia the women outnumber the men.

Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013 Global Report

INEZ TORRE/CNN

Overall, the continent has a much higher proportion of female entrepreneurs compared to other regions, with Nigeria and Zambia (both 40.7%) coming on top and countries like the United States (10.4%), the UK (5.5%), Norway (3.6%) and France (3.1%) lagging far behind.

According to Herrington, the main reason for this is because women in Africa "need to earn an extra income" to be able to afford "to send their children to school."

Getting off the ground

Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013 Global Report

INEZ TORRE/CNN

Yet, does the high number of both male and female entrepreneurs tell the whole story? And do these impressive figures translate to sustainable startups that are able to grow and provide employment to the continent's young population?

Factor-driven economies are mainly based on low-skilled labor and national resources. By comparison, efficiency-driven economies develop more efficient manufacturing processes and increase product quality, while innovation-driven economies are engaged in the production of new products by combining sophisticated technologies with a high-skill workforce and research.

In its analysis, GEM groups countries into geographic regions, but also according to their development stage: factor-driven, efficiency-driven and innovation-driven, each suggesting an increasing level of sophistication in the operation of the economy (see fact box on the left).

Most African nations surveyed are placed into the factor-driven stage, where early-stage entrepreneurial activity rates tend to be higher than the rates of owner-managers in established businesses (running more than three and a half years).

In other words, "a high entrepreneurship rate does not necessarily mean the creation of a lot of jobs," explains Herrington. "Those countries with low GDP per capita tend to have a very high entrepreneurial rate, because the larger corporations are not taking up a lot people to provide them with the so-called formal employment," he adds.

Calling it a day

Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013 Global Report

INEZ TORRE/CNN

Similarly, the continent might be buzzing with startups, but how long do these last?

According to GEM, the rate of business discontinuance tends to decrease as economic development increases. As a result, countries like Malawi and Angola that see many new businesses also experience high numbers of people abandoning their efforts after failing to make profits.

"The discontinuance of businesses in the factor-driven economies is very high," says Herrington, citing "the lack of education, market research and access to funding" as the main reasons.

Fearless entrepreneurs

Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013 Global Report

INEZ TORRE/CNN

There are several factors hindering the survival and growth of small businesses in Africa -- little government support, bureaucracy and lack of financial backing to cite a few more. Yet, all these constraints do little to prevent the continent's budding entrepreneurs from trying their luck.

True, entrepreneurs might be optimistic by nature, but nowhere else in the world is this key drive toward success as present as in Africa.

The continent's entrepreneurs boast the lowest levels of "fear of failure," with just 24% responding that it would stop from starting a business and seizing business opportunities. In countries like Zambia, Uganda and Malawi the figure drops to as little as 15% -- compare that to countries like the UK (36.4%) and the United States. (31%).

All you need is confidenc

Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013 Global Report

INEZ TORRE/CNN

It's no surprise then that African entrepreneurs are also the most confident in the world in their ability and skills to start a business. In comparison, people in Malawi feel twice as self-assured about launching a startup as those in the UK.

Likewise, sub-Saharan Africa claims the top five spots for countries where people see good opportunities for starting a business and feel positive about entrepreneurship.

Herrington says that it's these qualities, coupled with a need for better education and a focus on moving entrepreneurs from necessity to opportunity, that will drive the continent's development.

"Africa is going to have to rely on small businesses (SMEs) to provide the bulk of the employment," he says. "In a lot of countries the SMEs contribute more than 50% of the GDP and more than 50% of employment, so if you're going to employ people in Africa and other developing countries it's SMEs are the ones that are going to provide that."

From CNN

Africans born to be entrepreneurs – AIH

Africans are born to be entrepreneurs and bring creativity, innovation and experience to company’s operating in the region, making now the ideal time to invest in the continent, according to Jeremy Hodara, founder and managing director (MD) at Africa Internet Holding (AIH).

AIH has launched nine businesses  - including Jumia, Lamudi and Zando – since launching operations in Africa.

In spite of its European roots, however, Hodara told HumanIPO AIH is “clearly” an African operation, which is to the benefit of the company and allows it to pursue greater success as well as providing individuals with the skills to launch their own businesses.

“In our companies we have more than 2,500 entrepreneurs and they stand for our success stories and bring creativity, innovation and experience of the region to the project,” he said. “Africans are born to be entrepreneurs and these talents join us every day. In Nigeria several new startups launched with people from our network. Employees who started their journey with us, made their experiences and now have their own businesses.”

He said the entrepreneurship of Africans was one of the reasons why more investment funds are coming into Africa than ever before.

“Now is the perfect time to invest in Africa and its future. Of course, we had to overcome very difficult challenges – for example logistical setups – but now we are growing at a tremendous rate, and the potential is undoubtedly enormous,” he said.

He said AIH brought together all the key elements required to build great companies, including team, concept, technology, and capital.

“Further, AIH is all about entrepreneurship and we understand the importance of each individual local market in order to adapt to societies, needs and infrastructure,” he said.

“We believe in online as a truly global megatrend and the African countries are catching up faster than others. Our accelerated growth is proof that customers enjoy the services and products available. Thus, we work hard to bring these products across the whole African region to create jobs and accelerate the digital shift.”

Hodara said though AIH made its initial move in Africa in the e-commerce sector – Jumia remains its most successful startup thus far – because it believes people are hungry for consumption, the company continued to diversify and look for more opportunities/

“We cover diverse industries which are developing fast including traveling, finance, real estates, food or cars,” he said,

“Our portfolio is constantly expanding and we want to be as fast as the internet industry. So you never know what comes up. Our newest venture, Lendico, which launched in South Africa in April, marks AIH’s first move into the finance sector with a P2P lending platform.”

According to Hodara, AIH and its partners MTN and Millicom are committed to investing in Africa as a long-term project rather than for quick returns.

“Profitability is important, and is one of our objectives, but for now we focus on sustainable growth that will generate jobs and popularise e-commerce in the region. We want to be profitable once we have grown enough,” he said.

From Human IPO

The Best Leaders Are Humble Leaders

In a global marketplace where problems are increasingly complex, no one person will ever have all the answers. That’s why Google’s SVP of People Operations, Lazlo Bock, says humility is one of the traits he’s looking for in new hires. “Your end goal,” explained Bock, “is what can we do together to problem-solve. I’ve contributed my piece, and then I step back.” And it is not just humility in creating space for others to contribute, says Bock—it’s “intellectual humility. Without humility, you are unable to learn.”

A recent Catalyst study backs this up, showing that humility is one of four critical leadership factors for creating an environment where employees from different demographic backgrounds feel included. In a survey of more than 1500 workers from Australia, China, Germany, India, Mexico, and the U.S., we found that when employees observed altruistic or selfless behavior in their managers — a style characterized by 1) acts of humility, such as learning from criticism and admitting mistakes); 2) empowering followers to learn and develop; 3) acts of courage, such as taking personal risks for the greater good; and 4) holding employees responsible for results — they were more likely to report feeling included in their work teams. This was true for both women and men.

Employees who perceived altruistic behavior from their managers also reported being more innovative, suggesting new product ideas and ways of doing work better. Moreover, they were more likely to report engaging in team citizenship behavior, going beyond the call of duty, picking up the slack for an absent colleague — all indirect effects of feeling more included in their workgroups.

Our research was also able to isolate the combination of two separate, underlying sentiments that make employees feel included: uniqueness and belongingness. Employees feel unique when they are recognized for the distinct talents and skills they bring to their teams; they feel they belong when they share important commonalities with co-workers.

It’s tricky for leaders to get this balance right, and emphasizing uniqueness too much can diminish employees’ sense of belonging. However, we found that altruism is one of the key attributes of leaders who can coax this balance out of their employees, almost across the board.

Nonetheless, our study raises one common, perhaps universal implication: To promote inclusion and reap its rewards, leaders should embrace a selfless leadership style. Here are some concrete ways to get started based on both our current research and our ongoing study of leadership development practices at one company, Rockwell Automation:

• Share your mistakes as teachable moments. When leaders showcase their own personal growth, they legitimize the growth and learning of others; by admitting to their own imperfections, they make it okay for others to be fallible, too. We also tend to connect with people who share their imperfections and foibles—they appear more “human,” more like us. Particularly in diverse workgroups, displays of humility may help to remind group members of their common humanity and shared objectives.

• Engage in dialogue, not debates. Another way to practice humility is to truly engage with different points of view. Too often leaders are focused on swaying others and “winning” arguments. When people debate in this way, they become so focused on proving the validity of their own views that they miss out on the opportunity to learn about other points of view. Inclusive leaders are humble enough to suspend their own agendas and beliefs In so doing, they not only enhance their own learning but they validate followers’ unique perspectives.

• Embrace uncertainty. Ambiguity and uncertainty are par for the course in today’s business environment. So why not embrace them? When leaders humbly admit that they don’t have all the answers, they create space for others to step forward and offer solutions. They also engender a sense of interdependence. Followers understand that the best bet is to rely on each other to work through complex, ill-defined problems.

• Role model being a “follower.” Inclusive leaders empower others to lead.  By reversing roles, leaders not only facilitate employees’ development but they model the act of taking a different perspective, something that is so critical to working effectively in diverse teams.

At Rockwell Automation, a leading provider of manufacturing automation, control, and information solutions, practicing humility in these ways has been essential to promoting an inclusive culture — a culture Rockwell’s leaders see as critical to leveraging the diversity of its global workforce.

One of the key strategies they’ve adopted to model this leadership style is the fishbowl — a method for facilitating dialogue.  At a typical fishbowl gathering, a small group of employees and leaders sit in circle at the center of the room, while a larger group of employees are seated around the perimeter.   Employees are encouraged to engage with each other and leaders on any topic and are invited into the innermost circle.  In these unscripted conversations, held throughout the year in a variety of venues, leaders routinely demonstrate humility —by admitting to employees that don’t have all the answers and by sharing their own personal journeys of growth and development.

At one fishbowl session, shortly after the company introduced same-sex partner benefits in 2007, a devoutly religious employee expressed concerns about the new benefits policy — in front of hundreds of other employees.  Rather than going on the defensive, a senior leader skillfully engaged that employee in dialogue, asking him questions and probing to understand his perspectives.  By responding in this way, the leader validated the perspectives of that employee and others who shared his views.   Other leaders shared their own dilemmas and approaches to holding firm to their own religious beliefs yet embracing the company’s values of treating all employees fairly.   Dialogues such as these have made a palpable difference at Rockwell Automation.  Employees have higher confidence in their leaders, are more engaged, and feel more included — despite their differences.

As the Rockwell example suggests, a selfless leader should not be mistaken for a weak one. It takes tremendous courage to practice humility in the ways described above. Yet regrettably, this sort of courage isn’t always rewarded in organizations. Rather than selecting those who excel as self-promotion, as is often the case, more organizations would be wise to follow the lead of companies like Google, Rockwell Automation, and others that are re-imagining what effective leadership looks like.

Culled From Harvard Business Review

Hungry Entrepreneurs Need True Grit to Get Their Next Meal

The other afternoon I was at my desk observing my seasonal visitors. Mouths agape, all five house finch chicks were boisterously positioning themselves to be ready when their mamma arrived back at the nest with their next meal. Their jostling to maintain a competitive spot required that they work hard and they certainly kept at it.

The hungry little birds’ persistence and determination reminded me that I needed to return to the tasks before me. They also got me thinking about the qualities that innovators and entrepreneurs need to succeed in a highly competitive environment.

Like the finches, entrepreneurs need to be driven -- not necessarily by hunger but by some deep-in-the-gut motivation known and felt by them alone: Call it grit or courage. They need persistence -- the capacity to move on from failure, even multiple failures, toward their goal. They also require determination -- a mind-set focused on acquiring the material, intellectual and cultural resources necessary for realizing their ideas.

1. Show true grit. In a word, to be successful, entrepreneurs need grit. Angela Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania and research colleagues from the University of Michigan and West Point defined “grit” in a 2007 paper as "perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit entails working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress."

The individual with true grit approaches these tasks as a marathon; his or her advantage is stamina. Whereas disappointment or boredom signals to others that it's time to change the trajectory and cut losses, the gritty individual stays the course.

2. Don’t worry, be happy. To this excellent definition, I would add that an essential component of grit is optimism. To use Duckworth’s metaphor, only a marathoner optimistic that he or she will finish does. For innovators and entrepreneurs, optimism is especially critical because it’s what keeps them going -- what makes them gritty -- during moments of stress or failure.

Virtually no one, after all, creates anything unless he or she has a positive view of the future: otherwise why bother with coming up with anything new? Seeing failure for what it is, a temporary condition, enables entrepreneurs to move on to new solutions.

3. Shift and pivot. Those with the most grit also understand that perseverance does not mean monomania. A person who perseveres pursues his goals with passion but does not let single-mindedness turn into obstinate refusal to accept reality.

“You can persevere to the detriment of your idea,” said Brandon Kessler, founder and CEO of ChallengePost, in my book Red Thread Thinking. “So perseverance is not necessarily believing that your original vision is the only vision. If you love your baby enough, you will be flexible enough to learn and listen, but still be dedicated to making the business a success. If you stick to an idea and it’s not a good one, then your business will die. So perseverance means the ability to shift and flex.”

Tune in. So, someone is gritty, optimistic and flexible. Now what? Well, think again about those hungry birds; they take flight with eyes keen to discover nourishment and alert to external threats. They learn about the good and bad in their environment. They persevere by paying attention to the world round them. So should we all.

From Entrepreneur