Hats off to successful women entrepreneurs

their emancipation from being mere “stay-at-home moms” over the years to become prominent figures not only in society, politics but business as well. It is for this reason that I have decided to salute the successful women entrepreneurs in our midst that have made a mark in the business realm.
For their effort in terms of job creation and ultimately economic growth, female entrepreneurs in various sectors of the economy have stood the test of time in a world dominated by males.
Their footprint in social circles, boardrooms and offices around the country has definitely left an indelible mark.
A recent study in the United States has shown that women entrepreneurs are a gold mine across every angle, whether it is the number of female-owned businesses entering into the economy, or in terms of growth.
“The ways women tend to spend their earnings are an economist’s dream. Women will take money and spend in their communities, so GDP will increase. You have to have the right community supporting you. When it’s women entrepreneurs trying to scale up, that supportive community allows us to be free to think bigger.”
Gone are the days when all the businesses our mothers could ever think of were selling vegetables, crotchetry and confectionery. They are now thinking big and with an enabling environment, they are set for even greater heights.  There is nothing wrong with starting small, take bite size chunks, but do so with an objective to expand. When one of the leading entrepreneurs in Africa, Divine Ndhlukula, started Securico, she was visualising herself as one of the leading providers of security services.
Her excellence has not gone unnoticed as she has reaped awards not only in Zimbabwe alone, but she has gone to conquer the continent. She won the 2011 African Entrepreneur of the Year Award, which she dedicated to her employees. Securico was founded less than 15 years ago and is now a US$13 million  (revenues) company with more than 3 400 employees — 900 of whom are women.
We all go into business to make money and there is no reason why we should target failure, as the desire to achieve should drive us to make the best out of what we have. It is possible!
As I have stated before, it is imperative to have a good business plan with clear goals and objectives as a starting point and the rest will follow.
Most small businesses fail because they do not plan their operations and most activities are carried out on an ad hoc basis. This does not augur well for business success, as you should be clear from the onset on what you want to achieve and work hard at it.
You have to know your market and what exactly customers want to buy, and then develop marketing strategies to grow or maintain your company’s position in the market.  There is no reason to be in business if you cannot generate sales.
Here are some interesting titbits on women entrepreneurs that I picked up on the Internet:
l Running a business is no longer a man’s game. From 2002 to 2007, the number of women-owned businesses increased               20,1 percent in the United States to                      7,8 million. These women in 2007 employed 7,6 million people
l Lauren Fisher co-founded her Dublin- based social media and PR firm, Simply Zesty, when she was just 23 in 2009 with Niall Harbison. The company grew from a small business operating out of a bedroom to a 22-employee team that handles clients like Vodafone and Sony. A short three years later, she and Harbison are selling the firm to UK’s UTV Media for an initial consideration of  £1,7 million.
l Laura Fitton is the founder of social media marketing company Oneforty. In 2011, her company was acquired by inbound marketing software company HubSpot. She also is co-author of Twitter for Dummies.
These are just a few examples of the myriad of women in small business around the globe. There are obviously many more who deserve to be recognised.
Resources for Women
There are support groups like Women in Wireless that provide support for specific industries. This increase in women-based resources signifies that there’s only more good to come out of businesses run by women.
Websites like Entrepreneur’s Women’s Centre and SBA’s Women-Owned Business portal provide content and resources geared towards the specific needs of female business owners.
As always, let’s make money.International Women’s Day was about supporting and respecting women everywhere all over the world and in boardrooms and the home alike. Here is hoping that you took time to honour the fairer sex and champions of empowerment!
As always, let’s make money.
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