from the Lionesses of Africa Operations Dept
“Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don’t,
Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won’t,
Depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes,
It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul.”
….and that was what greeted us as we arrived in our office this morning, blaring from our Head of Finance’s open door!
Instantly recognizing the amazing India Arie song ‘Video’, we rushed into see what was happening. Seeing there was an audience, the dancing stopped (!) and:
“Authentic! True to yourself!
This is what this song is ALL about.
We must give our Lionesses hope in these dark times that if they remain Authentic and True to Themselves, the light will return.” was the only instruction given to the open mouthed crew now standing at the doorway, as sadly (and yes it was) the dancing resumed…
Giving each other that knowing look that said best leave well alone, we retreated to our desks and the comfort that only comes from knowing the coffee machine (now fixed) had just been turned on and it was only a matter of time before things returned to normal and the calming tones of the great Ella Fitzgerald would waft out as usual from the finance hub of the Lionesses H/Q.
As we were planning to write this weekend about the Balance Sheet and how our Lionesses should use this time to do a bit of spring cleaning, this was a bit awkward but it didn’t take us long to agree that anything to do with India Arie would be far better!
But then we began to think. When is it that we are tempted to not be true to ourselves, to not be authentic?
Sales is the obvious trap that people fall into, thinking that sales means they have to copy their local second hand car salesman (“One careful lady owner…” etc). But we are not going to dwell too much on that as we have written a number of blogs on sales recently. However, we will just say that we all know that sales are easier when we are authentic, as customers need to feel comfortable in their choice and we have to be comfortable in our promise to them.
Every sale is a promise.
So where is it that we all feel the most uncomfortable?
Without a doubt it is when we are applying for a loan or sitting in front of someone who (may) be wanting to buy our company or invest in our pride and joy.
Here, we as Female Entrepreneurs are at a disadvantage. There is no doubt the business of finance that has been designed and run by men for centuries, has a bias towards the males. How else can one explain the huge disparity between lending to men owned businesses vs female ones. This is in spite of the higher returns that women over time generate, due to us having to grow our companies organically through profit, whilst the men with finance can blow the cash on turnover…
We are, of course, over simplifying things here and survivorship bias plays a part (survivorship bias is where those that fail in the first 1-3 years due to a lack of finance are of course not reflected in the results in the later years). If only the strong survive then by definition, given there is less assistance given to women led businesses, those that are left will be strong and as a group far more likely to give better results. This of course becomes a smaller pool for the bankers to fish in, with almost guaranteed results!
Women are also far more likely to consider the consequences of their actions before making a decision, while men are likely to jump into action earlier, which is why women find it difficult to answer ‘tick box’ type questionnaires sadly favoured by many in the financial world. Women agonize over if they really truly can answer the question and only if they are 100% confident, tick. Whereas it has been found that men are far more relaxed.
Of course we are generalizing here terribly, yet we keep on being drawn back to why it was that all female leaders of countries seemed to have handled this Coronavirus attack far better than their male counterparts…hmmm!
All of these issues do add up, and when intermingled with photos such as this:
…a photo of the brilliant Christine Lagarde at her first meeting with her European Central Bank Board - and as you see, it seems to be a bit stacked in favour of men, even if you do count the two women in paintings on the wall… The importance of this photo is that behind the scenes in various bank committees there will also either be or have been (when the rules were being set) this kind of bias towards men. Until these ratios change, until banks change the way they view female businesses and women have a fair shout at the table, raising finance is always going to be difficult for women.
As the award winning pioneer of FinTech and TradeTech innovation and a huge Lioness supporter, Viola Llewellyn, said, we are not looking for an easier route through to finance, simply to be seen through a different lens one that appreciates the fact that Testosterone is not the same as Oestrogen.
Indeed we were recently contacted by one of our Lionesses who said that many funding groups that she had applied to had not even bothered to reply.
Another said she failed her application because one bank (not ABSA or Standard Bank who are great supporters of LoA) got very worried about the Cash Flow cycle of the fashion industry! Seriously bankers, it is only Nike that can get away with 4 collections a year, demand early payments from their customers (low DSO) and pay late to their suppliers (high DPO) and have a constant and quicker churn of cash (see a guide to the Cash Conversion Cycle here). We know this is what your MBA professor said was possible, but this is the real world. Please try to remember, the old adage:
Theory and Practice are exactly the same, except in practice…
In an effort to be fair, one Lioness is now going to change her bank to ABSA because she is actually being understood by one of their bankers (a man), so keep the faith ladies - change is coming!
(We have the name if ABSA would like to reach out to us to know who their ‘Employee of the month’ is!)
So what can a Lioness do?
In the Lioness Lean In webinar this week (July 1st) with VW, we heard a great call to action from the inspirational Thobile Nyawo, founder of Nyawo Construction in South Africa, who told us to please not rely on Government help (sadly confirming our warning in our very first blog way back before Coronavirus hit Africa in March, here), but to look to ourselves, and to use this time to build a solid foundation. A strong foundation is everything, she went on to tell us (as she will know being in construction). We are entrepreneurs, we are Lionesses, what do we do? We must build a solid foundation not only in our business, but in multiple income streams.
This is absolutely spot on. She herself has brilliantly pivoted and gone into cleaning of buildings, adapted her plans and remained relevant whilst creating employment for her 150 staff and their wives while there is no building construction work possible.
She is being Authentic to her dreams by keeping them alive, she is being Authentic to her staff in not letting them down, she is being True to Herself.
Obviously not everyone can pivot with such speed and skill as Thobile, but help is at hand.
In the same Lioness Lean-In Webinar event, we announced The VWLionesses Den competition, thanks to the fabulous support from VW, (have a look at the cool video below) that will initially be for South Africa, but we at the Lionesses Operations Team are working day and night to find sponsors for the Rest of Africa, so hold your excitement Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and all our other incredible countries, we hope to be with you soon!
Much like the Dragon’s Den there will be a panel of potential ‘investors’, but with a huge difference.
Firstly, there is 175,000 Rands up for grabs in total prize money to the top three, with the winner getting 100,000 Rands!
Secondly, this is not an investment, this is a cash prize, a gift for you to use in your business anyway you see fit! So no new investors sitting over you and breathing down your neck.
Thirdly, the panel is not there to catch you out - they will not be nasty like on TV, because we are all Lionesses, so are here to support, build and grow. This is important. They are expecting you to be Authentic and True to Yourself and it is this that will catch the ‘investors’ eyes before they look into your numbers. This is the start of the ‘different lens’ our Head of Finance spends all his waking hours (and many when sleeping no doubt) designing.
Lastly and most importantly, there will be mentors available to help with your pitch and to guide, so even if you don’t make it through to the last group being filmed, you will have got some amazing mentoring, great pitch tips and a contact for life in the form of a senior Lioness who will always be there for you and watching with pride your journey - think how valuable that will be.
If you make it to the final group, you will then get to interact, meet and create a connection with the greats in their various industries who will also be watching your progress and (we are sure) be there for a bit of mentoring should you need it later.
So why not enter! You’d be crazy not to. It’s free and you can only win, Win, WIN!
As we said last week:
This is YOUR brand, it means something to YOU, now make it mean something to EVERYONE.
So sit back, kick off your shoes and play this amazing video of the one and only India Arie singing ‘Video’ to get you in the mood to be yourself, to be authentic, to love yourself and your business and to go out there and show the world in the one and only VWLionessesDen.
“When I look in the mirror and the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it’s supposed to be,
And I know my Creator didn’t make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes, I’m loving what I see.”
Enjoy and stay safe.