I was privileged enough to attend the very first #LionessMentoring session at the Standard Bank Incubator in Rosebank, Johannesburg this week. One of the things that really struck me, besides the passion and resilience each women entrepreneur displayed, was the complete lack of confidence in themselves and their sales abilities.

This past week I was in Cape Town where I was invited to join other entrepreneurs watch a few hand selected startups pitch their business ideas. The startups varied from post revenue all the way to MVP (minimal viable product), meaning they don’t currently have customers, however they do have a working product. As a group of entrepreneurs who have travelled the path, got the proverbial t-shirt and faced our fair share of challenges, a few things really struck me. The reason why we were there was to identify the best matching mentors for each startup. And isn’t this something that is seriously lacking in our startup community - the power and importance of having a great mentor on your team, who can take their life experiences and help you on your journey.

What a scary thought – not only starting a business, but to start off with no capital -  yikes! If you read any article related to entrepreneurs, from Silicon Valley to the African continent, the very first thing you read is that they’ve got funding. But is funding the be-all and end-all? What if you don’t have access to immediate funding, but you have an amazing business idea that will change the world? Well, the alternative is to bootstrap it, to become really innovative to start this amazing business idea of yours.

For a startup venture, setbacks may be the name of the game, especially in the beginning phases. You’re still learning the ropes, understanding your market, finding the right team and wrapping your mind around building an empire. As a startup, in order to focus and enjoy positive results and to move forward, it’s all about how you, as the Founder of your business, need to manage these setbacks. Do you take them in your stride? Or are you riddled with fear and anguish for days because things didn’t work out?

Sometimes we tend to be so focused on the next big business thing, or on how to make our business better, or when to take our product to market, that we completely forget to pause and appreciate the little things in life that really matter. These could be the things that we have, that we’ve experienced, what we’ve learned, and what we’ve achieved along the way. We forget to show gratitude and to show thanks for all that is and to reflect on how good life has been to us so far.

The success of your business is defined by how you make decisions - and naturally, success also lies in how quickly these decisions are made.

If there’s one thing you could ask your future self, what would it be? Perhaps you would ask for advice on how to be a better person or seize well-presented opportunities without hesitation. Would you ask your future self what you could have done to be a better leader? The wisdom of hindsight is infinite - and yet you’re still living in the here and now. Begin by visualising how and where you would like to see your future self.

Business can be tough – maybe you’re having a rough day, things aren’t going your way, a client is giving you a hard time, a staff member didn’t pitch for work again, deadlines are looming and projects aren’t being signed off.

Success at times can seem quite elusive. You’re running your own business, running a household, and you’re a wife, partner, parent to boot. So how do others do it? They make it look so easy. Does it have to do with them being better at time management? Or, is it that they have a different mind-set to you?