The power of LinkedIn and what it means for your Business

April 21, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Karen Wessels, co-founder of VA Connect and co-founder of SnappSales

Are you one of those people that absolutely loves social media or completely hates it? I have the privilege of mentoring a few start-ups and one of the most common blockers we talk about is how to find new clients. Now it’s going to be quite a challenge if you despise social media in light of what follows. However, if you’re a newbie business owner, you’re just starting out with a rather shall we say “tight” marketing budget, then social media is your friend.

Understanding the virtues of custom made or bulk retail

April 21, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Brigette Mashile, founder of Roka Roko

What is custom make/made? Some people call it bespoke, private clients, exclusivity, etc. I have been doing custom make since the business started; I did not choose this approach, it just kind of happened. I decided I wanted to make clothes and the flow into custom make came about just because the orders per client I received at the time, required a specific, detailed and more personal approach - a custom make service. But I am currently also, some of my family and friends would say ‘finally’, in the process of including retail in the business model. People think it is a process of just deciding to multiply a certain style by a bigger quantity and voila! No, it is not!

About that 'L' word!

April 15, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Eldari Visser, Managing Director, Picketfence.Life

As part of a tribe of amazing Lionesses I know you will love this story which fits in perfect with many common journeys we share. When we embark on an exciting journey through the jungle or the bush we start off with excitement, anticipation, happiness and all those emotions that sends endorphins to our body. We also start with a good dose of fear.

Own Your Tribe

April 15, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Lori Milner: author, entrepreneur, thought leader and founder of Beyond the Dress

Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, shares the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure book — a compilation of tools, tactics, and habits from 130+ of the world’s top performers. From iconic entrepreneurs to elite athletes, from artists to billionaire investors, their short profiles can help you answer life’s most challenging questions, achieve extraordinary results, and transform your life.

Do you have a can do attitude?

April 8, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Karen Wessels, cofounder of VA Connect and cofounder of SnappSales

In a mentoring session today with my top mentor, he made an interesting observation. He said that one of the things he has observed is my ‘can do’ attitude. This got me thinking about our general attitude towards business amongst women entrepreneurs.

Train 'em while they’re young!

April 7, 2018 Melanie Hawken

When is the right time to involve your kids in your business?... Today was the first official day of ‘work’, for my two daughters, both aged under 12. I gave them instructions to the tasks that I needed done, which were mostly the cleaning of tuna cans for our Toona Can product. After I explained the task I went over to my desk and attended to some emails. After a while I heard some bickering between the two of them. They were struggling to divide the work and defining roles. I heard the eldest, Chelsea, (in a highly irritated voice) say: “It’s impossible to work with you Kirsten!” And she walked off! I had to chuckle!

Choices ignite possibilities

March 29, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Nokubonga Mbanga, founder of Self Insights

Earlier this month, the world recognised International Women’s Day on 8 March, a time to reflect on progress made, to celebrate successes, and to inspire continuous improvement of women equality. It will take 217 years to close the gender parity gap according to the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap report. These figures are alarming, as they don’t seem to improve from last year’s figures (117 years in 2017).

Why we constantly need to check our Values

March 29, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Paula Quinsee, Relationship Expert and Author

Values are our moral compass, they guide us each day in our thoughts, actions, behavior and decision making. We use our values in every area of our life such as our goals, relationships, decisions, the workplace, leadership and more. They serve as the tick boxes against which we mentally reference ourselves as to making the right decisions and choices based on the situation we are facing at that time.

Big Question of the Week: What is the Soundtrack to your Life?

March 28, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Lori Milner: author, entrepreneur, thought leader and founder of Beyond the Dress

Cal Fussman is a New York Times bestselling author, world-renowned interviewer, podcast host, keynote speaker and corporate consultant on interviewing and storytelling. I first came across Cal on the Tim Ferriss Show podcast and recently discovered one of the most thought-provoking articles in a while and wanted to share it you.

Celebrate the unique person you are

March 27, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Brigette Mashile, founder of Roka Roko

This article is to celebrate yourself as you are. Whoever you are and wherever you are, if you are alive, you are doing pretty well. It’s so tough living today, and avoiding destruction daily. We have more reasons to give up on some days; to just say aaag suka, I’m done. But there is a chemical balance God bestowed upon you that makes you keep breathing everyday and the next, and as a bonus actually excel in a few areas in life. This is my list of reasons why I am still alive and running a business in this economy.

Just enjoy the show!

March 26, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Lizl Naude, founder of Lilly Loompa

My husband can be quite philosophical at times. Both of us are big movie watchers, and try to always dissect a movie once done watching. We watched the Brad Pitt movie, Moneyball, recently. And I think, since we saw it the first time, my hubby has watched it at least four times again! Here are some thoughts stimulated by that experience.

5 guidelines for a market-friendly business name and why it’s important

March 26, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Karen Wessels, co-founder of VA Connect and co-founder of SnappSales

The launch of a new business is always exciting! You’ve probably left your corporate job, told your friends and family about your new venture, and you’re putting the finishing touches on your ideation before going public.

What is in your financial backpack?

March 26, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Eldari Visser, Managing Director, PicketFence.Life

Getting ready for a trip is always exciting - to pack the bags is all part of the fun. Seasoned travellers have a lot of tips on how to be a pro in getting everything in and you can find many examples of practical tips on social media. Packing for a trip to the wild is a different story.

Own your NO

March 22, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Lori Milner: author, entrepreneur, thought leader and founder of Beyond the Dress

One of the toughest challenges of being an entrepreneur is the constant distraction from many perceived opportunities. We suffer from FOMO in that if we don’t get involved in this project, event, deal, you name it – we’ll lose out. Most of the time, these alluring projects do exactly that – lure us away from our core focus and ultimately this leads to more stress, burnout and lack of balance (not that it exists anyway).

Celebrate What Makes You Different

March 22, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Dr Laura Camacho, founder of Mixonian Institute

There has never been a better time to be different. After centuries of human success related to blending in with our tribes, we now rejoice in and embrace our personal quirks, our obsessions and even our weaknesses. Our individual uniqueness offers opportunities in a time when technology seems to be taking over so much of our lives.

We are all different, but the same

March 22, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Brigette Mashile, founder of Roka Roko

Last week I met a man…wait, I had an interview with a man! He gave off the energy that he believed he was more important than me, or many of us. He had an attitude about him, which I proceeded to be ignorant of, sending him further into his ego. We all meet people like this, every-single-day…and so you learn to just exist with them. I was doing just ok until he said, “What else do you have to offer, I’ve met so many like you, you are all the same.”

3 Tips to overcoming Procrastination and clearing your to-do list

March 20, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Deborah Hartung, founder of Pivot PeopleTech

No matter how good our intentions are, we all have those tasks at work or in life, that we just can’t seem to bring ourselves around to doing. We build them up in our minds and turn molehills into mountains and make excuses for procrastinating. Then we berate ourselves for our tardiness or cause our blood pressure and stress levels to skyrocket – it’s really a vicious cycle. Break free from the chains of procrastination and anxiety with these 3 handy tips!

Art of disruption: Handle with care

March 20, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Leigh Ann Gowland, founder of Employee Driven Change

If you were an artist creating delicate glass sculptures, how would you display your masterpiece to the world? A labour of love would be packed carefully and only displayed to art lovers. In an era of disruption, agility and demands for fast change, entrepreneurs are continuously pivoting, re-inventing and introducing new ideas. An aggressive, urgent launch of an idea could be risky. Take some time to prepare for the impact of change. Handle with care when disrupting.

The Power of Choice

March 20, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Tatenda Rungisa, Human Resources Practitioner and co-founder of Twin Connect Solutions

We make choices from the very moment we open our eyes in the morning. We make the choice to either wake up to the alarm clock or simply snooze it to an hour later, ultimately forgetting all the appointments that could make one’s career or business flourish. This is a simple sign that the choices we make on a daily basis can either bring us closer to, or further from, our dreams.

Accept help, even when you think you don’t need it

March 16, 2018 Melanie Hawken

by Karen Wessels, co-founder of VA Connect and co-founder SnappSales

I had the good fortune of attending the Lioness Lean In event last week in Johannesburg. Very inspirational to be in a room of business women who are buzzing with excitement with new product launches and celebrating business growth! As you can imagine, when surrounded by this calibre of women, you instinctively think, “Wow, these women can do it all” and yes more than likely they can. But should they?

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