Agility trumps forecasting

August 1, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Question: “What do you get if you wrap all the Economists in the world around the globe end to end?” Answer: “No conclusion…” This was attributed to George Bernard Shaw in May 1933 and he does seem to have a point. With so many conflicting views in the early stages of the Coronavirus attack, even from Scientists who we have always believed live in a binary world rather than the ‘Is it a Science or is it an Art’ world of Economics, should we start to question the worth of forecasting? What conclusions can any of us draw currently?

Credit is ALL about the 5 C’s

July 25, 2020 Melanie Hawken

So we’ve all heard of the 4 C’s of Diamond buying (cut, colour, clarity and carat) and now thanks to a fabulous Lioness Co-Lab we have the 5 C’s with an amazing collaboration between Clare Appleyard, founder of Katannuta Diamonds and Vicki Bain, founder of Chocoloza, meaning we now have Cut, Colour, Clarity, Carat and Chocolate! Who could ask for more?

The Loneliness…and the Bravery

July 19, 2020 Melanie Hawken

“You're always one decision away from a totally different life”…

There is a book by Alan Sillitoe called: “The loneliness of a long distance runner” that was then made into a film. It’s about a boy who had made wrong decisions (who hasn’t somewhere in their lives!) and was then sent to a youth detention centre / school in the UK, one of many so called ‘Borstals’. While there he found a passion in long distance running and single-mindedly pursued this becoming very good indeed. The problem was that the people in charge wanted him to bend to their will and run just so that they could brag and boast about beating the local private school in a big race that was due. They wanted to control his power to further their agenda. They were determined to use this boy’s skills and bend his will for their own glory. This became not about him, but all about them.

Private Equity is not for everyone!

July 10, 2020 Melanie Hawken

So we had a very interesting and busy week. It got us thinking that the issues we were seeing from the Lionesses sensible enough to give us a call and get our Head of Finance (‘HoF’) to simply ‘kick the tyres’ of deals before they sign (including one that was initially refused finance and has now gone back with a tighter and more rounded application) were probably representative of many issues that our larger membership was also facing and having to decide upon.

Be True to Yourself with the Lionesses of Africa Team!

July 4, 2020 Melanie Hawken

“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!

Are you a ‘Lean-Back’ or ‘Lean Forward’ Business?

June 27, 2020 Melanie Hawken

It was one of those mornings, our coffee machine had broken (to be fair it was very well used and abused, especially by our Head of Operations) and our IT/techno guru who doubles as the go-to expert for all things that involve electricity, plugs and buttons (not the business shirt kind) was nowhere to be found.

Panic, chaos and mayhem ensued!

Can you really prepare for a Grizzly Bear attack?

June 20, 2020 Melanie Hawken

About to start our usual writing session for the Lioness Weekender and discussing all the fascinating topics we have been lucky enough to experience in business, and our Head of Finance pops into the room, sits down, hands over a nicely typed warning for our readers, plus a lovely picture of a Grizzly Bear tapping his fingers and patiently waiting!

Wakey, wakey sleepy head!

June 13, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Sadly those in a Leadership role simply cannot relax. Remember, if leadership were easy, everyone would do it. So while you have been pacing up and down your living room worrying about your business, employees and customers during this lockdown, your employees have not had such pressures. There is no doubt they will have had other pressures (and none of us ever can start to gauge the weight or worry others may carry and certainly not judge), but from a business perspective they are not the ones trying to work out where the cash will come from to pay for the salaries, lights or stock.

Dragons and the Art of Pricing your Time!

June 6, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Having received many questions about last week’s blog discussing the value of certain customers and how we seemed to be quite happy to lose customers, we just want to make one point before we move to an unemotional and purely clinical look at your products. The undercurrent of both these letters is Time.

Value your Time, Customers and Cash!

May 31, 2020 Melanie Hawken

The lockdowns are starting to be reviewed and in some cases reversed, but have we been making full use of our time to prepare our businesses for when the doors open and life returns to some semblance of normality?

The Buyer’s Journey

May 23, 2020 Melanie Hawken

In trying to prepare ourselves for the wasteland that might face us when we reopen our doors, we should be looking at how to fine-tune our offering to our clients in a world where sales will be everything. A single sale could mean the difference between keeping your workers on or going bust.

Think outside the box, have fun and earn US$!

May 15, 2020 Melanie Hawken

You may have noticed the falling of all currencies in Africa against the US$, this means two things:

that everyone is after one thing - US$
that your value to the rest of the world just got far stronger.

Re-opening your business: A ‘how to’ guide

May 8, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Africa’s leaders have on the whole moved fast to shut their countries down to stop the spread of this virus. There is also discussion that with Africa’s low age of population (median age in Africa is tragically only 19.7 years), as seen here from the UN, and with its experiences of previous pandemics, these lockdowns will work and work well.

Recovery Part II / Adapting your plan whilst remaining relevant

May 3, 2020 Melanie Hawken

In the recent Lioness Enterprise Webinar, the brilliant Bruce Whitfield (voted by our team to have the second best radio voice on this planet - the first obviously being Matthew McConaughey…sorry Bruce!), reminded us of Mike Tyson’s famous quote (at the time he was the undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion): “We all have a plan, until we are punched in the face!” Although that is quite dramatic, we all agree that the business world has indeed had a huge punch to the face, but what we should also concentrate on from this quote is the: “We all have a plan…”.

Coronavirus / 8 practical steps to get your employee communication right

April 12, 2020 Melanie Hawken

In the world of entrepreneurship, the founder of the business is the most trusted of all social messengers when it comes to effective communication – beating business in general, government, media and NGOs by 20-point margins. When the founder speaks, people listen, in particular employees — and the tone, accuracy and relevance of employers’ advice can make all the difference between calm and panic in this current, unsettling crisis situation.

LIONESS LAUNCH / Lionesses of Africa launches its Business Unusual Portal

April 5, 2020 Melanie Hawken

What a strange world we are currently living in. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new and challenging reality for us all. These are seriously tough economic times, and as women entrepreneurs it requires us all to think differently about how we do business. It is going to take courage (lots of it), patience (lots of that too), innovation and sheer determination to get through this new normal.

Coronavirus, for those experiencing Demand Shock

April 5, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Empathy is a Superpower along with your Fair but Firm Leadership. Empathy with and for your employees is what is going to get you and them through these challenging times. Empathy is not a weakness, you can understand what they are going through, understand their fears, whilst still doing what is best for the company, your employees and for the community at large. But to do this you must keep in your mind.

Coronavirus - Resist!

March 29, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Two ‘Lioness Weekenders’ ago, we dived straight into the most important aspect of our business lives, that of Cash Flow. This week, the London Business School showed us why it is Cash Flow that is the only thing that keeps our Head of Finance awake at night.

Message of support from Melanie Hawken. As a Lioness of Africa, you are not alone!

March 22, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo of Lionesses of Africa

What turbulent and uncertain times we are living in. The COVID 19 virus outbreak globally has created a new and challenging reality for us all. Businesses are feeling the pain already, and the true impact of the crisis is still unknown. As entrepreneurs, we are dealing with a multitude of issues, from managing cashflow, through to trying to get sales when the market is struggling. At Lionesses of Africa, we understand what our community of 1 million+ women entrepreneurs is going through, and we are committed to playing our part in trying to help.

Coronavirus - Leadership is the number one superpower during times of crisis

March 22, 2020 Melanie Hawken

Last week we looked at the most important aspect of any business when times turn tough - that of Cash Flow. Please note those practical steps have worked for our team in other businesses around the globe, and although not guaranteed to work in every case, will at least encourage thinking in our Lionesses to preparing for the threat coming.

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