The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly made a big negative impact on the global fashion industry this year, but the sector is still an important one across the African continent from an economic development, job creation and skills development perspective. Fashion remains big business in Africa. According to data from Euromonitor International, the combined clothing and footwear market in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to be worth US$ 31 billion. Importantly, the fashion industry is a women centric sector, providing economic development and job opportunities across the entire value chain, beginning with the smallholder farmers producing the raw materials for textile production, through to the fashion designers who light up the world’s runways with the designs we all go on to wear. As the African Development Bank says in its Fashionomics: Investing in the Creative Industries report, “At each step of the value chain, more value is added and additional jobs are created.” So this week, at Lionesses of Africa we will be recognizing the thousands of talented and hard working women entrepreneurs in Africa who are building great businesses and brands, and creating thousands of much needed jobs in the fashion sector.

We have all seen them - those television adverts that make really big promises to fix your problems without any effort. Those typical ‘lose weight quickly without exercising or eating healthily’ products come to mind as an example. For those consumers who are desperate enough for a solution but don’t want to make the necessary life changes that would fix the problem for good, these products could seem tempting. It’s the same in business - if you are struggling to deal with a problem or a pain point that is keeping you awake at night, it can be tempting to try and find a quick fix. But the bottom line is that there is no such thing - all you are doing is deferring, putting off the inevitable decision or action that needs to be taken. As hard as it is at the time to own up to and deal with any problem you are facing, it has to be done. You need to stop procrastinating, trust your instincts, and find the essential solutions to those problems for the long term. Once again, remember that there is no such thing as a ‘quick fix’.

Since March of this year, when life as we knew it changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we shop, run our lives and run our businesses has seen us transition to the ‘touchless economy’. New customer habits have been formed as a result. In greater numbers we now look online to source the goods we need. We order groceries from online retailers and have them delivered to our doors. We pay our bills online instead of going into a bank or store. And, we send money to family members online instead of queuing in person at a cashpoint. Our customer experience (CX) in this new ‘touchless economy’ matters - a lot. As business owners, we need to create meaningful customer experiences in this increasingly competitive digital economy. How do we do this? It starts with getting the basics right - good products, good prices, good quality, means good experience. It means delivering on our brand promise to our customers. It means creating memorable experiences for our customers, experiences that not only keep them returning, but also encourage them to recommend our businesses to others. In this growing ‘touchless economy,’ our businesses need to focus on a great customer experience if we are to compete and find our niche.

Have you noticed that, sometimes, the people closest to you can be the ones who are also sometimes inadvertently negative too? You know those times, when they offer unhelpful or unsolicited advice when you just don’t need to hear it. It happens to every entrepreneur at some point on the journey. But there comes a time when you need to be surrounded by people who can really empathize with what you are going through. Importantly, people who can bring some positivity into your life to counterbalance the challenges. You need mentors not naysayers; coaches not detractors; cheerleaders not pessimists. Bringing positive people into your life can help you stay the course when things get tough, whereas negative people make you doubt yourself and the choices you have made. So as difficult a decision it is to make, stepping back from the negative people on your entrepreneurial journey will not only benefit you from an emotional perspective, but your business will ultimately benefit too.

Are you are looking to take your business to the next level? Are you wondering how to move yourself and your employees in the right direction, and at speed? It might be time to introduce some new positive habits into your life and business. Many successful entrepreneurs talk about how incorporating the right habits into the business culture, and getting everyone to adopt those habits as part of their daily routines, is key to success. Business guru and author, Anthony Robbins, believes that one of the best habits you can develop is a powerful early morning routine in the workplace. Start your working day by spending 10 minutes focusing everyone’s efforts on the big picture for the business, the end goals to be achieved, and then the specific tasks to be undertaken. By creating this positive 10 minute habit every day, and allowing it to grow throughout the business, it will drive positive behaviours that are all aligned to the overall vision. Remember, it takes between 18 and 254 days for a habit to solidify in the mind, but once it is there, the rewards will follow and key goals will be achieved. So if you really want to take your business to the next level, start building these positive habits now.

What makes a healthy and rapidly scaleable company differentiate itself from the pack? The answer is a strong, positive internal culture that is led by example from the top, and bought into as a concept and a ‘way of being’ by everyone who works for the business. A great example of how establishing such a culture can make a big, bold vision a reality can be seen in the example of the tech-based digital disruptor of the early 2000s, Skype. The founders believed from the outset in establishing a unique culture that would enable a rapid and healthy scale-up. As the company evolved from startup to significant industry disruptor, the company’s unique internal culture provided the anchor. With a focus on having a global mindset, a revolutionary ambition, a distrust of hierarchy, and an absolute obsession with customers, this culture was carried by the business and all its employees across the world as it expanded. Though Skype as a business evolved as it grew into so many different global markets, the fundamental tenets of Skype’s culture remained. The lesson for women entrepreneurs to learn here is that if you want to scale your business, and take your employees along with you on the crazy journey ahead, creating a strong culture internally driven by a big vision, is essential.

The recent announcement by Microsoft that their employees will now have the option of working from home permanently in response to the ongoing impact of Covid-19, marks a rapid shift away from traditional office working and the start of a growing new trend. The announcement follows similar decisions by Facebook and Twitter, which have also said remote work will be a permanent option for employees. A Microsoft spokesperson said of the new guidance, "Our goal is to evolve the way we work over time with intention—guided by employee input, data, and our commitment to support individual work styles and business needs while living our culture.” There seems to be a consensus that the pandemic is now permanently shifting the way we work. According to a PWC survey, about 55% of employers said they expected staff to work from home at least part of the week after concerns about how the virus passes, and more than 80% of employees said they supported that idea. This growing trend on the part of these global business giants is having a positive impact on the way that entrepreneurs who choose to run their businesses from home are now viewed by big companies. There is much more understanding and appreciation of what it takes to operate efficiently and professionally in a home-work environment, and small businesses are hopefully no longer going to be viewed negatively for their choice to operate from home.

It is easy to think that giving customers large amounts of choice in the products and services they can buy from our businesses is a good thing - but is it really? Research suggests that those companies that offer fewer choices, but instead a simple, high quality, memorable experience, actually get rewarded with happy and loyal customers. It comes down to dealing with decision fatigue in the most effective way. These days, customers are continually bombarded by businesses and brands vying for their attention, either through advertising or direct marketing, each one promising an even greater range of options to choose from. It can be overwhelming for the customer, leading to decision fatigue and switch-off. The additional downside for you as an entrepreneur is that it can also mean your brand gets lost in all the market noise, as a result the customer never really gets to see what you have to offer. So when you are planning your next marketing campaign, make small changes that will bring big results, by creating simple, engaging, customer centric offers that will make decision-making easy.

Statistics globally for entrepreneur failure rates can usually make for sobering reading. It is thought that almost a quarter of business startups will not make it through their first year, and only around half will manage to make it to their fifth anniversary. The numbers get even smaller around the 10 year success mark. Interestingly, women entrepreneurs tend to find it more difficult to deal with business failure than their male counterparts, often feeling that sense of failure very personally. The end result is that women entrepreneurs have a tendency to drive themselves to achieve business success by making fewer costly mistakes, not taking big risks, and growing more patiently, all because they fear failure. What is encouraging is the level of business resilience that women show, with around two thirds of women entrepreneurs indicating they would pick themselves up following a business failure, learn the lessons, and try again. So while fear of failure is a reality and a natural part of the entrepreneurial journey, being able to harness that fear and use it as a tool for personal and business growth is what can motivate us to achieve eventual success. Now that is a skillset that women need to possess and nurture.

We perhaps don’t automatically think of entrepreneurs as being creative, unless they are working directly in the field of design or communications for example. But in fact, it is a critical factor for success in business building. Creativity is now being seen as an integral element of good business acumen - it helps to push boundaries, to open up mindsets, to free up thinking, and prevent stagnation. Creative thinking can be a game-changer in business as it plays a part in identifying potential new ways of doing things, or where gaps exist in the market for innovation. Creativity is also a cost-effective strategy to increase workplace productivity as it encourages employees to fulfill their potential and make meaningful contributions to the success of the business. It is thought that businesses probably only utilize around half of their employees’ potential by not encouraging workplace creativity. As a result, they miss out on a vast repository of creative ideas that remain untapped, instead of creating an environment where employees are encouraged to think creatively and help the business to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. So, how do you now feel about introducing more creativity into your business?

This has been a strange and challenging year for so many women entrepreneurs across the continent, and indeed around the world. Plans carefully formulated at the beginning of the year with big ambitions and goals have had to be re-engineered, relaunched and sometimes even scrapped. It has been a time of reinvention, pivoting, and in many cases just getting through with the hope of better times ahead. So as we now move into the final quarter of the year, it is the perfect time to take a moment to acknowledge your wins - to list down the positive things you have achieved in your business and your life as an entrepreneur over these difficult past months. List them all, starting with the big achievements. Perhaps you won or indeed maintained a big corporate customer, or pivoted the business to meet changing market needs, in turn creating a new, much needed product or service that customers want to buy. Also list the small achievements - maybe a new skill learned, or an award won - they are just as valid in these tough times. Hopefully by the time you have completed your lists, you will be able to take a moment to reflect just how far you have actually come, and how resilient both you and your business have become as a result of this experience.

They say in business that if you want to go further, go together, and one of the most effective ways that women entrepreneurs can further their businesses and break into new markets is through collaboration. It can often be a daunting prospect, trying to expand your business by looking at selling your products and services outside of your geographic or sector comfort zone. By collaborating with others who have experience in those markets and a strong track record of success, the road to expansion can look a little less intimidating. Business collaboration speeds up and multiplies your ability to expand and reach those all important new market opportunities. That collaboration could take the form of a partnership with a fellow entrepreneur who can distribute or promote your product or service in a new market, or a specialist manufacturer who can help you to scale your product output to meet supply demands. Whatever form of collaboration works for you, it can be the most effective way to find customers and increase your revenues. Women entrepreneurs typically possess personal qualities that make collaboration a viable business acceleration option, including open mindedness, the desire to make things work and try new things, business development and management skills. The trick to collaborative success is to find partners who have good synergy and complement your business; to set shared goals and objectives from the outset; to develop a strong operational plan with your partner where everyone is clear on their roles and responsibilities; and to establish the ground-rules of what a “win-win” collaboration would look like. That’s how to make your collaboration work and help you to accelerate your way to success.

Remember the days when, as a consumer, you would have to use the power of your own imagination to visualize how a new piece of furniture or a paint colour would look in your home, or how a make-up product would look on your face? Now, the increasing and innovative use of AR (Augmented Reality) by businesses looking to gain the competitive edge by creating new virtual consumer experiences. Early adopters are using AR for ‘at home’ product demonstrations that engage customers at a whole new level. For example, global furniture pioneer, IKEA, uses an AR app to provide users with the technology to see exactly how their furniture and decor items will look in the comfort of their homes, using their digital devices. Customers can virtually visualize products in their personal living and work spaces before they purchase, ensuring they have a better brand and product experience. Leading cosmetics firm L’Oreal also utilizes AR technology to assist their customers “try on” different makeup colors and looks, without having to physically apply any cosmetic products. These pioneering brands are embracing the power of AR to connect with their valued customers who may not be coming into the traditional stores right now, ensuring they do not lose that brand loyalty or market share. AR is something for every brand to think about going forward as the world of retail shifts to meet the challenges of the new Covid-19 business environment.

The investment business has long been a male dominated environment. Take a look at investment management in all its forms right now - mutual, hedge, private equity, and venture capital funds - and the lack of women fund managers is all too obvious. Women control between 1% and 3.5% of assets under management, depending on specific class. Only 2% of mutual funds are managed exclusively by women portfolio managers, and in the hedge fund universe, a mere 4% of the portfolio managers are women, but only 1.5% of the assets under their control. Private equity is the only subsector in which the percent of women-controlled assets exceeds 3%, which is still small. The lack of women fund managers could be a contributing factor to the continuing challenge of women entrepreneurs getting access to funding, in all its forms. A recent IFC study suggested that investment decision-making is usually done by a small group of people, and if the group does not have gender balance, then you are not getting a balanced decision-making perspective. This situation is reflected in the fact that only 7 percent of emerging market private equity and venture capital is invested in women-led companies. Yet, female partners invested in almost twice as many female entrepreneurs as male partners. Ask any woman entrepreneur who is in need of funding right now and she will tell you the need for gender equality in investing has never been greater. Ultimately, getting better gender representation in investment firms just makes good business sense for everyone involved, it just needs to happen faster!

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and remind yourself of the last time you personally had a great customer experience. The chances are that your memorable experience was the result of an interaction with a staff member, someone who gave you great service or who was attentive to your needs, or who went the extra mile to make you feel special. Now ask yourself, are your own customers getting that kind of experience from your own staff members? Numerous research studies show a strong correlation between employee experience and customer experience. If your employees feel valued, feel they are all individual brand ambassadors, feel proud of the company they work for, they will feel empowered to create a positive experience for your customers. It starts with ensuring a great employee experience in your business, one that is based on continual engagement, communication, feedback, and shared brand pride. And that experience starts from the top, with you as founder of the business, sharing your vision, your passion, your energy and enthusiasm, and bringing every individual employee with you.

Going the extra mile is one of those mottos that is spoken about often but very rarely actually done, particularly in business. Yet it can be an amazing differentiator for those entrepreneurs that really do put in that extra effort to ensure their customers get the best experience. Going that extra mile could mean starting the work day a little earlier to ensure that you have time to engage with your employees to get them motivated and sharing your goals for the day ahead. Or it could mean rolling up your sleeves and staying late to help your team to pack boxes and get that important big order out of the door on-time to your customer. Or it could simply mean setting aside time each day to make personal calls to your customers to check on their satisfaction levels on products and services delivered. Going the extra mile is an attitude - it is saying to your customers, we value you, we are here to make sure your customer experience is a good one, we care about what you think and we are hear to listen to your feedback in order to keep improving our service delivery. So if you want to move ahead in business and keep your customers moving with you, then keep going the extra mile - it works!

Burn-out, it’s a feeling all too many women entrepreneurs are experiencing right now. Let’s be honest, we have probably all been there at some point on this crazy entrepreneurial journey - working too many long hours, giving up our weekends for months at a time, sacrificing valuable family time because the business demands everything from us. At times like these, chronic fatigue, anxiety, and depression can make an appearance in our lives, ultimately leading to burn-out. That’s why it’s important to remind ourselves that self care is not a luxury or something to be done in the future when we have more time. It’s an essential strategy and an investment in our personal health and wellbeing, and the future health and sustainability of our business. So instead of feeling guilty when you need to take time for yourself each day, whether that is to do a yoga class, or chat with friends and family over a cup of tea, or treating yourself to a spa treatment, don’t feel your time could be better spent. Remember that self care means you are investing in yourself AND your business.

Do you ever think back to when you were a child and remember how curious you were, how open to learning and trying new things? In our busy lives as women entrepreneurs who are building our businesses at the same time as managing our family lives, playing our parts in the growth of our communities, contributing to the development of our business sectors, don’t you sometimes wish you could recapture that childlike curiosity? As entrepreneurs, it’s important to keep our businesses, products and services fresh so that they stay relevant to our customers and keep up with the changing environment we live in today. So remaining curious, open to new ideas and innovations, is so important. Yet many of us are fearful of change and the unknown - we feel more comfortable with the status quo, doing things the same way we have always done. But that is not the way to fulfill our potential, both personally and in business. The English philosopher and writer, Alan Watts, said on this subject, “By replacing fear of the unknown with curiosity, we open ourselves up to an infinite stream of possibility. We can let fear rule our lives or we can become childlike with curiosity, pushing our boundaries, leaping out of our comfort zones, and accepting what life puts before us.” Now that’s a great way of looking at our lives differently and living them to the fullest.

Women entrepreneurs are great planners - but there are times when even the most detailed and well-thought out plans can encounter a hurdle that seems just too big to overcome. That’s life, as well as business. Setbacks like these happen, you only have to look at the impact of the current Covid-19 pandemic to appreciate that some things are out of our control and just have to be responded to differently. The result is that, at times like these, it may require a rethink or an adjustment to your original business strategy or business model. But remember, setbacks can also present opportunities. During times of adversity, women entrepreneurs find new sources of strength and resilience, and importantly, they get creative. Setbacks can provide a unique chance to do things differently, to try new approaches, to experiment with new products and services to take to market. They can also allow you to consider a more radical pivot in the business to take advantage of an identified need. A setback can encourage you to develop new ideas and tactics for how you want to run your business in the future, helping you to prepare for and withstand setbacks in the future. So don’t be afraid to change direction if you need to, and view every setback as a potential opportunity instead of a threat.

Pick up any book on entrepreneurship and you will see chapter after chapter written on the subject of failure. It’s perhaps not surprising - failure is an inevitable part of the journey of building new businesses, innovating, and trying new things. Not every business will go on to become a success, and many will fail along the way. So why then do so many entrepreneurs still struggle with feeling a sense of shame when their businesses fail? This is an attitude that needs to change. It’s true that it’s a wonderful feeling to have a successful business, particularly when it fulfills the ambitions and vision you had for it when you started out. But the reality is that failure is where real learning, growth, and ultimately personal change happens as an entrepreneur. Instead of seeing failure simply as a negative in your life, embrace and own your mistakes and learn those essential lessons that will take you one step further to achieving the success you crave. Don’t be afraid to fail, remember that many of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world have experienced failure not once, but many times during their journeys to success. You only have to read the personal stories of Richard Branson, Ariana Huffington, Bill Gates and so many others to see they have all experienced failure before achieving the success they have gone on to enjoy in later years. So, never feel shame when you fail - instead, see it as a learning experience to help you get it right next time!