Tell me about your work as director of Seed Academy?
In addition to providing guidance to Seed Academy’s management team, my role involves taking a strategic look at the industry and identifying opportunities for the business that will make a meaningful contribution to both entrepreneurs and the corporate clients who sponsor entrepreneur programmes.
How did you end up doing this work?
I am a serial entrepreneur and developed a keen interest in the venture capital industry. I invested in a few businesses in the fintech and social impact spaces as an angel investor, one of which was Seed Academy. I am driven to positively impact the South African economy, so this investment is a great fit for me.
What are some of the challenges facing Seed Academy?
Seed Academy focuses on fast-tracking the development of black women and young entrepreneurs. Finding the right entrepreneurs for the opportunities and the right opportunities for the entrepreneurs is always a challenge. Entrepreneurship and growing the SME sector in South Africa is tough and can be frustrating.
What obstacles do women entrepreneurs face and what support do they need to cope better?
Women make incredible entrepreneurs. They are collaborative, purpose-driven and moderate risk takers. Sometimes, however, women lack confidence, and this is key to being an entrepreneur, because people buy confidence.
In addition, women entrepreneurs tend to be perfectionists, yet the key to great entrepreneurship is getting things done — it is not always possible or advisable to wait until the idea is 100% before acting.
Finally, women tend to build deep and narrow networks whereas entrepreneurs need to have a broad network of alliances and relationships to leverage.
What makes you good at your job?
One of my core values is courageous candidness — I am happy to challenge the status quo and articulate that which is uncomfortable but needs to be said. Being known for telling it like it is has really stood me in good stead in my career.
I can facilitate strategic thinking while motivating practical action, which is a great advantage.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
I always wanted to be in business, to make money and have an impact. My earliest memories are of going to my “office” with my handbag and then building my imaginary businesses. I count myself lucky that today I can build real businesses that do good while making money.
What is the best career advice you have ever received?
My first mentor told me that people want to see you succeed but you need to ask for what you want. So often we don’t ask for help as we believe it will make us weaker and we will come across as incompetent. I dramatically fast-tracked my career by asking for help and for what I wanted.
What advice would you give young people wanting to start a small business?
It is always good to start small, test the market so that you are in a better position to pivot based on customers’ needs; focusing on the market is as important as developing the offering. What this means is that finding customers has to be your primary priority — don’t wait! Also, don’t be afraid of failure as long as you fail fast and fail forward.
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