Secrets of successful women

In the recent times, the world has witnessed a new trend. Women are rising above traditional and gender-specific roles and joining the business world, to occupy high corporate positions that have for years been dominated by men.

Female entrepreneurs make up approximately a third of all entrepreneurs worldwide. A recent international study found that women from low to middle income countries were more likely to enter early stage entrepreneurship when compared to those of higher income countries.

A significant factor that may play a role in this gap can be contributed to the fact that these women often seek an additional means of income to support themselves and their families. As a result, many of them opt for entrepreneurship to support their jobs.

While some of them take years climbing the success ladder, others face ugly circumstances to accomplish their dreams.

As young and old women are becoming the driving force of today’s economy, they are more than eager to discover ways of taking their businesses to the next level. This and more was proven over the weekend as more than 250 entrepreneurs (running small and medium-sized businesses), professionals and other women with big dreams got together for the fifth economic women conference and business expo.

Organised by Dare to Dream initiative, this year’s theme, ‘Building business beyond tomorrow’, intended to help women gain marketable tools that will teach them how to turn their passion into a thriving business that they can be proud of in years to come.

The conference featured industry leaders who talked about global business opportunities and technology, how to market and how to finance business.

There’s no shortcut to success

According to one of the key speakers, Engineer Rose Aziz, nothing comes easy without the element of hard work.

“Education is a formality which makes a huge impact in an individual’s life, but I believe that hardwork can make you successful at any point of your life,” said the CEO of a cosmetics firm and alumni of Howard University.

Products of Nature Co. Ltd is a medium-sized firm that produces and markets 14 brands of hair and body care products as well as soap and detergents.

As an innovative chemical engineer, she has succeeded to create medicated skin oil which has received a national patent and is tipped for similar recognition at the international market. Rose had a vision to create a lot of things. Her other secret is bearing in mind the human resources.

“As an entrepreneur, you must be responsible for your workers, motivate them, pay their salary on time and above all, make them feel part of the company. If you do this, your business will certainly succeed,” she said at the conference.

Despite the challenges women pursuing science-related things face, Rose was determined to create products, just like she had wanted-to improve live hoods of women.

And for those who are afraid of risks, the engineer has one word:

“Don’t be afraid of failure. And if you fail, stand up and start all over again.”

Succeeding isn’t for the chosen few

Sharing in the engineer’s opinion is Ninon Marapachi, a 35-year-old, Director and Head of Hedge Fund organisation and product management from Bank of America.

Ninon believes that anyone can be successful no matter how shameful the past is.

“I grew up in a poor family, but I had the determination to succeed. That’s why I took school seriously because it was my only saviour,” she said.

Today, managing a 12-member team, she is one of the few Tanzanian women living in the United States of America with such a prestigious position in the financial sector.

For Ninon, her humble background, she says, has never stood in the way of her dreams.

“I studied hard and dared to do the impossible. Through the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity Asset Management Career Programme, I became a full-time analyst in 2002 thanks to my determination.”

The graduate from Magna Cum Laude in 2002 with a BA in Economics from Mount Holyoke College believes that success means putting in effort, even at times when you are unsure of the results.

“Be willing to listen to new ideas and actively seek the opinion of others. But you must also learn to treasure new ideas and opposing opinions and not reprove them-even though there are times when opinions given are not very helpful,” she says.

The ability to accept helpful criticism for any person, who wishes to succeed, helps one’s business to stay strong.

“You need to show that you value the opinion and advice of others, as it will help you look more approachable to your employees, and customers.”

Also, Ninon advises that to be successful, one must always work with a plan, network a lot, work hard and learn to set goals.

“You need to know what you want because without it, you are doomed to fail. Be confident because it will take you places. The way you look speaks a lot,” she said.

Networking is a way of putting yourself out there and entrepreneurs need to make themselves available all the time. However, women should engage their life partners about their objectives to create a good understanding in their relationships, Ninon advises.

“No matter how hard you work, as an entrepreneur operating in total isolation will lead you nowhere. Try to meet other women in various stages of their profession because it is very important.”

According to Mr Salum Awadh, a financial adviser, reliable research shows that 75 per cent of small entrepreneurs will collapse within the first 5 years of doing business. A lot contributes to this, but first it is because, as a country we have failed to prepare for entrepreneurship right from grassroots levels.

“Once students have graduated from college for instance, they only think about getting employed and not becoming successful. They don’t have opportunities where they can learn more about the basics of entrepreneurship. This belief messes them up when they set to establish their own ventures,” he says.

Salum is also at war with the 2003 small and medium enterprises (SME) policy, which he says does not favour small businesses.

“No one can start a business without a capital, but sadly getting loans especially for small and medium enterprises has been a challenge, even the whole procedure of starting a business isn’t an open process,” said Awadh.

But this shouldn’t be an obstacle for prospective entrepreneurs if they went the extra mile.

“Show your commitment, get your deposits together, prove how determined you are by having some savings. Banks are likely to chip in once they see some effort,” he says.

Just like Ninon, Salum also advocates a business plan. He says that it is a key factor in knowing the market and the product or service you intend to deal in.

“Know who your competitors are. Know their strengths, weaknesses and history. If you are armed with all these, then you will surely win.”

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