<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">&#8220;Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.&#8221;<cite>&#8211; Winston Churchill, British Politician</cite></blockquote>

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Paul Cook, co-Managing Director of Silvertree Internet Holdings, the investment growth partner behind some of South Africa’s internet brands, on what startup companies must do to survive.

<h3>Resilience</h3>
There are many reasons why a business could fail within the first year. In some cases, the plan itself does not make sense and in some cases, it is the execution of it that fails. Whenever someone starts a business, they are often doing it out of a sense of personal passion or a sense of excitement and that can lead to overly optimistic projections, and we see this all the time.
There is always going to be a tough period during the first year or two when reality bites. It will happen in some way and it will happen in some form – there will be some piece of bad luck or a difficult time. It is at this time a real make-or-break situation happens.
If you have the right people around you, if you have the right personal resilience; that is what gets companies through.
If you don’t get past that point, the business fails. It is about resilience when you start a new company.
By definition, you don’t know what is going to happen…no matter how hard you plan for a new business, you will face unexpected events.
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<h3>Planning</h3>
Make sure that you are good for the good and bad times during your entrepreneurial journey.
Your family too should be ready for the good and bad times&#8230; Try and build the right partnerships earlier on. Make sure that your relationships with whoever might be funding you – if there is an external funder – is right.
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<blockquote>&#8220;No matter how hard you plan for a new business, you will face unexpected events.&#8221;</blockquote>
<h3>Finances</h3>
You should not be seeking funding for its own sake. It is very seductive to suddenly have a lot of money in the bank. You can also fail if you don’t have money, but if you have too much money, then you are tempted to focus on the wrong Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Your objective in a startup is not to raise money; it is not to build revenue for its own sake, it is to build a business.
A business requires cost-control and it requires good unit economics. The more money you have in the bank, the harder it is to focus on cost-control. What you will end up doing is build a business that keeps growing but could never make any money&#8230; Also, if you raise too much money as an entrepreneur, you will end up not taking as many good terms [in deals] as you can.
Have a clear mind about what you want to get out of an investment&#8230;If you have proven as much as you can with a certain amount of money, you will be able to invest in marketing, stocks etc., then that makes sense.
<h3>Communication</h3>
When you are at an early stage of your business and are less than 10 employees, typically, everybody is in, not because of the salary but because of their passion for the business. You need to be a team and everybody needs to be on the same page.The period when you grow, from 10 to 50 employees, then all of a sudden, that is no longer the case. That is an extremely dangerous time for many companies.
We have seen several companies not succeeding, and that is a very sad part of the journey. It is then that you need to think who your core management is, [and] who are staff who don’t necessarily need to know everything. But you can also go too far the other way. Everyone needs to know the broad outlines of your thinking; keep the message simple for your team.
<h3>Transparency</h3>
Be honest about where you need help and make sure your partners are able to help you on those topics. You should look at all the different [aspects] of your business.
<h3>Marketing and sales</h3>
Marketing and sales are absolutely vital, it is non-negotiable. But how you do it depends on your business. In some cases, it is going to be marketing and in some cases, it is going to be sales. So you need to work out the strategy and how it will be different as well.
<h3>Tips ForStartup Success</h3>
<ol>
<li>Build a business that can make money: We are very tempted to copy Silicon Valley’s approach where you come up with an idea and you work out how to make money at a later stage. That makes sense in Silicon Valley but it doesn’t make sense here [in Africa], because there isn’t that tonne of money that is going to postpone your day of reckoning…You need to have a revenue model and whatever you are selling needs to be a lot more than your cost price.</li>
<li>Find the right business partner: If you look for investment, make sure that you find the right partner whose incentives and offerings match your own, for now, and in the future.</li>
<li>Build resilience: Make sure you are ready for tough times because there will be tough times.</li>
</ol>

Work colleagues brainstorming in creative office

Why Most Startups Fail In The First Year

As a teenager it dawned on me that my undergraduate academic ambition was going to be threatened when my father lost his job. My dream to become a petroleum engineer was deflated in a matter of days. I was concerned about my future and afraid I would be tagged as a failure. During this unpleasant and frustrating experience, I questioned the rationale behind my dad’s choice of paid employment. If he had started a business, maybe things would have turned out differently. That was a tipping point for my search for success in life.
In 1999, I found a book that answered the question of how to be successful. The Success Journey, written by John C. Maxwell, sparked my hunger for knowledge, which led me to start visiting a public library built by the Catholic church in my town, in southwestern Nigeria. I made that decision because I had read in the book that knowledge is a prerequisite for success.
My need to be successful and influential was so strong that it birthed inspirational dissatisfaction in me. In the same manner, I have observed that many successful business owners often start with a burning desire and this desire takes up most of their time, most of their resources and almost all of their energy. I believe that is what counts for entrepreneurship.
On the other hand, I have also encountered many African start-up entrepreneurs who have ideas that lack that yearning. All they have is a wish that may or may not be achieved, and a template-guided business plan. Most of these plans remain on paper and are eventually buried. Some that succeed in starting their own business don’t get to live their dream beyond a few years.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2017/02/01/little-african-dream-gangsters-paradise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: A Little African Dream In Gangster’s Paradise</a>
Other than the fact that many African countries have a poor rating on the ease of doing business index, a core factor that accounts for a business’s inability to survive is the lack of a burning desire. Success is for the hungry and desire is the emotion that will see it come to fruition.
It is important that a target is clearly defined before commencing with a business plan and allocating responsibilities. This helps everyone to effectively focus on crucial matters. In the present business space, time is more essential than money. The rate at which business disruption happens is so fast that many business leaders are constantly on their toes to just remain in the game. With this in mind, attention should only be given to what is important – the key drivers of the desired result.
Obviously, entrepreneurs in Africa are finding it easier now than a decade ago to hire tools, and raise capital to produce products. But, realizing the ability to rent time is highly unlikely in the near future. Time is inelastic. Therefore, we must focus on what really matters to get the desirable business result.
To better manage time, an entrepreneur should focus on what they have control over. When you focus on concerns that you can’t control, you may lose sight of things within your control. 
Also, ensure your beliefs and values align with the desired business result because these influence your time and attention.
Setting goals, and planning for them, are instrumental to time management. This will help guide decisions as well as allowing you to delegate where necessary. 
I have accepted the simple paradigm that nothing makes one entrepreneur more successful than the other in an industry as much as what each person does with time. Time creates everybody’s chance, but not everybody creates a chance with the time they have.
&#8211; Victor Mamora

Building their success one touch at a time

It’s About Time For Success For Entrepreneurs In Africa

Many entrepreneurs are dropouts; even more are involved in businesses that have little to do with what they studied at school. However, this does not mean they are ignorant; they are the type of people that are continually striving to learn new things. We are living in an age of snooze, you lose.
To avoid being obsolete, and to stay ahead of the pack, African entrepreneurs need to keep up to date with market trends, new technologies, and automation systems that can expedite productivity. Without doing this it will be difficult to remain relevant.
Today, the need for the accumulation of knowledge is more pressing than ever before. What you know now is likely to be out of date within a few months.
With this in mind, it is important to ensure you gather all the information you can as often as possible. Without this, you cannot improve your business – and if you are not getting better, you are getting worse.
Competition is voraciously getting better. Whatever business you are in now, you must offer more a year from now to stay competitive.
It is crucial to note that acquiring information alone does not change anything; otherwise everybody would be rich, happy and healthy. Information on its own won’t suffice; it is what you do with the information that will help you achieve your goals.
There are different ways to keep learning, such as short-term training, on-the-job training, long-term training, reading, or sharing ideas with experienced people. Keep in mind that education is not a one-off experience, rather an ongoing process.
Successful entrepreneurs attach themselves with individuals who either know more than they do or understand things that are in a different field to what they know.
Most entrepreneurs are from the school of hard knocks. We learn through trial and error, from experiences that helped us develop the fortitude to face market-related challenges with unequivocal courage. It builds a spirit inside of us that we use to assure ourselves we will make it no matter what.
According to Brian Tracy, you need to be exposed to new information six times to absorb it at a subconscious level. Once there, you’ll use it automatically.
Mark Lamberti, Founder of Massmart and CEO of Imperial Holdings, has a library at his house. When you talk to Lamberti, he’ll tell you his dedication to learning has been an asset in growing three major African companies, Massmart, Transaction Capital and Imperial Holdings.
Lamberti is not alone. If you visit the wealthiest entrepreneurs in your country, it is likely that each one will have a library at their home. It’s the same with the wealthiest men in the world; Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have an enormous appetite to read.
So, here comes the billion-dollar question: did most wealthy entrepreneurs become successful then buy books, or did they buy books then become successful? I think we know the answer.
One thing I find fascinating about the top entrepreneurs is that they love reading biographies of other successful people, whether in business, sports, politics, or entertainment. Those stories are of great interest to them as long as the person succeeded in spite of the odds stacked against them.
Today, we have a plethora of seminars and conferences – it is useful for an entrepreneur to frequently attend sector-specific events to increase your knowledgebase about your field.
Formal education is often focused on theoretical concepts, instead of being task- or problem-solving orientated; business schools need to work around this. The best institutions invite business leaders to be guest lecturers, or take students on fieldtrips to the best companies that their modules and courses cover.
Continuous learning is key to giving your business an advantage over others. However, true success lies in applying what you have learnt faster than anyone else.

Entrepreneurs and The School Of Hard Knocks

Time and again, we read of celebrities who have made and lost huge fortunes. Behind the veil of celebrity, are ordinary people that make mistakes with money just like everyone else; however their mistakes can appear to be more pronounced, as they cannot be easily reversed. Here are some important celebrity money lessons for us all.
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<h4>Overspending</h4>
Celebrities are under enormous pressure to keep up appearances and often live a lifestyle far beyond their means. But spending excessively over a period of time without corresponding inflows can have dire consequences. Celebrity is almost synonymous with luxury; it is a lifestyle that is associated with visible success, not financial stability. Building wealth is not about how much you make, but how much you keep.
<h4>Poor investment choices</h4>
Seeking professional advice is always recommended, as advisors have a plethora of information with which to make informed decisions. However, not all financial advisors are honest or appreciate the fiduciary duty that comes with money management. Many celebrities delegate total responsibility to “advisors” who may end up mismanaging their money, defrauding them or making some poor investment choices. It is important to do thorough due diligence before engaging any professional.
If you pay little attention to your investments and do not understand what you are getting into, you become very vulnerable. Even though you might not have the time or expertise to manage your own finances, you ought to have a basic understanding of what you are investing in as well as the implications of doing so.
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<h4>Not paying taxes</h4>
Tax laws can be confusing and are constantly revised. Whether you are the ordinary worker or a celebrity, tax obligations cannot be ignored or they will come back to haunt you. Many celebrities have fallen foul of tax laws as they have not kept abreast of this important aspect of their financial lives. Remember that you are obliged to pay tax and if you fail to do so, the law will eventually catch up with you.
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<h4>Not having a prenuptial agreement</h4>
The pressures of celebrity, in the full glare of the media and the public, can put tremendous strain on relationships. If you bring substantial assets to a partnership, particularly where this might be a second or third marriage, it is worth considering a prenuptial agreement to protect assets before getting married. It may not be romantic, and it might not feel right to keep assets and properties separate, but it can save a couple from drawn out agony during a divorce.
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<h4>Not reviewing an estate plan</h4>
An estate plan should be updated to address any major life event, such as the birth of a child or grandchild, a marriage, or a divorce. If one fails to do this, beneficiaries that you planned to bequeath assets to might end up being left out of a will or trust.
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<h4>Not having adequate insurance</h4>
A serious illness or disability can obliterate one’s finances, especially if you have a career in sports or the entertainment industry. People tend to overlook the financial implications of a serious illness and ignore the need for insurance until a major mishap occurs; it is only then that the impact of inadequate insurance coverage or emergency savings is glaring. No matter how meticulous you are with your finances, failure to purchase adequate insurance can impair your financial future and put you in a desperate situation in an instant.
You may not be a celebrity but there are countless lessons to learn from their lifestyle. Plan for what could be an uncertain future by diversifying earning streams, investing and protecting the large sums of money earned today for tomorrow to avoid the road from riches to rags.
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For more personal finance tips, follow Money Matters With Nimi on Twitter: @MMWITHNIMI and Facebook: MoneyMattersWithNimi

Lessons To Learn From The Rich And Famous

It’s hard to find an article on Stedman Graham that doesn’t mention his media-mogul fiancé, of 22 years. The hype and media frenzy that surrounds the queen of talk, Oprah Winfrey, could mean he often lives in her shadow.
“The beautiful thing about it is that even though people in the outside world define me by that, that’s not how I define myself… The bottom line is you’ve got to be a pretty strong person to even be with a person who is able to self-actualize herself and who is a woman, you can’t be weak, you have to step up,” says Graham.
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Growing up in Whitesboro, New Jersey, Graham had yet to find the self-awareness that he is now blessed with. He grew up with two disabled brothers and a family with a low self-esteem which rubbed off on him.
“I was defined by my race, I was defined by my background and I was defined by my family, all of those things,” he says.
One of his first jobs was as a prison guard, for five years. He then worked in the recreation department and later the education department. But it was a trip to South Africa that changed his life.
In the mid-eighties, Graham took a job in South Africa where he delivered food and clothes to people in the townships on behalf of an aid organization.
“I was working with a gentleman [Bob Brown] and he educated Nelson Mandela’s children. He was a nominee for the ambassador of South Africa and I worked for him and traveled all around the world with him. He was also a special assistant to president [Richard] Nixon, so we had very close ties to the White House. We had a network of folks that we would do work for as a business consultant and South Africa was one of those places that we came to.”
Graham saw the suffering of the South African people and although he is black, he never bore the wrath of racists.
“…as a South African you experienced the racism, but if you were an American you were treated differently.”
Almost 20 years since his first visit to South Africa, Graham retuned in 2013, to speak at a Mega Partnering Event on maximizing one’s potential to achieve success, and was surprised at what he saw.
“I love the way that you’re transitioning and transforming the country. I love the diversity of South Africa and I think that’s the key word… The message [for the people of South Africa] should be: If you want to invest in South Africa, invest in yourself.”
As for Graham’s secret to success, it is all about making the most of the 24 hours you have each day.
“I know that success is when preparation meets opportunity. Now, South Africa has the opportunity, it’s about how you prepare the people for the opportunity. When you prepare the people for the opportunity you’re going to get a booming economy. Your country is only as good as the skills of its people, it’s only as good as the education of its people,” says Graham.
Although South Africa has made many strides, Graham says one of the country’s biggest challenges is the belief that it can succeed on its own. He says businesses need to make use of the resources and opportunities that international investors want to offer.
“It’s like Nelson Mandela said, ‘this is not about black empowerment, it’s not about white empowerment, it’s about people empowerment. When we get along, we realize that we’re all in this together and it’s about a world-wide economy and what we want to do is empower as many people as possible worldwide and educate them worldwide.’”
Beside every strong man is an even stronger woman; but beside every strong woman is a man who is secure in his identity.

‘You Can’t Be Weak You Have To Step Up’

They both live in Cape Town, but are poles apart. Wendy Ackerman is on everyone’s rich list; Rapelang Rabana wants to be, but for now is content with being on the FORBES ‘30 Under 30: Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs’ list.
Ackerman is polished, prim and proper; Rabana is young, spunky and bright. Both have struggled against what the business world thinks women should be. Between them, they weave a fascinating story of how women can become successful entrepreneurs.
Be warned, anyone who refers to Ackerman as the chairman’s wife. Legend has it that she once received a lunch invitation bearing the words “wife of Pick ‘n Pay mogul”. This did not go down well.
“This makes me cross. Don’t introduce me as the chairman’s wife. I have had to work very hard. I want to be recognized as a person in my own right,” she told Independent on Saturday.
Decades in business have made her a force to be reckoned with and a source of great knowledge, opinions and advice for up-and-coming entrepreneurs.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Ackerman attended convent schools during the Second World War. Despite being destined for the retail industry, she majored in history of art, English and psychology at the University of Cape Town (UCT). In her second year at university, she married future retail magnate Raymond Ackerman and moved to Johannesburg, where she lived for 12 years and completed her degree. Taking care of three children at home frustrated her.
In 1964, the year Nelson Mandela went to prison for life and amidst the biggest political crack down in the country’s history, Ackerman was part of the team that put on a Shakespeare festival in South Africa’s townships, with actors from the University of Cambridge. This led to Ackerman giving English lessons in the townships.
When it came to learning economics at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Ackerman dropped out because she didn’t understand the “airy fairy” subject. Outside the classroom, her husband became her teacher and she picked up her business knowledge through osmosis, when they attended business lectures. The couple went to the United States to study supermarketing and worked at supermarkets together—the business that was to make their fortune.
Ackerman says working with her husband has been good, as he’s an understanding person. Their biggest fights were about company policy. They fought over the building of a hypermarket in picturesque Constantia, Cape Town.
She walked into his office, wearing a pinstripe suit, to hand in her resignation letter. She would stay until the day the company broke ground in Constantia. Ackerman says many of the company executives tried to change her mind, warning her that it could be detrimental to her marriage. As far as she was concerned, this was all business and had nothing to do with her marriage. The hypermarket was not built—the pinstripe suit had won.
The journey that led to South African supermarket chain Pick ‘n Pay (PnP) began in 1966 when Checkers, still a grocery store at the time, fired Raymond Ackerman.
“I’ve always had enormous faith in my husband; I was delighted when he was fired,” says Ackerman, adding that he hadn’t been happy at work for a long time.
When the Ackermans moved back to Cape Town to establish PnP, Raymond would call her, whenever he was snowed under, to do anything from human resources to balancing the books and building homes for black managers. The housing project was one of the ways they took a stance against apartheid and says she was never worried she’d push too far.
“It never occurred to him that I might not be able to do something. So I did it. It didn’t occur to me to think that I couldn’t do it,” says Ackerman.
Equally ready for the fight is Rabana. Born in Botswana and called Africa’s Marissa Mayer—the CEO and president of Yahoo—Rabana is the co-founding CEO of Yeigo Communications. The daughter of an architect and electrical engineer, both of whom had moved out of corporate to start their own architectural firm, she spent her first eight to 10 years in Gaborone and left to board at Roedean School—a private school in Johannesburg.
Rabana wasn’t keen on university, but her strict African parents would have none of that. Unsure of what to study, she asked her brother to pick something for her, as long as it wasn’t accounting or actuarial science. She was so uninterested that she only realized she had been enrolled for a business and computer science degree, when she attended the first lecture at UCT. Her brother defended his choice by saying that she needed a challenge.
In an interview last year with Ventures Africa, Rabana said: “Most of us will be familiar with the Chinese proverb about teaching a man to fish as opposed to giving him a fish. My proposition is: teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime. Expose a man to the internet and he will change his life.”
It led to a Bachelor of Business Science in computer science and finance. Rabana was faced with the question that plagues most graduates: “What now?”
She was tired of starting at the bottom of the food chain. Entrepreneurship was a way for her to make her own way.  Her parents took some convincing—they felt that going into an established company was the way.
Rabana and two of her classmates wanted a solution to the high cost of communication. They spent months prototyping and by September 2006 had a working demo. Lungisa Matshoba was chief technology officer, while Andrew Snowden was head of engineering. The pair ran the development side of the business, while Rabana focused on financing and a business plan. She gave up on banks and went looking for mentors and connections.
“Everything we were doing was cutting edge,” says Rabana.
Yeigo launched in February 2007, promising Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which had just been made available in South Africa. Two other foreign companies released the same program at around the same time. As far as Rabana is concerned, people need to conquer the fear of someone stealing their ideas to become the next Mark Zuckerberg.
The partnership with Tellfree began with the Swiss company licensing software from Yeigo. Tellfree bought a majority stake in 2008 and provided the young start-up with the infrastructure it needed. In return, Rabana become Tellfree’s global head of research. Prior to this there was a multi-million-dollar investment deal with American company, Quality One Wireless, a mobile handset distribution firm. It fell through after the preliminary agreement.
Rabana says that things were very bad for a long time and that the industry still has a long way to go. The problem seems to be a risk culture that scares most from venturing out on their own in a country where joining a corporate is considered safe. There is also a shortage of accessible networks, and a lack of financing from traditional institutions that think this business is too risky.
It seems that more can be done on this front. Rabana has joined the advisory board for Grindstone Accelerator to assist high-growth technology SMEs. She says that South Africa has lost its competitive edge on the continent, in communications and technology, because of delayed responses to regulatory issues. She cites Kenya’s success as the result of having technology and communications ministers that are in tune with the industry.
Take Israel. In 1993, venture capitalism was kick started by the launch of a prototype government-owned fund called Yozma. In three years, 10 drop-down funds were established and each given $20 million. The country now has 70 venture capital funds, raising around $607 million last year.
Rabana doesn’t feel that she lived under a glass ceiling as she skirted the corporate world. Both hope that women in business will soon find their rightful place. Ackerman has traveled the longest road as her parents didn’t even want her to work.
“They didn’t understand the hunger in me to work,” says Ackerman.
Ackerman once asked her female staff members if they wanted careers or jobs—around 80% said that they wanted a job. She believes that this is because of the many responsibilities these women have at home.
For years, Ackerman didn’t draw a salary, but has always considered her financial independence extremely important.
As for her role in the company, Ackerman says she does the jobs that no one else wants. She recalls how she once went away and handed over some of her work to her daughter, Suzanne Ackerman-Berman. When she got back Ackerman-Berman walked into her office, threw the files on the table and said: “You have a shit job.”
If Ackerman were 20 years younger, she would do it all again and doesn’t believe that it’s easier to start a business today than it was for PnP in the 1960s.
“You’ve got to eat, sleep and drink it 24/7,” she warns.
According to the rising star, Rabana, having a bright idea is not good enough because success is more about execution than anything else.
“Entrepreneurship is a much more personal journey than it is a business journey,” says Rabana.
“Entitlement is a disease in South Africa. I say nobody is entitled to anything. I’m afraid there are no short cuts, you’ve just jolly well got to work—that’s all there is to it,” says Ackerman.
Ackerman says BEE—South Africa’s affirmative action policy—is rubbish and that she didn’t have a glass ceiling to break through, but a glass box, as she even had to fight her husband. She wanted recognition in the company for what she had offered and not just to be the chairman’s wife. It took her 15 years to become a director at PnP.
Although Rabana feels that policies such as BEE have a role in achieving some balance, she too has a problem with entitlement.
“The culture of entitlement fostered by policies like BEE has also undermined the drive of young black professionals and this will cost South Africa dearly,” according to Rabana.
Then there is discrimination. Both women agree that double standards exist. They say, in business, if a man is being kind and gentle he’s complimented, but if a woman does it she’s just being a typical woman.
A born teacher, Ackerman saw the lack in her country’s schools. In 1973, she set up the Ackerman Family Education Trust with the 2% of PnP shares her husband gave her. The trust gives bursaries, worth $353,000 a year, to deserving individuals and has more than 800 graduates.
“I’m not a name at the bottom of a check,” she says.
One of the recipients is Isaac Motaung, the company’s human resources director, who started at PnP as a trolley pusher. He received a bursary to study through the University of South Africa.
Rabana is the chairperson of Ubuntu Africa, a children’s HIV/Aids NGO that provides healthcare and support services to HIV positive youth in Khayelitsha, a township in the Western Cape.
Ackerman, who was recognized as one of 60 women on the 2013 Women, Inspiration and Enterprise Network ‘Africa Power Influencer’ list, once said that retirement was not in her and her husband’s DNA. She still feels that way.
At the other end of the life scale, seven years after the start of Yeigo, Rabana is just beginning.
“Our hearts remain in start-up mode… I don’t imagine I’m anywhere near my peak,” she says.
Rabana sees herself starting a number of businesses in different industries, but still linked to technology. Her latest ventures are a web and mobile entertainment platform for the American market and a local technology-driven education company called Rekindle Learning. The start-up provides a mobile learning application aimed at schools and corporates. The KnowledgePulse uses micro-learning to make the content easier to retain.
With a number of achievements under their belts these women prove that making it in business has nothing to do with your background, generation or environment in 21st century Africa. It’s all about knowing what you want and getting it.

Tag: success