African Farming presenter Tony Ndoro discusses good farm management principles with Praveen Dwarika, MD of AFGRI’s Lemang Agricultural Services, Ratselane Marumo from Afrivet Business Management and Lize-Marie de Klerk, who is the Livestock Marketing Agent at Vleissentraal.
This week on African Farming host Tony Ndoro meets Gopolang Tladinyane, who owns a mixed farming operation and our panel experts are back in the studio to chat about succession planning.
What inspired you to start your company?
My company is the result of my master’s thesis with the theme: “creating business through the processing of banana flour” which was inspired by the desire to find ways to extend the lifespan of bananas, which in my country, lead to large amounts of bananas rotting.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Banana flour as a high nutritional value is 100% natural, has no gluten, lactose, or sugar, which makes it better for those who are intolerant. It is also a good source of energy, vitamins, iron, and minerals that helps to increase immunity. Banana flour is easy to use and is a multi-use product, making it the best choice for school snacks. It provides a long satiation time which helps to reduce the drop-out rate of children at primary school in underserved areas.
Tell us a little about your team
My team is young and I am the oldest person in the group. The first team I had, it was my children who embraced the idea, and who wore the shirt as founders.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
The beginning of the business was unprecedented as many did not believe that banana flour could be a reality. Many people discouraged me, called me crazy because they thought banana powder was something no one would ever buy. It was an act of courage. Lending from banks is also another challenge.
What inspired you to start your company?
Growing up, I had a first-hand experience of the many challenges an aspiring young woman would have to face. I started writing about some of them, but just as a hobby. Years down the line, I discovered that there were many young women on common grounds. Most of them kept their challenges locked up to themselves but could gain expression whenever they read my works. Through series of conversations and interviews with young women, I became motivated to go further. I began to think of ways to reach a larger audience; a medium through which anyone irrespective of the distance or location can actually see what I do and gain bigger insights. Women are naturally inquisitive and love to know what’s happening around them and this is what we’re about.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Even though we focus on women, men also enjoy reading articles from across our feeds. Asides from our high editorial policy, we are also adaptors to an evolving world, maintaining a sophisticated and revolutionary approach to our works. We make sure that our audience get all shades of content, we make you laugh, reminisce, get sensational, excited, nostalgic and positive.
Tell us a little about your team
We are a women team that care deeply about our readers and gives our all in what we do. We believe in accuracy and not just content, but valuable resources. Adhering to strict editorial policies, we represent women, all out to build lives and better society.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I’m from a family of entrepreneurs and grew up learning how to be self-sufficient, hardworking, and resilient. However, I didn’t picture myself as an entrepreneur years back because I wanted to escape from the many challenges I saw my parents face. My entrepreneurial journey has been challenging, amazing and life-changing all at the same time. One of my core values has always been putting the people at the heart of every story and learning how to do this further shaped my passion, strategy, and delivery. As a young Nigerian female entrepreneur raised in a home of entrepreneurs, I’ve trained myself to be multifaceted, valuing different perspectives and committing to the truth.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
Elowell Max’s biggest goal is to become the number one destination for African women round the world irrespective of status or class. We want to become a household name, a force as well the champion of women’s publications. While we’re looking at building a larger audience, we’re extremely concerned with becoming a strong reflection and a clear mirror of African women through our articles as well as our visual works. We want our space to become a ground of solutions, hope, inspiration, motivation, and value.
Book Review
How do you take an idea, dream or goal and transform that into a strategy for success in a purpose driven organization? How can you align your purpose and passion to help you do well and do good in your profession? Authors Barbara Kurshan and Kathleen Hurley, both experienced and highly regarded business and education leaders, wanted to know how today’s top female leaders might answer these questions. So, they asked. The result is InnovateHERs: Why Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurial Women Rise to the Top. Through personal interviews with 30 of today’s top women leading purpose-driven organizations, ranging from those in startups and nonprofits to those in large companies across the globe, Barbara and Kathleen have created a unique, insider’s view of what it takes to be a successful female leader in today’s competitive world. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, corporate leader, or new to business, learning how to leverage your personal entrepreneurial traits and skills is key to accelerating your purpose-driven professional journey. Learn how these accomplished, purposed-driven, entrepreneurial women blazed new trails and rose to the top of their professions. Discover how to think bigger, lead stronger, and embrace your unique passions, traits, and skills. They are InnovateHERs, and they’ll show you how to be one, too.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, corporate leader, or new to business, learning how to leverage your personal entrepreneurial traits and skills is key to accelerating your purpose-driven professional journey.
Learn how these accomplished, purposed-driven, entrepreneurial women blazed new trails and rose to the top of their professions.
Discover how to think bigger, lead stronger, and embrace your unique passions, traits, and skills. They are InnovateHERs, and they’ll show you how to be one, too.
Barbara Kurshan
Dr. Barbara “Bobbi” Kurshan, is the President of Educorp Consultants Corporation and Senior Innovation Advisor, Graduate School of Education, Education Entrepreneurship, University of Pennsylvania, and a former education industry entrepreneur. Dr. Kurshan has more than 40 years’ experience in education as a researcher, entrepreneur, developer, investor, and company executive. She developed the first children’s software products for Microsoft, as well as award winning products for McGraw-Hill, Apple, CCC (Pearson), and others. She is the author of several books, including Internet for Kids (Sybex); Exploring Creative Writer and Exploring Fine Artist (Addison-Wesley Longman); Understanding Computers Through Applications (Glencoe); Activities for Kids and Kids at Heart (Reston). She has received numerous awards and recognitions including the WISE Prize, the King Bahrain UNESCO Prize, 2019 Most Influential Corporate Board Directors, 100 Edtech Influencers, and Laureate Tech Awards – Technology Benefiting Humanity.
Kathy Hurley
Kathy Hurley is a former senior executive for numerous educational publishing and technology companies, including IBM and Pearson. After retiring from Pearson, she was selected as a Fellow of the Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) at Harvard University and co-founded a global nonprofit organization, Girls Thinking Global. In 2004, Hurley was inducted into the Association of Educational Publishers’ Hall of Fame and in 2019, she received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in Education Technology from the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA). Currently, Hurley is a senior advisor to several educational technology companies, education associations, and school superintendent networks. She is also the co-editor, with Priscilla Shumway, of Real Women, Real Leaders: Surviving and Succeeding in the Business World (Wiley).
Lioness Weekender spoke to founder Michele Carelse about her entrepreneurial journey, her passion for natural and organic holistic health, and her ambitions for the future.
What does your company do?
Feelgood Health is an online health store that makes it easy to shop for health and wellness products and have them conveniently delivered to your door. We stock thousands of natural and organic holistic health and lifestyle products, including natural remedies, health foods, essential oils, gifts, supplements, beauty and pamper products and much more! At Feelgood Health, you can shop online for all your natural and holistic health needs and find products for adults, children, babies and even the family pet! www.feelgoodhealth.co.za. We also have a wholesale division, Natural Wholesalers, which was founded in 2000. By distributing our products to health shops, pharmacies, vet shops, gift shops and chain stores, we make natural and organic products even more accessible to our customers! www.naturalwholesalers.com
What inspired you to start your company?
I have always been drawn to natural products and am very committed to making a difference in the way we shop and consume products, as this is the only way to protect our own health and that of the environment. As a consumer, I read all the labels and research products as much as possible and I know it is not easy to find plant based, cruelty free and healthy products, whether these are natural remedies, health foods or beauty products. I wanted to make it easier for people to make the right choices for themselves and for the planet!
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Every single product sold by Feelgood Health is 100% natural – no exceptions! More than 90% are plant based. We also believe in making ethical and healthy shopping easy, so we do all the research for you and then make it easy to place online orders that can be conveniently delivered to your door! We also believe in providing support and help where needed and have a dedicated helpline with trained staff that can recommend products for all your needs. You can access our support team via the website, via WhatsApp, phone, or email. We believe in building relationships, not just selling products!
Tell us a little about your team
We have a dedicated, hardworking, and all-women team! Our warehouse and dispatch team make sure that your products are shipped to reach you as quickly as possible, while our wholesale sales team operates all over South Africa to distribute our range of products to retail outlets. We also believe in giving you’re the knowledge and power to make your own health decisions and therefore have a strong and skilled team running our support, social media, blogs, and newsletters to make sure we keep in touch with our customers and are there for them when they need us!
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I do not really come from an entrepreneurial background but have always been a creative and ambitious person with more ideas and dreams than I knew what to do with! As an entrepreneur, I have the opportunity not only to give my creativity space, but also to provide jobs and growth opportunities for my employees and to contribute to growing our economy, something which is much needed in South Africa. In a world where men often dominate the business space, I find that running my own company and being able to provide a space for others to grow is very satisfying. While I did not set out to grow a big company, I find that the more effort and creativity I put into it, the more Feelgood Health and Natural Wholesalers grow and that is very rewarding!
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
We are on a steep growth curve and were very fortunate to receive venture capital funding in 2021 from Enygma Ventures, who have also been fantastic in providing support and in partnering with Feelgood Health to reach greater and greater heights. Apart from continuing to grow our footprint in South Africa, we would also like to expand into Africa and the USA in the near future.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
I love the feeling that I am making a difference in changing the way people shop. The best feeling is hearing from customers whose lives have been positively impacted by using our products. We love it when customers buy a product from us for one member of their family or for themselves and then come back again and again for more products for their babies, children, other family members and even their pets! We often feel like part of their family and that is great! I also love seeing my staff members grow and gain confidence in themselves!
What’s the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Even if you start small, make a start! You are more capable and powerful than you realise and it is only by putting yourself out there that you will come to really understand this. It takes tremendous courage, persistence, strength, and resilience to succeed as an entrepreneur, but women have all those qualities and then some! Believe in yourself, make, and learn from mistakes and always keep your eyes on your dreams.
To find out more, email michele.carelse@feelgoodhealth.co.za or visit the Feelgood Health website and social media platforms:
by Anja van Beek
Reframe and look at “failure” in a different light
This requires us to look for the lesson in any interaction. Instead of saying “I have failed” you say, “I’m not there yet, and I have learned this lesson in this process”. Acknowledge what you have achieved even if it is just saying “I’m still working toward achieving this”. To build a growth mindset we need to be agile. This implies we need to be nimble and fluid in the challenges we face. We adapt to change by experimenting and seeing what is working and what needs tweaking. It is a continuous cycle of trying something, assessing the impact, and adjusting where needed and repeating.
As women, we can be unnecessarily cruel with ourselves. We often are lenient with other people, yet, we expect “to be perfect” ourselves. This can be a big blind spot, putting needless pressure on ourselves. This awareness is vital when building new capabilities… a good starting point is to have grace and kindness towards yourself and not from a place of judgement and “I need to be better”. Focus on your strengths and build on them instead of focusing on weaknesses. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we should ignore our weaknesses; I want to emphasize that we get a better yield when we build on our natural talents.
How well do you know yourself?
It can be helpful to complete an assessment to understand yourself better and why you react in certain ways; there are many options available. A simple exercise is to track what daily activities you love — those where you get lost in time are a good indication of your natural talents. Having a thinking partner, either a sister, good friend or coach, can support you with this journey. If we want to grow, we need to have an end goal in mind. Be specific on what you want to achieve, by when are you planning to achieve this and how are you going to measure success? Consider what is the first step and remain in action. When building new habits, a tip is to allow yourself “it is fine to skip a day”. It is also good to use the days that didn’t go so well as data points and insights of what needs adjustment.
Dream big of who you want to be, what you want to achieve and then have the drive and discipline to make this a reality. Baby steps and you will be amazed what you can achieve. We are what we repeatedly do.
by Jenny Reid
In KZN a 29-year-old man is soon to appear in court for forging his matric certificate to enter university. It was alleged that the individual forged his matric certificate and altered the pass marks to gain admission to the university. Some could say that this is desperation, whilst others could say it merely shows someone with criminal intent.
A top police officer, who fooled the South African Police Service management into believing she was highly qualified has disappeared with a state-owned vehicle. She has apparently been absent without leave since the SAPS’ human resource division requested the original copies of her qualifications. It is alleged that during her interview process, the officer claimed that she was a DJ, that she possessed a doctorate and had been a university professor before being appointed as head of the SA Police Service’s technology management services. The officer said she had been the first person in the world to graduate with a degree in data analytics, as well as having been the first to obtain a PhD in information systems science.
Whilst we are seeing more and more qualification fraud being discussed, CareerJunction has said that the way it hires candidates has gone through many changes over time and one of them is the emphasis placed on soft skills. Soft skills refer to the experience that candidates have gained through years of working in their industry or learned behaviour, as opposed to skills learned through study. The emphasis has shifted from focusing only on a candidate’s degree and years of service to whether they would be a good culture fit and what kind of attitude they would bring to the company, CareerJunction said.
Sonya Skipp of iFacts was approached for comment on the situation and she said that she was amazed at how individuals continue to submit fraudulent qualifications when claiming to hold a tertiary qualification that they do not have, which can come with a jail term of up to five years in South Africa – even if you don’t lie on a CV to get a job. In theory, just bragging that you have a doctorate or other qualification on the likes of LinkedIn, or in a Twitter bio, can be enough to get you in deep criminal trouble.
The National Qualifications Framework Amendment Act came into force in 2019 after a long and difficult journey through Parliament, for the first time creating offences specific to bogus education institutions – and people who claim qualifications they do not have. The law broadly holds it a criminal offence if anyone “falsely or fraudulently claims to be holding a qualification or part-qualification registered on the NQF or awarded by an education institution, skills development provider, QC or obtained from a lawfully recognised foreign institution.
Skipp says that companies should not throw qualifications and years of experience to the side but they should consider updating their employee screening process to include assessments that allow the company to consider soft skills which will assist the employer to find the candidate that is the right fit for the organisation in terms of qualification and culture fit. A range of soft skills assessments includes integrity assessments, behavioural and cultural assessments. She adds that a social media risk assessment can also provide insight into the behaviour of a candidate.
by Elsa Figueiredo Tchikanha
We are all currently living hard times with no end in sight any time soon, and as a result we are all forced to stick to our resilient nature more than ever. When it comes to women and resilience, the zungueiras and women in the corporate world always come to mind. The zungueiras, for instance, are street vendors who sell a variety of products walking from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, shouting out what it is that they are selling in a very creative and cheerful manner, under the African sun, most carrying their babies on their backs, secured by a cloth, whilst carrying another in their arms and sometimes in their bellies as well.
Zungueiras work an average of five days a week under the above-mentioned conditions, whilst trying to evade inspectors who sometimes confiscate or simply destroy their products, thus significantly reducing their family´s income and, or, leaving a family without their single meal of the day. In the corporate world, I watch every day how women conquer their space, achieving positions of leadership and inspiring other women to do more and better because they (we) are capable, they (we) are resilient.
Although their combat front is completely different, and many come from different backgrounds, women in the corporate world and zungueiras have a lot in common. A significant number, if not most of these women are either single mothers or sole providers, who wake up every day, ensure their children are well taken care of, wear their combat gear and leave their homes for another day of work. And when employment hits the home of corporate women, an entrepreneurship is the next step, because not having an income is simply not an option.
by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
This week we begin with a quote from one of these greats. Not because we were wrong last week, not because our mailbox was full of letters complaining of our treatment of Steve, Bill and Elon (it wasn’t as most recognised, we were very complimentary, simply asking Business Schools to measure ‘success’ in a different way to ensure benchmarks used by investors are recalibrated), but really because we are large fans of these leaders. Importantly though we recognize that we have to take what they do in balance. Put it another way, the adrenaline that flows through Elon’s veins alone on a dull Monday morning would be far too much for us mere mortals to handle and would probably kill us. So we have to be very careful indeed with what we pick and chose from their visions, musings and actions. Cherry pick the most useful. Please!
One example in point is from the management guru Jack Welch, who Fortune magazine called the “manager of the century”. Jack was one we also mentioned last week (and investment committees love). He started from very humble beginnings and worked his way up to the very top of General Electric with his own style of direct leadership. Note ’direct’ – it’s not for nothing that he puts ‘Candor’ at the top of his ‘must have’ lists for companies, saying that it doesn’t matter if someone gets upset, what is important is that everything is put out on the table so that time is not wasted dancing around people’s feelings (er…nice!).
He is also passionate about his 20:70:10 rule for his employees. The 20:70:10 rule simply states that the top 20% of employee’s must be treated like the Olympic Winning Athletes (‘OWAs’) that they are. Pampered, allowed free rein and given huge bonuses. The next 70% are those you have to encourage, show the exciting future, spend time with, allow to grow – whilst they look lovingly at the 20% OWAs and think “One day I shall be there.”
The 10% balance at the bottom? …Oh, sack ‘em.
See what we mean? Cherry pick!
We are being a little unfair as he does bring some very good pros and cons to the table as well – but still, put on those oven gloves and safety glasses… His brilliant book ‘Winning’ (here) gives you a big hint in the title as to what to expect and win he certainly did taking GE’s market capitalization from around US$14 billion, to more than US$410 billion in a mere two decades! Yes, you read that right.
So on our Cherry picking mission, we see as a bright red Cherry his view on Mission Statements. He says:
“Effective mission statements balance the possible and the impossible. They give people a clear sense of the direction to profitability and the inspiration to feel they are part of something big and important.”
Have we ever really thought of our Mission Statement? It’s something that many of us doodled on the back of an envelope many years ago and it seemed ok, so we left it like that.
It is far more important.
In his hard hitting book ‘The Hard Thing about Hard Things’ (here) the founder of the huge tech PE Fund ‘a16z’, Ben Horowitz states:
“Being a good company doesn’t matter when things go well, but it can be the difference between life and death when things go wrong.
When things go well, the reasons to stay at a company are many:
Your career path is wide open because as the company grows lots of interesting jobs naturally open up.
Your friends and family think you are a genius for choosing to work at the “it” company before anyone else knew it was “it.”
Your résumé gets stronger by working at a blue-chip company in its heyday.
Oh, and you are getting rich.
When things go poorly, all those reasons become reasons to leave. In fact, the only thing that keeps an employee at a company when things go horribly wrong – other than needing a job – is that she likes her job.“
How do we create the opportunity for our employees to become more invested in our dream, to truly believe they are working for a great company, to deeply ‘like their job’?
This starts with your Mission.
In his fabulous TED talk ‘How great leaders inspire action’ (here), based on his book (here), Simon Sinek shows us how to inspire through our view of our company and why you do what you do is so important and how this can be transformed into your Mission Statement which then becomes something that everyone can understand, believe in and follow.
Simon talks about his golden circle.
He says that all companies know ‘What’ they do, many know ‘How’ they do it but far fewer know ‘Why’ they do it, yet for truly great companies the ‘Why’ is by far the most powerful. This is “Your purpose, your cause, your belief. Why does your organisation exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning and why should anyone care?”
He says that we all automatically work from the outside in, so start with the ‘What do we do?’, then ‘How’, to the most unsure – ‘Why’.
However truly great companies work the other way such as Steve Job’s Apple:
“If Apple was like everyone else:
What: ‘We make great computers’
How: ‘They are beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly’
Why: ‘Want to buy one?’”
Yawn…
What Apple and other great companies do is start with the WHY and everything flows from there:
“Why: ‘Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently’
How: ‘The way we challenge the status quote is making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly’
What: ‘We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?’”
As you can see, we are already sub-consciously reaching for our cash… WE BELIEVE.
This ‘Why’ is the basis of the truly great mission statement.
As Jack Welch says a mission statement should always show:
The plan to win in this business.
This is because people buy the Why, not the What.
Steve Jobs’ mission statement for Apple in 1980 was:
“To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind.”
YOWZA!
With Steve gone their mission statement changed:
“Apple strives to bring the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals, and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software, and internet offerings.”
Admit it – who yawned?!?
This sadly is too much ‘What’ and not nearly enough ‘Why’ and sounds like they employed a team of outside consultants for this!
Next week we shall continue our deep dive into the minds of Jack, Steve, Elon (if we can drag him away from his Twitter…) and others as we lay down a path to the perfect Mission Statement that will get your employees jumping out of bed in the morning and most importantly, the Values that drive everything towards this end goal of global domination… (ok, time to put Jack’s book down…)!
Stay safe.