Interbreed judge and livestock consultant, Jan de Jong from Vleissentraal chats cattle breeds. He discusses how many breeds there are in South Africa and explains what the main objective of cattle farming is.
Tell us a little about your team
We rely on a team of 4 people – who are responsible to make this journey possible. Firstly, a driver who is responsible for delivering our products safely and on time. Secondly, a support baker who is responsible for ensuring that everything works in my absence or when we are overloaded with orders. Thirdly, a social media manager who takes care of our online presence, where a considerable number of our clients are found. And fourthly, myself – I do a bit of everything, from baking, deliveries, and digital management.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
The background I always had is my mother, a strong and independent woman who always fought for her family using this gift. Her entrepreneurial spirit taught me to pursue my dreams and think outside the box. I started baking for close friends and they turned out easily to be my very first customers, some of whom really helped me by sharing my work in different ways and growing my business chain.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
My aspiration is to open an atelier, where I can sell my cakes, showcase all my work, and empower other women providing them with courses to learn and also start their companies in the bakery industry, to achieve their financial freedom.
The aim of the market research was to understand the online experience in the Deaf community; and explore their frustrations, barriers, opinions, and suggestions to improve. The data collected will be used to identify gaps in the digital market for content creators and brands; provide solutions in making online information more inclusive and accessible; while encouraging collaboration and innovation.
We conducted our online research between the 24th – 30th May 2021. The 60 respondents ranged from identifying themselves as culturally Deaf to being Hard-of-Hearing; and majority resided in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and KZN. From the pool of 60 participants, 7 individuals were selected for in-depth video recorded interviews. These interviews were aimed at further engaging their responses from the survey and better understanding their personal online experiences. Topical themes were as follows:
1. Background Information
53.3% of our respondents were male, 46.7% being female.
Age groups ranged from (16-25 years) 10%, (36 -45 years) 31.7%, and (26-35 years) 53.3%.
2. Online Platforms
95% of our respondents use WhatsApp; followed by Facebook 71.7%; and Instagram 56%.
Regarding internet connection, 58.3% use data to go online; followed by 35% having Wi-Fi connection at home; and only 6.7% using public WIFI connections.
The content people enjoy online watching include entertainment 65%; followed by sports 43.3%; and educational programs came in at 41.7%.
3. What is a podcast?
Respondents were given an opportunity to provide short answers for this question. Majority did not know what a podcast is, while others came close – answers included: ‘Online information via voice’ ‘An episodic series of spoken word’ ‘Interviews and discussions online’ ‘Podcasts should be available in video chat’.
4. Barriers to online information
Expensive data costs came in at 58.3%; poor network connection was a barrier for 50% of participants; and lastly load shedding affected 38.3% when using the internet.
Furthermore, having no interpreter for online content 78.3%; no subtitles 63.3%; and people speaking too fast 33.3% caused a challenge for users online.
5. Interpreters
Some suggestions were given on how interpreters could improve their skills online: 61.7% said SASL structure needed to improve and 58.3% said socialising in the Deaf community could help interpreters get better.
6. Pandemic
Lastly, the biggest challenge during the pandemic for most respondents was wearing a face mask – as this hid important speech and facial expression needed to convey meaning during communication. While 40% suffered unemployment during these uncertain times.
Lioness Weekender found out more about Amina’s truly inspirational journey as a social entrepreneur and powerful voice for inclusion for people living with disabilities in her country.
What does your company do?
The AMH Group implements long-lasting projects with very high added value in education and health. There are three structures; the ” Noor Hospital Centre” in Bouskoura, which is the first rehabilitation centre for disabled people in Morocco and inaugurated in 2001 by His Majesty King Mohamed VI; the “Noor Hospital Centre” in Khouribga opened in 2018; and the Tahar Sebti Institution, a school founded in 1956 by a remarkable woman Ms. Zhor Sebti. The AMH group employs 250 people involved in supporting vulnerable people.
What inspired you to start your company?
In August 1992, I had a bike accident while on vacation with my husband in Costa Rica, and I became paraplegic. After six months of physical rehabilitation abroad in the US and in France, I joined the non-profit association, the “Amicale Marocaine des Handicapés” (literally meaning Moroccan Association of the Disabled People), in 1993 to remedy the lack of care of people with physical disabilities in Morocco. I then committed myself to improve better conditions for disabled people, fighting against prejudice, and overcoming the barriers erected by society.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
The “Amicale Marocaine des Handicapés” was back then in 1992, the only Moroccan NGO created by and for people with disabilities. And since 1993, we have evolved into an innovative business model to become the first social entrepreneurship group in Morocco. As President of the AMH Group since 2011, I put forward a simple mission: “Increase the social inclusion of vulnerable people and those living with disability through high social impact products and services”.
Tell us a little about your team
The teams of the AMH Group are the result of diverse expertise: medical staff, administrative and financial management, social workers, trainers, specialized technicians. Loyal collaborators carry the heart of our commitment; some have joined the AMH since its creation in 1992. I am proud to be able to count on my teams and their sense of responsibility. Together we contribute to the expansion of our actions and make them sustainable.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
After getting a Master of Law and pursuing political science studies, I met “an exceptional man, the CEO of a Bank, “a banker and … a poet” Mr. Abdelaziz Alami, who offered me a position at the Commercial Bank of Morocco (BCM). I learned a lot from him. Then I created “Imago,” an advertising company where I implemented skills that proved helpful after my accident. The need to put meaning into my actions becomes obvious. This is why I gradually abandoned my professional activities to fully engage in the associative sector.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
The AMH Group is delighted with the upcoming opening of the first geriatric hospital in Morocco. This structure is also a forerunner in the care of the vulnerable elderly as we were 30 years ago with disabled people. We will share our expertise deployed at the Noor Hospital Center in Bouskoura with this new senior facility.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
I’m convinced that my country lies on extraordinary human potential, deeply rooted in tolerance and open-mindedness. Moroccans underestimate the country’s ability to uphold entrepreneurs, even though they are perfectly aware of the initiatives that must be taken to respond to social expectations. The most satisfying part of being an entrepreneur is seeing the tangible impact of our mission to contribute to a more inclusive society and improve living conditions for vulnerable and marginalized populations.
What’s the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Ever since, I’ve opted for movement, ambition, and innovation. Being a woman entrepreneur has never been a subject, undoubtedly thanks to my education and the encounters in the professional field, with both CEOs and collaborators, well-intentioned and sensitized to gender equality.
We are strengthened by the challenges we go through in life. The key is to keep going. To remain aligned with our values to carry out our mission.
The difficulties one encounters in entrepreneurship are an integral part of the journey. Everything starts to help you achieve it if you are determined. Never give up!
Find out more about AMH Group
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | EMAIL aminetta@me.com
Book Review
In The Expecting Entrepreneur, parental leave consultant Arianna Taboada provides a step-by-step blueprint for expecting business owners to plan parental leave while ensuring that their small business runs smoothly and successfully in their absence. Full of easy-to-implement strategies and diverse case studies of women entrepreneurs during pregnancy and motherhood, this is your guide to confidently prioritizing your health and your baby with a leave that fits your business model.
You’ll discover:
A foundation of five principles for planning your ideal leave.
Scientific evidence on the importance of parental leave for you, your baby, and your business.
How to update operations and client communications to keep day-to-day tasks moving forward.
Financial options to fund your time off when paid family leave isn’t possible.
Strategies to ease the transition of returning to your business postpartum.
In the absence of a company policy, you have the power to design your parental leave, your way! The Expecting Entrepreneur to prepare yourself and your business for your promotion to parenthood.
Whether you call yourself an entrepreneur, freelancer, contractor, solopreneur, or biz owner, we are all facing a major problem: planning your maternity leave (and a smooth transition back to work) can be messy and confusing when YOU are the boss.
We both know what it takes to be the boss in moving your business forward. Making strides towards your goals requires shifts, pivots, expert consultation, and delegation galore. And while a newborn is not *exactly* like launching a new service of product, you can apply many of the lessons learned from business to preparing for motherhood.
Consider this your official welcome to the world where business and babies collide.
Your transition into motherhood deserves the type of strategy and customized support you would build into any business transition.
Arianna Taboada, MSW, MSPH, is the founder of The Expecting Entrepreneur™, a consulting firm that helps entrepreneurs design parental leave plans that meet their business model and personal needs. Her highly personalized services for entrepreneurs incorporate both her expertise as a maternal health professional and her own experience as a business owner and mother. Prior to her consulting practice, Arianna worked on maternal health issues for over a decade as a health educator, a social work trainee, a reproductive health researcher, and a yoga therapist.Arianna speaks and writes about parental leave and respectful maternity care as an issue of social justice, human rights, and economic equity. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the International Journal of Health Equity, Advances in Social Work, and Ethnicity & Health. She is a coauthor of Degrees of Difference: Reflections of Women of Color on Graduate School, published by The University of Illinois Press in 2020.Arianna completed two traineeships with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the US federal government’s Health Services and Resources Administration-one at the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities and another at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned her Master of Social Work and a Master of Science in Maternal and Child Health. She is also an in-house senior researcher at Hopelab, a social innovation lab focused on developing health and emotional well-being interventions for adolescents and young adults, including those who are pregnant or parenting. Arianna is bilingual, binational, and bicultural, and has spent much of her life working across the US and Mexico. She currently lives, works, and plays with her family in Berkeley, CA.
by Lionesses of Africa Operations Department
Surely a battle cry from all Lionesses as we are not looking for charity, we are not looking to become someone different, not looking to be squeezed into a different shaped box, we just want a removal of the invisible obstacles and barriers that keep us intentionally or unintentionally down.
We were reminded of all the barriers mentioned by Sázia when we read a post on LinkedIn from one of our Lionesses, Eugénia Langa, founder and CEO of Nweba, Lda in Mozambique. Winner of the 2019 Outstanding Award of Mozambican Oil & Gas sector 2018, the Leadership in Quality Award, and the first Mozambican Company dedicated to Procurement and Logistics for Civil Construction with a team Certified as International Procurement Professionals (CIPP), she clearly knows her stuff.
“I recently participated in a tender for an individual consultant for an organization in one of the provinces in Mozambique. It was related to my area of work and when I read the terms of reference I thought that with my 12 years of experience and the requirements requested, I had a good chance.
I was very excited to participate because It was related to my work passion, my area of experience, in my country, in a sector that I know.
I submitted my expression of interest and to my delight I was called for an interview.
70% of my interview was related to my age, physiognomy and gender. And they explained to me what they expected of the Eugenia Langa, with whom they spoke on the phone when they invited me for the interview:
20% was to explain to me the difficulties I would have to perform the work and that it would often be necessary to travel and work out of hours, and that being young, not sure if I had children or not, few husbands would accept such an absence and that I would have to be sure what to expect.
10% was to explain more about the job and what was expected of me.
90% of my approach was to explain my career path, my qualifications, the projects and the level of complexity that I participated.
10% I explained that I had 12 years of experience, 34 years old, married to someone who already knew the challenges of the nature of my work and that he was my main support whenever I had to work or travel. That I was a mother and I was very proud to be a woman.
Fortunately I reached the short list of candidates (top 3) but they chose to select a man and a foreigner. My first reaction was that I wasn’t selected because of my gender, 2nd because of my nationality (despite being a job in Mozambique).
Later, forgetting the psychological aggression that was my interview, I thought of other probable reasons for not being selected:
Top 3 is good but not good enough.
There is someone with a better profile.
The expected professional profile was not found locally.
But honestly, if the person selected were a woman, I wouldn’t feel this weight of defeat that I feel now. Unfortunately this is not my first experience in which the gender is prioritized over technical capacity.
But our battle is still a long one. I am always happy when I see that organizations like:
IMPACT women who lead and Anicha Abdul who are focused on supporting women entrepreneurs in Mozambique.
MWE – Mozambique Women of Energy and Talumba Katawala that has programs aimed at women in sectors commonly referred to as men.
ATITTUDE and Marlene de Sousa who has a massive movement where they work hard to improve the quality of HR professionals.
And international organizations such as #lionessesofafrica that is one of the biggest platforms for African women in business and Melanie’s team, who are at the forefront when the cause is to increase the space for Women in Business in the World.”
You can see her LinkedIn post here, please take a moment to like and share with your connections as this is sadly not unusual and the more who understand the pressures Lionesses face daily, the more that a wider audience see the obstacles that are put in our path, the more light we shine on these barriers, so the closer we shall get to tearing them down.
But there is clearly this flight to apparent ‘safety’ through concern for age, gender, children and husbands, that draws those with the power (as George Orwell said: “Those who control the money, control the future.”), be they Government, Provinces, Municipalities, DFIs or Banks away from women led businesses that we constantly see across our network, that we must force to change.
According to Pitchbook:
“With women founders crushing it on every metric—except VC fundraising—it is clear that the industry’s refusal to support these women is based on an unwillingness to adopt new processes for sourcing, evaluating and selecting deals,” (here)
Or
“…a self-fulfilling prophecy…It’s easier to fundraise because other investors also value experience, increasing competition and de-risking future rounds…makes it even more important for investors to be cognizant of bias against…underrepresented founders.” (here)
Or as we reported in one of our previous articles (here):
“[Whilst] Female-founded companies are raising venture capital at significantly higher levels than at any point in the last decade…the gap in funding between all-women teams and mixed-gender teams continues to grow.” (here)
So that’s the VC and PE world where (least we forget) according to Harvard, the language and questions used by such investors differ dramatically if they are questioning a male or if a female founder! Harvard found out (here) that they ask questions based on hopes, achievements, advancement, and ideals (these are termed promotion orientation questions) to male founders of companies and more safety, responsibility, security, and vigilance (prevention orientation) questions (such as with Eugénia above) to female founders. To put it in sporting terms, men are put on the front foot, women on the back foot.
The banking world? The World Bank itself confirms the male centric demands from that industry through their data that shows the average collateral required for a loan (note average) in Africa is over 200%! (here) In the Journal of International Women’s Studies (here), in the article: ‘Gender Discrimination in Accessing Finance by Women-Owned Businesses’ by Sumanjeet Singh, Bishnu Mohan Dash, they showed that:
“The evidence collected from the credit markets of 47 African countries indicate that women-led businesses in North Africa and Central Africa opt out of credit markets because of lower creditworthiness. Women feel less confident as they apply for financial aid because of their presumption of application rejection. Not only this, but the loan officers apply conditions that make access to credit unattainable for women entrepreneurs.”
The issue is not just investors, but the law too is not equal, as The World Bank showed in their report ‘Women, Business and the Law 2021’ (here) where they showed that although there is movement in the right direction: “…many laws continue to inhibit women’s ability to enter the workforce or start a business.
On average, women have just three-quarters of the rights of men.”
{In fact if you study the results on P.10 of the report, you will note that most of Africa is below the average.}
Yet “A significant body of research links legal reforms aimed at achieving gender equality to women’s economic outcomes. Women’s economic empowerment benefits the wider economy by reducing income inequality and increasing diversity and economic resilience. Furthermore, gender gaps in entrepreneurship and employment are associated with lower levels of income and productivity. Economies at higher levels of economic development have, in general, greater levels of gender equality. In fact, in the relationship between economic development and legal gender equality, the causality likely runs in both directions.” Surely that is an opportunity the world must grab?
Still, we are constantly told that the opportunities are there if women just grab them – but is that so? The door is open, yet so many cannot come in, as Trevor Noah (the great South African comedian – and just so we are clear, many comedians such as Trevor become great through observing society and then through humour, shine the truth) says in an excellent interview here. He calls them “invisible barriers that are holding people back”. He had a guest on his show who talked of a time when no one noticed that stairs, no ramps and no elevators closed off entire buildings for people in wheelchairs. As she told him: “No one noticed.” The world continued spinning, everyone carried on with their day whilst this person in a wheelchair waited and waited until someone finally helped. Great School, fantastic opportunity – but no way in! By the time she did get in, the best seats were taken, the doughnuts eaten and the interesting conversation had moved on… “No one noticed”. As Trevor says, this also applies across society.
If you live in a world where you don’t need ramps,
you simply do not notice.
To force the change, to ensure we don’t continue facing these road bumps and barriers, and to help those with the power build the ramps, we as a community, as Lionesses, must take notice of when this happens, amplify it, magnify it, on LinkedIn, on Social Media, in newspapers and in discussions. This is so that those who have never needed ramps can see that whatever they think is happening, whatever they say is happening, whatever they are told is happening, is simply not being reflected on the streets and in our businesses…and at long last –
The ramps might be built and the doors truly opened for all.
Stay safe.
Tell us a little about your team
Rangi Gallery’s founding team was a small group of five (5) extraordinary people working part-time while driving their own very established careers, but who assisted greatly in bringing the Gallery to fruition. They led me through all the stages of the development cycle with their combined knowledge, thinking, driven by innovation and bringing my idea to life. And for this, I will forever be indebted to them, because they helped lift this off the ground after 10 years of procrastination. They helped in making sure I walked before I could fly.
Rangi recently hired and partnered with its newest member who will be serving as the Gallery Manager, Ms Asteria Malinzi. A fine arts photographer, she completed her BA(Hons) in Business Management and Marketing at the University of Derby, the United Kingdom in 2012. She went on to pursue photography and relocated to Cape Town, South Africa in 2015 where she graduated from Cape Town School of Photography. Since graduating she has participated in several exhibitions in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Egypt.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I live and I breathe art. My love for art has been present since I was a child and it grew as my exposure around the world increased especially during the time I spent in India. I spent six years in India and during my stay, the vibrancy of colour and creativity in the Indian culture and art scene opened new avenues of my mind. Whether it in woodwork, painting, watercolours, jewellery design, and the experience amplified my interest in art. My inspiration ignited, and reignited, through the different art galleries I visited and my level of understanding behind the culture of the pieces.
As a little girl, I remember spending countless hours drawing, sketching and impressing my teachers with my artistic hand. Subjects like mathematics and physics were not subjects that moved me and frankly, I was not competent in them either. Unfortunately, given the cultural preferences and the generation I grew up in, I was unable to pursue an education that would position me to be immersed in the art scene, however, my love for art remained within me eagerly waiting to burst out.
I started with collecting art pieces from around the world and through my exposure and collection, my enthusiasm to start an art gallery grew to the point where I would rather starve in order to buy a very beautiful piece of art, with the knowledge that one day this piece of art would be worth a lot of money. Furthermore, I can be quite particular and can spend years looking for a specific piece. So that is basically what motivated and inspired me to start the business.
My first gallery – yes, I had a gallery prior Rangi – was not very successful given that there was a lack of awareness in art in Tanzania then and the partnership formed to operate this gallery did not work out too well. Therefore, after a couple of years of running, we had to shut it down. It was a painful experience (emotionally and financially) yet, there were many lessons I learned and carried on into the birth of Rangi.
Coming from an entrepreneurial background, the failed gallery did not put me down for too long. My father, despite being a civil servant, had several side businesses; my mother would supervise and champion my father’s side businesses as well as manage her own little projects – you see my mother has an eye for quality and was good at spotting material (from clothing to construction materials to you name it) and transforming and allocating it to the right clientele. And on top of that, she ran a livestock farming business. Talk about super-mom, huh?
I definitely got the fearless spirit from my parents as well as my openness to try out new and different things. I am always thinking of what to do to make money and influence society positively. If I have something in mind that bothers me, I will not stop until I see it to completion. I definitely got my drive from my parents too, so I am grateful for them.
As for me, I am not afraid to take risks and when my heart goes into something, I do not back down until I see it take off. Giving up is not in my vocabulary, but giving birth is and that is how I am here today with my new baby, the Rangi Gallery.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
The RANGI vision is to become Tanzania’s leading art gallery by running a one-stop art gallery by providing a space – virtually and physically – where it explores what art is, what the discipline entails, showcases and distributes the widest definition of art and its forms, illustrating the value of both amateur and professional art.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
First and foremost, there’s a huge satisfaction of doing what you love and enjoying it. It’s the freedom to do as I please for me, doing it my way in other words. The no boundary notion, the freedom of flexible working hours that suit my lifestyle and also knowing that I can take time off whenever I want, goes a long way in achieving entrepreneur satisfaction. Especially when you are doing what you love.
Despite the lower and inconsistent income at times, and the difficulty of finding the right balance between work and personal life and most times ending up sacrificing the latter in the effort to grow a healthy, thriving business.
There is no greater satisfaction than when you toil in doing your passion and you succeed. That’s why I am a huge believer in the mantra “work hard, play hard ” in the midst of attempting to balance the two.
What’s the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
When you start your venture, no matter what challenges you encounter, always look forward, not back.
Be bold, learn through your mistakes and keep pushing forward, because you are most likely moving towards the right direction. Last but not least, always remember, it starts with you.
Believe in yourself. No one is going to believe in you, the way you do in yourself.
Contact or follow Rangi Gallery
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | EMAIL lornamashiba@gmail.com
The idea behind the Lilly Loompa concept shop
Lilly Loompa is a young and upcoming Design Company and produces décor items and furniture with a conscience. Its homeware is created through a process of hipcycling, which is essentially upcycling discarded waste and transforming it into desirable products that would complement any home. Eco-friendly, handcrafted and 100% South African, each Lilly Loompa piece, once trash, is now a meaningful piece of treasure. Compared to Europe and some first-world countries, South Africa is lagging behind in terms of seeing the value of recycling and upcycling. Over the last 5 years, Lilly Loompa Upcycled Homeware has been changing this narrative by producing high quality products made with discarded waste material and introducing them to the marketplace. Lizl and her team collect all their materials from neighbouring wine farms, construction sites, industrial kitchens and waste dump sites, after which they go through a process of cleaning and restoration. Finally they are transformed into beautiful and usable products to use in the home.
Speaking about the rationale for the launch of the new concept shop, founder Lizl Naude says:
“Our on-line shop has been very successful and people have been responding positively to our products, especially since the pandemic started. But we felt the need to showcase our range in a physical, tactile environment, hence the concept of a store idea was born.”
The Lilly Loompa Product Range
The Lilly Loompa product range includes the following products:
Snack Caddy – condiment holder upcycled from wine bottles and discarded wood
Table Caddy – salt & pepper & toothpick holder upcycled from necks of wine bottle necks
Africa Snack Caddy – condiment holder upcycled from beer bottles and discarded wood
Salt & Pepper Shaker – salt & pepper shakers upcycled from necks of wine bottles
Planters – planters upcycled from wine bottles
My Africa Wall Art – African map-shaped wall art upcycled from discarded wood
My Africa Cheeseboard – African map-shaped cheeseboard upcycled from discarded wood
My Africa Lap Desk – African map-shaped lap desk upcycled from discarded wood (exclusive to Lilly Loompa and the only one of its kind in the world)
Toona Can – storage holder upcycled with a tuna can
Slave Bell Lamp – desk lamp upcycled with discarded wood and tin cans
The story of Lilly Loompa
My family and I lost all our material possessions a few times between 2006-2014. This caused immense financial suffering and setback. During this desperate time, I prayed for a solution and I clearly understood that the way out for my family (and also for others) was WASTE. Lilly Loompa (Pty) Ltd has been trading since 2018 and currently employs three people and outsourced teams. We aim to clean South Africa through innovative upcycling. Our goal is to lessen the amount of waste to landfill by designing and manufacturing desirable and usable homeware products that people can purchase on our on-line store and our B2B infrastructure, and now our physical retail concept shop. Through our enterprise, we are hoping to increase the awareness about the circular economy by running various campaigns on our social media and marketing platforms to raise awareness on what can be done with waste material. There is value found in waste and opportunities available for the communities of Stellenbosch and Paarl areas (where we are based), through collecting waste, and earning an income doing it. A highlight was being named the SiAWECCA Award Winner 2020 in the South African Women Entrepreneur in Climate Change Award.
For those wanting to visit the new Lilly Loompa store in person, it is located in Paarl Nursery, R45, Section 2, Farm 1348, Simondium Road, Southern Paarl, 7646 (Wild Emporium). Opening hours are as follows:
Hours: 8H00-17H00 (Mondays to Fridays)
08h00-16h00 (Saturdays)
10h00-15h00 (Sundays)
To find out more about the work of Lilly Loompa, contact Lizl Naude, owner and creative director via cellphone: Tel: +27 823205589 or email Lizl directly: lizl@lillyloompa.com Also, visit the Lilly Loompa website and social media platforms for more information:
by Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho
The most powerful key to an effective marketing campaign is to understand the buyer, whether it’s an individual, a business or even the government. To do this, B2B and B2C business owners need to develop distinct buyer profiles and buyer personas. A buyer profile provides a better understanding of buyer segments, while buyer personas help you understand the deeper goals, personal values and challenges of the buyers and how these factors influence their purchasing decisions. The two terms are often used interchangeably, however, they are not the same thing.
As they say in Vietnam….Same, same, but different..
Now, let’s dig a little deeper!
I would say the primary difference is a function of the level of contact; the buyer’s persona is a personal representation of a prospect, while the buyer’s profile focuses on a prospect’s company and is used to describe a prospect’s actual business. Here are some definitions that may help…keep reading…I’ve got examples too.
Buyer Personas
A buyer persona is a quasi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. When creating your buyer persona(s), consider including customer demographics, behaviour patterns, motivations, and goals. Should you not have any existing customers yet, a buyer persona would be based on your best fit demographic. Your unique selling proposition lies in the detail, so try to be as detailed as possible. When done well, buyer personas help you hone your messaging, find gaps in your offerings, and provide the ability to strategically approach pain points your customers struggle with in your message delivery.
Here’s an example of an ideal buyer persona:
Age — Between 30–50 years old
Family — Kids under 18
Lives in a metropolitan city
Family first values
Business Owner
College Educated
Owns a smartphone
Enjoys networking
Has an active lifestyle
Uses online resources for every aspect of their life from grocery shopping to choice of schools for the kids.
Buyer Profiles
A buyer profile is a more precise description and usually describes the actual company that you would like to do business with. It represents the type of company that would be a good fit for your product or services. Features to consider include company size, industry and budget.
Here’s an example of an ideal buyer profile:
Companies with at least 50 and no more than 1,000 employees
Annual revenue of at least N100m
Businesses that are not technically proficient but current phase of business requires efficient technology solutions
They need to be able to scale quickly and cost-effectively as their needs arise
Having headquarters in Lagos or other metropolitan cities in Nigeria
Our clients’ customers are consumers, not other businesses
I am sure you are pretty confused at this point — well that’s normal. I guess I would be confused too if I didn’t do this for a living…
…so here are quick examples of how basic background information for buyer personas and buyer profiles should look.
Buyer Persona: Aida is a 31 year old CEO, who founded her cosmetics company four years ago. She would like to scale her business in 2018 using digital marketing but doesn’t know how to go about it or the kind of results that she can achieve.
Buyer Profile: AIDA Cosmetics is a Lagos based manufacturing company that specializes in premium beauty products. The company employs 140 workers and is available in beauty stores nationwide, with current annual revenue of between N100m- N180m.
What next?
We now know that B2C businesses absolutely need to develop buyer personas, but should B2B businesses do both buyer persona development and buyer profiling? Of course! This is crucial to understanding how each marketing approach should be designed to achieve each distinct purpose of your prospect’s business.
So get cracking and create your buyer personas and profiles. Once done make sure that your business model and marketing strategies fit the ideal buyer personas and buyer profiles and then you can pretty much sit back and watch as high-quality and precisely-targeted leads pour in.
by Emily Kandanga
The incorporation of cheat meals or cheat days into a diet plan can be helpful in this regard. The theory behind this strategy is that by allowing yourself brief periods of indulgence, you’ll be more likely to stick to your prescribed plan the majority of the time. How often people have cheat days/ meals is dependent on the dietary requirements and overall goals of the individual, but a general rule of thumb is they should be scheduled at least a week apart. Being consistent with healthy eating and scheduling your cheat days at longer intervals will help you require fewer cheat days, as your body will start to crave healthier alternatives to food.
Successfully implementing cheat days into your lifestyle requires a strong sense of self control, otherwise you are likely to overindulge, feel guilty and resort back to your old habits that include eating unhealthy food consistently. Yes, you need to be mindful of what you eat even on cheat days. Mindful, or intuitive, eating is paying attention to your body’s hunger cues and eating when you’re hungry but stopping when you’re full. It also involves slowing down while eating so that you can enjoy and savor your meal. Being mindful is a great way to avoid bingeing during your cheat days.
The key to fully enjoying your cheat days and not feel bad about them is to immediately get back on track with your plan the very next day. Remember cheat days are temporary and you reaching your goals should be your main priority in order for the change you are working hard for to occur.
Finally, do not forget to drink water on cheat day and stay hydrated. Depending on the cheat meal, you could be consuming an excess of salt that you are not used to and water will help flush that out. Furthermore, hunger is sometimes really just thirst and being overly hungry when consuming the cheat meal can lead to overindulging. Have a glass of water or two leading up to your cheat meal. This will help you better gauge how hungry you are when eating it and stop you sooner than if you felt starved.