Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: Unlocking the Path to Success!
Historically speaking being a woman has always been hard, even though times have changed drastically over the years there are still gaps and limitations that set females back in general.
Women currently make up 51.1% (about 30.75 million) of our population, with 21.9% being registered entrepreneurs in South Africa as of 2022.
Despite being hampered by less supportive entrepreneurial conditions compared to other global economies, reports indicate that female-owned businesses have boosted the South African economy by R175 billion a year as of 2022 and have created over 1 million jobs nationwide.
“A woman is like a teabag, you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
RLabs Women recognized this need in our country for female entrepreneurs and took action by creating women-led business programs that focus on women-led start-up businesses which assists entrepreneurs to better understand their business needs, how to connect with their target audience and how to set themselves up for success.
Due to Covid-19, most programs became virtual to still connect with female entrepreneurs and assist them on their journey. However, this past month RLabs Women ran their first in-person Business Incubation Program since 2019.
What is a Business Incubation Program, you may ask? In simple terms, it’s business and entrepreneurship skills training for women that have start-up businesses or a business idea they want to turn into reality.
Over three consecutive Saturdays at the RLabs DLabs building in Westridge, an astounding 40 enthusiastic female attendees were eager to learn and improve as entrepreneurs.
The beauty of having these sessions in person is that entrepreneurs can share their journey experiences, engaging in real-time interactions with others who can either relate to or guide them due to their similar experiences.
Day 1 consisted of pain points being experienced by the entrepreneurs within their various businesses as well as Business Modelling which entails working on Customer persona, Golden Circle by Simon Sinek and Business Model Canvas. This helps the entrepreneurs to better understand what runs their business.
Day 2 was all about storytelling, understanding the importance of it and how it helps businesses to reach new customers and build brand awareness. Once the entrepreneurs formulated their stories they were then introduced to key skills and techniques that would assist them with delivering impactful business presentations and pitches.
Day 3 was a deep dive into why business presentations are important and how to create a professional one that is suitable for individual businesses. This session also included how to identify the correct information to add to a pitch presentation, how to conceptualize a unique business story and tailor the presentation for potential investors.
The entrepreneurs ended off the day by pitching their businesses using their new and improved pitch decks alongside all the new skills they learnt over the entire Business Incubation Program.
This intense and highly informative program not only upskills the entrepreneurs in business but also allows them to help, inspire, peer-mentor and network with each other. It builds a community of passionate women who are like-minded and can support one another as their journeys continue.
If you are a female entrepreneur or know of a female that you believe could benefit from a community such as RLabs Women, you can get in touch with the team via email at women@rlabs.org
Alternatively, follow RLabs Women on their social media pages
Instagram: @rlabswomen_
Facebook: Rlabs Women
Twitter: @RLabsWomen
LinkedIn: RLabs Women
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