Africa has more than its fair share of exceptional young entrepreneurs and they’re punching above their weight in several sectors.
Whether it’s Temitope Ogunsemo inspiring tomorrow’s leaders with educational digital media, Nthabiseng Mosia lighting up the world with solar innovation or Rahma Bajun dressing us up to the nines in Afro-centric fashions, there are plenty of terrific trailblazers to inspire us.
But how do you take the next step from tuning into thought leadership sites like Forbes and following the fortunes of your business heroes to building the requisite momentum and backing to start your own company, especially if funds are low and family responsibilities high?
The good news is that where there’s a will, there’s always a way – so to get you started, here are three manageable, convenient and accessible ways to elevate your entrepreneurialism in 2020.
- Social Media
While old-school businesspeople might dismiss social media as a waste of time, switched-on Africans know different.
And there’s no better example of the networking power of social than the LinkedIn platform, which has more than 260 million monthly active users.
One of the platform’s greatest strengths is that it makes it easy to segment an audience and make connections based on criteria like interests, sectors and seniority. So if you want to find future collaborators and investors, following the likes of GrowthAfrica, South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum and African Business Communities on LinkedIn can certainly be worthwhile.
- Business accelerators
From operating a cutting edge record label to launching a successful transatlantic airline and venturing into fields as diverse as health and fitness, finance and space travel, Richard Branson knows a thing or three about building businesses.
And by collaborating with the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship in South Africa, you can benefit from mentorship, strategic and financial advice from some of the best brains in global business and accelerate your plans in order to meet your aspirations.
For many entrepreneurs, this type of partnership is exactly the catalyst they need to make commercial dreams a reality.
- Distance learning degrees
When you’re already employed and need to keep your current job to fulfil family financial responsibilities, it can be very tough trying to find time to migrate towards full-time self-employment.
However, by earning a degree with ARU distance learning you can study online when it’s most convenient, fitting your modules around your life and making higher education much more manageable than it would be if you had to attend a bricks and mortar institution.
With accredited degrees available in everything from and enterprise-focused MBA to Digital Marketing, modern distance learning providers are tuned in to the needs of a wide range of international students.
Try any of these three ways to elevate your entrepreneurialism in 2020 and by this time next year you could be one of Africa’s business moguls to watch.
So ends our list, but please share your own entrepreneurial advice in the comments section.
