Entrepreneurs Share stories at the 4th Lioness Lean In Maputo
More than fifty women entrepreneurs attended, recently, the fourth edition of the Lioness Lean in breakfast, an event that aims at sharing experiences on entrepreneurship with women entrepreneur.
This edition had as guest speakers, three women who work in areas that many people work on, usually during spare time, namely in photography, makeup and interior
design.
These speakers are Evandra Cossa, executive director of Ezee Money Mozambique, Daisy Mogne, founder of Daisy Mogne Studio, and Iria Marina, environmental and documentaries photographer.
The three speakers spoke about their journey and experience in the business world, obstacles and challenges that they had to face to impose themselves, and interacted with participants and aspiring entrepreneurs.
According to Sasha Vieira, head of Standard Bank’s Business Incubator, explained, choosing these areas is a way of deconstructing the idea that one cannot start a business in art and culture.
“It is a myth to think that artists are not entrepreneurs, it is possible to do a business in the arts and culture sector.
Therefore, we invited women who had the courage and audacity to start a business in these areas and who are now a reference”, said Sasha Vieira.
At the same time, Melanie Hawken, founder of Lioness of Africa, organizer of Lioness Lean, said that one of the secrets of entrepreneurship is, besides persistence, passion for what one does.
“Those who love what they do hardly give up. They fight for their space and opportunities in the market, and they win. That is how everyone started” added Melanie Hawken, who also mentioned the need to encourage teenagers and young people to invest on entrepreneurship.
“We have to teach them how to start and manage a business. Our wish is to see many women-led companies becoming leaders in the market, and that is possible.
During the event, one of the issues raised was related to the obstacles that entrepreneurs, in general, face to impose themselves in the market, and access to credit was indicated as one of the main obstacles.
However, regarding women entrepreneurship, in particular, one of the speakers, Daisy Mogne, mentioned the acceptance of women by the society as one of the main obstacles.
“Our society still looks at a woman as the weak sex, so it is important that a woman entrepreneur gets the support and help from the family and the people that surround her.
Persistence is equally important”, she said.
The event, organized by Lionesses of Africa, a network of over 400,000 women entrepreneurs in 49 African countries, is sponsored by Standard Bank and has the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Shell Mozambique.