Sibulele Siko-Shosha
Let’s do a visualisation exercise for a minute. You are watching the Grammy’s, Beyoncé is winning yet another award. She looks beautiful; hair on fleek, body perfectly toned with all the bells and whistles. Now it’s time for her acceptance speech. The Creator is thanked first then a sea of people, songwriters, coaches, advisers. After a teary show of appreciation, she walks off stage as the superstar that she is. Alone.
What does this tell you? Even a global icon needs a whole team behind her to sculpt her image and build the success that she has. This is no different for every entrepreneur on the planet. Having a team is the lifeline all business owners need in order to achieve their full potential; the most important thing to start with is to develop a strong and consistent enough team to help them achieve that.
I am not writing this as a visionary and entrepreneur. I am writing this as a young black woman who wakes up every day to work harder than she did before to achieve her vision.
For me to face the world in my professional capacity I need to make sure that my positioning is right and how I introduce myself is “on fleek”. I do not have endless resources to help me with everything, but with what I have, I make sure I invest in a team that is going to help me present the best version of me as a businesswoman.
My team is comprised of a psychologist, a business coach, a personal coach, a publicist, a chiropractor, a reflexologist, a gym membership, a manicurist and a mother who is always available to babysit at short notice. I am also privileged enough to have a close circle of friends who are available to give me the sea of advice I need from time to time.
For me to be confident enough to face the world every day with its challenges I have the confidence that emotional, physical and mental well-being are taken care of first. I have learnt over the years that it is important to take care of myself first because if I crash, my business will follow.
For my business, I have recently found great comfort in understanding the importance of structure and consistency through an Enterprise Development programme I am a recipient of. My understanding of what kind of team I need for the guts of my business has changed drastically and for the better.
The reality is that entrepreneurship is a lonely and scary abyss. At the end of the day, you are the Beyoncé. It is, however, impossible to achieve what you need to achieve alone.
With that said, though, there is value in being realistic about the current times. With budgets tight and resources limited, the priority investment for your business should be you, because without you, there is no business to grow.
Sibulele Siko-Shosha is the founder, creative director and TV executive producer of the Dumile Group.
* The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL or of title sites.
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