Basetsana Kumalo shares some valuable advice for women in business and SMME's on her 47th birthday

Mentorship has long been established as a huge difference-maker, especially for people just starting out or people embarking on a new professional path. This level of support has proven especially beneficial for professional women, who do best when they’re able to get insight and advice from other professional women. Business Tech Africa’s editorial team saw the opportunity to get some valuable advice for SA’s SMME’s and women entrepreneurs from SA’s very own business queen, Basetsana Kumalo.

This past Sunday was Basetsana Kumalo’s birthday, and instead of taking, the entrepreneur decided to give back to the community as part of her birthday plans

Looking at Basetsana’s journey, we realized that more than ever before, women entrepreneurs are making a significant impact in the world of business in our country.

While women-owned businesses are growing twice as fast compared to their male counterparts, only 2% are breaking past $1 million in revenue because they face barriers when trying to scale. If given greater access to resources like capital, technology, talent, and networks, more women can realize their dreams, turning their start-up into scale-ups. So, how can women entrepreneurs get over these hurdles?

Bassie led an entourage of kids to a fun-filled day at the mall with lots of exciting activities including a treat to the cinema for a movie, and a lovely lunch hour at Wimpy.

While women-owned businesses are growing twice as fast compared to their male counterparts, only 2% are breaking past R1 million in revenue because they face barriers when trying to scale. If given greater access to resources like capital, technology, talent, and networks, more women can realize their dreams, turning their start-up into scale-ups. So, how can women entrepreneurs get over these hurdles?

We asked Basetsana to share the best advice and worst advice she’s ever received and how it has impacted her journey. Here’s what she had to say.

Business Tech Africa Journalist: You have been very involved with mentoring black women in your career, whether through your career positions or your affiliations as the President of the Business Women’s Association of South Africa Why is this important to you?

Basetsana: It’s important to be able to ignite a new generation of leaders. For me, it’s about creating a generational legacy to break the mold and the cycle of poverty because when you look at the biggest people who face poverty in the continent, is women. It’s women who have to walk miles in villages to go and find food and water for their families and with the migration of men leaving the rural to find work in the city, women have to look after their homes. For me, I’d like to see a resurgence and sustainability in black women.

Business Tech Africa Journalist: As a woman, do you believe that South Africa is transforming into an equal country that allows women to be in positions that you are excelling in. or we are still battling with that?

Basetsana: Not by a long shot! There’s still much work to be done in terms of gender equality in the country. When you look at the pay gap, women still earn less for the same job a man is doing. It’s one thing to have a legislation, but it is another to have implementations of those legislations. As the President of The Businesswomen’s Association, I do a census to track the upward mobility of women in corporate and public spaces. And to my surprise, the numbers of women in top positions, executive positions seems to be very elusive.

Business Tech Africa Journalist: I wanted to ask about the current state of SMEs in South Africa, what do you think are the barriers to entry and challenges that are faced by SMEs in South Africa?

Basetsana: Access to capital is the main barrier for local SMME’s. Big companies and government as well, who prolong the payment methods for these SME’s. I know the president has formal gated a new law upon invoicing black businesses and that’s how businesses will survive. So it is really a collective effort that we hold our leaders accountable in making sure that businesses thrive

As an SME owner, you need to also figure out your identity as a company and stick with that. Growing does not necessarily have to mean diversifying. Whatever it is you do, do it well. If you’ve recently expanded your business too fast and feel that you are struggling to provide a quality service to your clients across all the different areas, do not be afraid to go back to basics to ensure that whatever you provide is top quality.

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