Call on all female trailblazers to mentor fellow pioneers

Are you ready to start your own business and become a female pioneer in business? Brace yourself for the sense of isolation that comes with trailblazing, says Yvonne Wakefield, founder of Caveat Legal.

As a legal practitioner turned entrepreneur, Wakefield knows all about taking risks while naysayers are snapping at your heels. “Starting a business is a solitary affair. You get to take all the decisions, but you also carry all the risks and the costs that come with trial and error.”

Wakefield founded Caveat Legal three years ago, providing South African businesses with more affordable access to quality legal services.

“While this has been an exciting journey, being a pioneer is lonely. I have been very privileged in that I have access to the brilliant minds of a few respected male entrepreneurs. But noticeably absent have been female mentors who are also able to identify with the unique challenges facing pioneers within the context of being a woman, wife and mother.”

A small consolation may be that most people who make it to the top, whether in the capacity as a business owner or as the leader of a large corporate, suffer from a sense isolation. The study, Stepping Up To CEO, published late last year by the School for CEOs shows that 93% of business leaders questioned said they felt under-prepared for the loneliness and being ultimately accountable.

Wakefield believes that while South Africa has been blessed with a number of trailblazing women, unfortunately very few stop for long enough to take new pioneers under their wings.

With less than a week left of Women’s Month, Wakefield believes all successful trailblazers should share some of their power and pro-actively make themselves available to mentor women who have recently embarked on the journey of entrepreneurship. “If you are someone who has taken the courageous plunge into starting a new venture, especially one where there is no precedent, offer encouragement and make yourself available to provide advice and mentorship.

Therefore, if you are a woman pioneer who has made it:

• Share your learnings: Making mistakes is part of the process, but it would be nice to learn from someone else's journey now and then.
• Talk about the challenges: Don’t be too proud to admit to the hardships that lined your journey to success. You probably worked hard at making it look easy, but other women in the process of enduring the trials and tribulations that come with starting a new venture will be motivated by you being open and honest about some of the challenges.
• Be generous with practical advice: Share useful tips that will help others achieve their goals more efficiently.

In addition to growing her legal consultancy, Wakefield takes time out to share her lessons with fellow entrepreneurs, and especially pioneers:

Embrace the freedom: Moving from a traditional workplace into business where there are few rules and little structure can be unsettling. Adjust your mindset and embrace the freedom and creativity that working on your own allows.

With freedom comes responsibility: When you choose to follow a non-traditional route, you need to do it in a responsible way. Make sure that your pioneering will actually enhance the reputation of your industry and not tarnish it. Be the example of how it is done best.

Stay focused: Opportunities will pop up wherever you look and it may be alluring to get involved in some of them, but know that you can only remain the true pioneer with 100% focus. There will be plenty of time to pursue other aspirations later.

Cultivate an appetite for risk: We can't be true pioneers without taking on a degree of risk. As women, and more so as mothers, we tend to veer towards the safe side of life. In order to succeed we need to learn to take calculated risks.

Embrace innovation and technology: It is not possible to be a pioneer without a genuine affinity for innovative thinking and embracing technology. The excuse of “I'm not very good with technology” shows a lack of will to engage with an evolving world.

Success breeds success: Success is the product of hard work, developing relevant skills, focus, passion and innovation. Luck has nothing to do with achieving success, so keep putting in those hours. It will eventually pay off. Equally, surround yourself with people who are positive, encouraging and successful in their own right.