Her vision won’t have long to wait

Tebatso Molapo has a vision. She sees her Re Basadi headquarters occupying an entire building “made up of different divisions, each headed by different women. Each division has young women running their own businesses and also doing big projects together. A female empire.”

That’s not a far-off dream. “It’s the year 2021,” she said with conviction.

Molapo speaks with audacity and assurance. After all, on Twitter she’s known as “The Responsible Rebel.”

This is what one might expect coming from the founder and managing director of Re Basadi, a business “curated by women for women striving for excellence and success.”

She talked about her journey as a female entrepreneur — what it means for her and others.

“Being an entrepreneur in this day and age for me means constantly being innovative, at the top of your game and learning to constantly evolve and adapt,” Molapo said.

“Being creative also is an important and essential aspect of entrepreneurship,” she said.

Unspoken truths

She took on realities and challenges about female entrepreneurship that people aren’t willing to talk about.

“I’ve realized that people often like painting a pretty perfect picture on entrepreneurship,” Molapo said. “What they talk on usually isn’t reality. No one is willing to talk about how many times you have to go to the drawing board or how many times you struggle with cash.

“What we struggle with as female entrepreneurs is how we’re often overlooked,” she said. “We have to work 10 times harder than our male counterparts just to ‘prove’ ourselves. You also have to fight with proving yourself to other women because of they often hold the same opinion.”

Molapo finds at least one aspect of fundraising off kilter for women.

“Successful women are always endorsed by men,” she said. “It’s a very weird concept. I could write an entire book about the struggles of a female entrepreneur and the emotional challenges we often face in this space.”

Race and pace

This is just one of hurdles female entrepreneurs must overcome for which Molapo offers a simple solution.

“Own race. Own pace,” she said. “Women are scared to take a break. Mainly we are always weighed against each other. We end up competing against ourselves — which is unnecessary.

“When you take the time to go back and regroup, you’re always scared to stay behind,” Molapo said.

She found the optimum response is to remember what you control.

“The best thing I’ve done for myself was to focus solely on myself and my company,” Molapo said. “Measure my growth against the progress I made the previous year, and keep it moving that way.”

Resist programing

Another obstacle might be internal, especially if you believe women are taught or programmed to take fewer risks.

“I’ll take it from a high-school perspective,” Molapo said. “Women usually dominate the academic team. We’re often taught — or tend to believe — we need to follow academic and professional careers because that’s what we’re good at. When you branch out to do something, it’s out of the ‘norm.’

“You’re deemed out of the ordinary, often taunted with ‘We’ll see how far she goes,’” she said. “It’s emotionally draining. I think we try to avoid it all together, but not anymore. We’re coming for everything and creating our paths.”

Based in Johannesburg, Molapo is encouraged about how women business owners are accepted on the continent.

“Female entrepreneurship in Africa is definitely being embraced,” she said. “Female entrepreneurs in Africa are doing amazing things. The likes of Betty Sibeso in Namibia and Beata Otieno in Kenya are changing the game.”

Gaps close … maybe

Molapo also thinks — at least hopes — gaps are closing between how men and women are boosted up in business.

“The age of social media has helped encourage and drive female entrepreneurship,” she said. “It feels great seeing women doing amazing things.

“I’m always encouraged and motivated to give my best in all I do,” Molapo said. “All you women are doing amazing.”

Girl entrepreneurship campaigns also have caught her eyes.

“I’ve been following a few platforms over the years on social media,” Molapo said. “I’ve come to love Reba Mokgoko, Helen Rose, Hello Pretty, Beauty on TApp and Ayana Magazine, which are all female-owned, encourage female entrepreneurship and are all about girl power.”

From her hard-learned lessons, she has a message for today’s girls who will be tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.

“You have to learn the importance of resilience,” Molapo said. “Learn to cut off the noise and always remember your why.”

About The Author

Jim Katzaman is a manager at Largo Financial Services and worked in public affairs for the Air Force and federal government. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.