Elated by the giant strides of women entrepreneurs especially in men dominated terrains, the Chairperson, Summit Planning Committee 2021, Mrs. Bukky Adeyemi has called on more accomplished women entrepreneurs to take to deliberate mentorship and empowerment of less accomplished women entrepreneurs for business excellence and growth.
She made this known during the 8th Annual Summit of Neca’s Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW) held in Lagos, titled, “Commitment to Excellence.
Under her leadership as chairperson, NNEW held her first ever hybrid two-days summit with an array of accomplished women in business and politics taking turns to propel women in the federation to begin to commit to excellence in their businesses, lives and health toward greatness.
“In NNEW, we believe in growing each other. The idea is that we want to empower women entrepreneurs. We were there once, so why don’t we lift others up. We empower women in different ways. And when they are empowered, they also empower others. So we build ourselves to build others that is what NNEW is all about.”
She added that NNEW also utilizes internal and external resources to mentor women to not be intimidated to operate successful businesses in men dominated sectors.
Fummilayo Arowoogun, President of NNEW said the objective of this year’s theme, ‘Commitment to Excellent’ is to furnish women with requisite information to enable them take specific steps towards achieving enduring excellence in every aspect of their lives. Moreso, to help participant increase their potential to operate excellently even at global levels.
“The quality of man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence,” says Oluyemisi Iranloye, the managing director, Psaltry International Limited in her keynote address.
“Being a female entrepreneur in a sea of men can have its challenges, but its rewards are priceless. However, you must know your worth as a businesswoman because you’ll likely come across people who underestimate you,” Iranloye maintained.
According to the expert agro processor, it makes sense when women take to entrepreneurship as it affords them more flexibility and control over their schedule. However, every woman entrepreneur who wants to be happy and successful must first believe in herself and overcome fear of failure. She must say no to unfair funding, mediocre work performance or exploitative requests, aswellas, shun criticism.
More so, excellence is more of an attitude than skill. Hence, crucial to excel in entrepreneurship in any industry, the woman must possess the following qualities: patience, positivity, confidence, curiosity, gut to stand out, resilience and perseverance.
“As a business owner, you have to develop a thick skin. Many potential clients and investors won’t like your idea, and you will have to keep searching and convincing people until you find support. This doesn’t mean that your idea is terrible and that you should give up, it’s merely about targeting the right people and honing your sales pitching skills.
“Nobody can be perfect, but it is possible to be excellent. If you are always putting your best foot forward and directing your energy into your projects, you will develop a life full of excellence,” she admonished.
Some of the distinguished speakers at the two-days summit are: Ambassador Olufolake Abdulrazaq, First Lady, Kwara State Government, Dr. Folashade Jose, a certified Gastroenterologist with over 25 years experience, Otunba Adewunmi Onanuga, Chairman, House Committee on Women and Social Development, House of Representative, Taiwo Oluleye, Acting Managing Director, Pan Nigerian Limited, Yewande Zacchaeus, founder, Eventful Limited, Janet Adetu, CEO, JSK Consulting Group and, Modupe Oyekunle, an industrialist and the immediate past president of NNEW.