A Business Woman in a Man’s World

It is when you start valuing your time, your talent, or your skill that you start questioning that norm.  Top that up with a desire to make a difference and identifying a gap in the market, you then start to develop an appetite for starting and running a business.

Even more so if you are a woman.  Times have changed and, in our country, more women are entering the business world and industries that were previously male dominated.

The world of entrepreneurship doesn’t ask your gender, culture or background, it simply invites – with open arms – anyone who has the stomach to step into the world of business.  What you do with that invitation, is totally up to you.

Owning and running a small business is not for everyone.  Those of us who embark on the road of the SMME, also appreciate the long hours, the challenge of making a sale and how small final profit can be, if you manage to scrape one together, that is! Roll forward the timeline and at some point, in time things should get better, easier and a lot more worth the effort.  You should continuously work on making your business sustainable, productive, and profitable.  In the process you will find that the difficult things of business become a little easier and the profits a little more.

Nkuli Mosweu is one of those people.  She is Owner and Managing Director of Cush Development – a small enterprise that is mainly focussed on road maintenance and construction. She went all in when she took the leap of faith and started a career as an entrepreneur in an industry that is male dominated and has its own measure of exploitation.  Yet, there is not a road maintenance assignment or a construction project that startles her. 

Being a successful woman entrepreneur, I asked Nkuli a few questions on how she began her business and what she enjoys about it.

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am a mom, wife and entrepreneur. I like travelling and enjoy a challenging project. I’m an introvert turned extrovert by the love of what I do – which is to create and maintain better road networks and living spaces. I hold a master’s in business administration (MBA) and am working towards SACPCMP (South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions) registration in Project Management.

There are quite a few things taking up your time every day. What business are you running and when did you start it?

Infrastructure development came as a natural fit for me since I’ve always had a passion for Project Management.  The Engineering field and civil construction industry in my case offered me the opportunity to express my talent and extend my knowledge practically and that is how  Cush Developments started, and it has catapulted to where it is today.  It started as a shelf company that I took over in November of 2010.

At what point in your life did you know or decide that you want to be a business owner / entrepreneur?

The decision became solidified at a point where I felt that I wanted to offer more of my talents than what my day job was allowing me to. And I wanted to expound my influence. I have always desired to run a business and knew in my heart that it was my life’s work.  One of my major drives that made me become a business owner was the desire to create a platform for the upcoming pool of young graduates who also require the opportunities I had and I felt duty bound to create it. 

What is it about business that excites you most?

The constant decision making that builds up to a tangible outcome that I can look back on and be proud of, seeing my “penned dreams” come to fruition is exhilarating!

As business owners, we need to keep in touch with social, technological, economical and political turbulence in the country and in the world and in order for us to stay ahead of potential challenges and in order to make good decisions as to what we communicate to our market and how we strategise going forward. How do you stay on top of the changes in these environments?

Experience has helped me derive workable strategies which are well within the pipeline of the desired outcome.  Historic experience, where it relates to political influences, has helped shape the approach which the industry uses for our marketing strategies.  The resultant outcome over the years is to keep abreast of the private, public and SADEC regional news using the leads and business online resource for daily industry related news.

You have impressive business values by which you run your business such as empowerment, passion, and ethical practices. Tell us more about that?

Values are integral to who we are as a people. In business they become espoused by virtue of the fact that the vehicle becomes an extension of who you really are!  As such being true to oneself, is the foundation upon which each value that Cush Developments up-holds and is built upon. 

What is the best advice you have ever received?

If you fail – fail forward!

The topic of woman in business has almost become a little over-shared.  Well, you should hold on to something because over the next few years the mission of the Directors Association in South Africa is to develop woman into Independent Chairpersons for Company Boards.  A new day has dawned, and it sounds promising!

Contact Business Doctors North West if you want to enter the world of business and are in need of guidance. Email: linda.botts@business-doctors.co.za