“My whole life, I’ve always been super creative, always had lots of ideas even as a kid, but it didn't seem like entrepreneurship was for me. My mom enabled a clear pathway for me in finance and I accepted that for the rest of my life I may be an ideas factory that would never advance into manufacturing and bringing any of these ideas to market. Then one day I decided it was time to stop thinking and start doing”.
Teboho started her career in finance, and having worked in this area of expertise for a business lending firm, she was exposed to the temptation of entrepreneurship. The jump from employee to entrepreneur is never easy for those who are good at their job, climbing the career ladder with no reason to jump other than the burning desire to follow a calling. Teboho always felt motivated to make a difference and to have fun doing it. She felt that the difference she was meant to make could not be contained in her role as an employee. She wanted to be in the driver's seat.
Having already experienced two failed ventures, Teboho understood the feeling of failure and valued the time and effort each failed initiative took, so her decision to pursue her current venture was not taken lightly. The idea she stumbled upon? Teboho realised that there was a real need for people to connect, to bring like-minded people together through hobbies, physical activities and social events. A lot of lonely people doing nothing who she felt she could help.
“Everyday is different. Each and every day I am pushed out of my comfort zone because I need to think about all aspects of the business from tech to branding to finance.”
Being a solopreneur, Teboho wears many hats, adding a lot of pressure to her everyday as many early stage Founders experience. Her strategy is to have a lean essential team in place (predominantly in her key performance areas namely marketing/brand and tech) while bringing in other expertise in a contracting capacity as a way to exercise lean growth. She explains how difficult it is to really see where you need to be when you are IN the business all the time, and the value an external perspective that her business mentor and growth strategist brings to the business. Taking lessons from her previous experiences, Teboho is wiser and has developed the aptitude to purposefully focus less on what SHE wants and more on what the business needs.
“At the end of the day, I am not building this for me, I am building it for the people who need this. From day one, I knew I needed to make sure that what I was doing and the business decisions I was making, resonated with the very people I am making it for, and sometimes this means taking my own opinion out of the equation.”
Teboho talks to us about the importance of counting on oneself and the reality that the never ending support that we all hope for is not always present, especially in the beginning. When our crutch is other people, it makes it difficult to go far because only you have the closeness to your real purpose and idea. But you are enough! She alerts us to the rejection that is all too commonly experienced as a Founder and reminds us that a simple “No” is a response to get used to and to view it as part of the journey and how it makes the “Yesses” we receive all the more sweeter. She believes tenacity, drive, focus and that obsessiveness relationship with your business will see you through.
“You need to have an unapologetic obsession with what you are trying to do. Everyone has a lot to say when you have found success but in the beginning it's just you and no one is interested”.
As tough as it is, Teboho feels joy amidst the difficulties she experiences getting her business off the ground. She reminds us how we need not wait till retirement to seek happiness, that we can find it right now if we are following what we are meant to be doing with our time on earth. Teboho brings high energy to any conversation, it's no wonder her venture is all about bringing people together!
“Solving niche challenges Founders face”.
Illustrator: Lisa Williams (Instagram: @artist_llw)