Global Entrepreneurship Week

No-one wakes up and automatically knows how to run a business. It is a skill that needs to be learned and honed over time, even if you have a natural talent for it. As a creative entrepreneur, I stumbled many times in the early years of trying to build a successful business. I had no immediate examples of what I needed to do, so just went with what I thought would be the right things to do. Much of my early ideas about business were borne from novels featuring successful heroines who made having their dream businesses look easy and that made me want to be like them. Reality bites and separating fantasy from reality has been a long and difficult path to where I am now.

I still stumble but with growth comes wisdom and I have learnt to seek the answers to the questions I don’t know, to follow or surround myself with individuals who have walked the path before me, and my peers who are facing similar struggles. So one thing I know for sure entrepreneurship is rarely something that you can do alone. And events like Global Entrepreneurship Week a week-long event held in 170+ countries, are about celebration and connecting business creators to those who can support them into the future. Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED) is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. WED celebrates women in business and honours their struggles, the hurdles they face, their achievements and successes.

Celebrate and connect are two of Atelier Fifty Five’s values that fuel our mission of supporting the development of the African design industry. Through our editorial content, we seek to inspire, celebrating knowledge and the diversity in culture, heritage, and creativity. Through our consultancy and creative business services, we work hard to connect creatives to opportunities and foster trade, enabling people to build successful businesses and earn a decent living from their craft. As a new edition to the editorial offerings, Atelier Fifty Five introduces Design Diaries a section dedicated to entrepreneurship for creative entrepreneurs and sharing my experiences of the entrepreneurial journey to inspire and motivate your creative career and support you in becoming the best at what you choose to do.

– Tapiwa Matsinde

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For further information about Global Entrepreneurship Week visit: https://genglobal.org

[Image credits: The image shown is of London-based textile and lifestyle brand Dar Leone, and belongs to Tapiwa Matsinde/Atelier Fifty Five. If downloaded and used elsewhere please credit accordingly.]