Africa Entrepreneurs, Success Studies, 2011-2016 (July 2016, EPP Books eppbookservices Ghana) Chapter 14 Rwanda research is as follows (504 words): Designer (6): Starting a small business while still at school, and winning an entrepreneurship award four years later, there are few people who can boast of that. But 28-year-old Teta Isibo, owner of jewelry and interior design company Inzuki De¬signs, has done just that. Isibo started her jewelry business in 2008 as a part time job when she was still completing her studies. She started it because she loved to create her own designs; it just naturally grew from a hobby to part time and then full time. Isibo was attracted to what she does because it is a fusion of design, culture, innovation and people. Inzuki De¬signs is a Rwandan brand with a global appeal. Their products are a mix of traditional craftsmanship and con¬temporary design. They are hand-made using primarily local organic materials and produced by coopera¬tives around the country, mainly consisting of women. Apart from its owner, Inzuki has two employees and works closely with about 10 co-operatives as a way of inspiring women to get into entrepreneurship and manage their own wealth. Isibo says she has been blessed to cross paths with lots of women who have inspired her, so if she does the same for others, she takes it as an honor. The confident designer has faced some challenges in her business but prefers to call them a blessing in dis¬guise. Challenges are a given, they will always be there in business but she finds it incorrect that she faces specific challenges as a woman in business. Isibo challenges women not to limit their ambitions or to give room to self pity because they are women. She believes that the mentality of thinking that you can’t make it because you’re a wom¬an is for the faint hearted. And she herself has certainly made it. In December 2012, she beat three male contestants to win the REAL-Banque Populaire Entrepreneurship Award 2012. She found out about the competition on Twitter and says it was more like training cum com¬petition. The competition aspect made it even more appealing to her; she enjoys a challenge, so she decided to give it a go. According to Isibo, it was not easy and she gained a lot of experi¬ence in the process. Public Speak¬ing has never been her forte, so hav¬ing to pitch her business to a panel of judges and a room full of people was not easy at all. The first time she wrote her business idea and prac¬ticed it, it was 18 minutes long; cut¬ting it down to the required 3 min¬utes without skipping anything important was definitely an inter¬esting challenge for her. Her next goal is to open an online store and attract customers from all over the world, promoting Rwan-dan brands and products. Rwan¬dan products have big potential. They should be known for their fash¬ion and creativity in the same way as they are famous for coffee and tea, Isibo believes, and she wants to showcase this to the world. Source: focus.rw/wp/2012/12/entrepreneurship-award-is-jewel-in-businesswomans-crown/; info@inzuki, 20 May 2013; inzuki; rnw.nl/africa/article/woman-means-business-teta-isibo-rwandan-designer; https://facebook/InzukiDesigns; youtube/watch?v=a34qr0YR4RA
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 22:53:42 +0000
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