Johannesburg - Fin24.com spoke to Colette Symanowitz of MBAConnect.net, a professional networking community for qualified MBA graduates, about the challenges of getting her business off the ground.
Tell us how MBAconnect.net came into being.
I recently completed my MBA degree at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs) in Johannesburg. I have always been passionate about sharing knowledge and helping others gain access to positive opportunities, so I took on the role of class knowledge manager. Towards the end of the MBA, I was approached by my MBA peers to start a community to keep the MBA network together after we had graduated.
This gave rise to MBAconnect.net, a dynamic social network for MBA students and alumni from all business schools around South Africa and worldwide.
We facilitate networking, business events, knowledge sharing, MBA-level job opportunities and a host of other fantastic features designed specifically to meet the needs of the MBA community. The community is growing rapidly, and we already have close to 3 200 MBAs on board.
What has been your biggest headache in getting the brand off the ground?
Being able to target MBAs in a systematic way to motivate them to join MBAconnect.net. As a target market, MBAs aren't easy to access and business schools are very protective of their databases.
So being part of my target market has definitely helped. Also, operating on a lean marketing budget, we've had to become smarter and more creative in our marketing strategies to maximise marketing results.
We've tapped into trade exchanges, free social network marketing, Google Adwords campaigns, word of mouth and other techniques to help us grow our membership rapidly.
Have you been involved with other businesses before?
No, MBAconnect.net is my first. However, I held a corporate position for 10 years before MBAconnect.net doing project management of clinical trials, as well as sales. My corporate training helped me develop invaluable skills I use daily in my business.
What makes you get out of bed in the morning?
My life goal is to help other people access positive opportunities, and I am lucky in that MBAconnect.net enables me to do that every day. The biggest reward for me is when I am able to help someone move forward, such as pointing them towards a job or a useful business contact, or resolving a business problem they're having.
In your opinion, do you believe the business landscape for men and women is level? If not, what is holding women back from becoming successful entrepreneurs?
There are tremendous opportunities for both men and women if you have the ability to recognise and act on them.
I haven't experienced any differences in the way men and women are treated as entrepreneurs. But then I am very careful not to bring sexual overtones into the business environment, dressing professionally and keeping discussions on a business level while still building strong relationships with clients based on service excellence.
In my experience, the two biggest obstacles holding back SA women from becoming successful entrepreneurs are a lack of confidence and the ability to dream big.
On the first issue, I didn't have the confidence to start my own business until I did the MBA, and this experience was invaluable as the booster I needed. But we shouldn't need MBAs to make us realise how capable we are as entrepreneurs.
In terms of dreaming big, men seem much more comfortable with building their businesses into empires and are excited about taking on this challenge level.
By contrast, many women find it daunting, so we tend to set smaller goals for our businesses. This could be related to the confidence issue and the observation that there seem to be fewer successful female than male entrepreneurs as role models.
Is there any particular business personality you admire?
There is no single business person that I admire; rather a combination of different people, each with a different trait.
Adrian Gore for his practical, down-to-earth, take-on-the-world attitude; my husband Gavin for his ability to balance family and work, and his ability to create innovative ideas where others are blind to these opportunities; and my ex-boss John Marais from my corporate days, for his ability to understand and relate to people.
- Fin24.com