Last week I was challenged to talk about how I started my business at Startup Huddle in Blantyre, organized by the Network for Entrepreneurial Women. I was extremely nervous! But before I go into detail, let me give a brief introduction and background about myself and my business.
My name is Dingi Tewete and I am the founder, CEO, procurement officer, market manager, production manager and the accountant of Kombeza Foods (KF). I have one assistant, my husband, who doubles as the tasting manager and driver. KF is an agri- processing company established in June 2016, with a starting capital of MK 5,000 ($7). We currently have one product called Kombeza Phala, a natural and nutritious flour made from cassava flour, soy flour, maize flour, eggs, sugar and milk. This flour can be cooked into a porridge, which we recommend for both babies around 6 months and older, as well as adults. So yes, Kombeza Foods is just three months old, we only have a handful of customers and I am still trying to work out the pricing and packaging for our only product.
So back to my story on why I was so nervous. It’s a one-word answer: Fear, I was afraid of being dismissed for presenting something which is not ready to a group of established , intelligent and distinguished women of the society who were seated in the audience. My first sentence was actually a disclaimer: “You have to excuse me, I am not good at public speaking,” and then someone shouted from the audience, “You are doing well so far,” and just at that moment I thought, “What did I just say, why should I let fear destroy what could be my only chance to get my business known.?”
So I paused took a deep a deep breath and started to tell my story. I spoke passionately from my heart and with a few jokes I could see the audience moving with me. I actually didn’t want to stop and I am sure I must have repeated myself somewhere, but by the end of my presentation, I was happy, impressed with myself, more confident and proud of myself.
I learned so much from the questions, which were presented to me, and I gained so much knowledge from the advice and comments I received. I am not going to stop now, and I certainly won’t let fear ever get in the way of my potential customers and me. My advice to fellow startup founders is to just start small and think big – there is no such thing as a bad idea. Network with fellow entrepreneurs, talk about your ideas with different people and you just never know someone may just have the answer which you are looking for.
Good luck and see you at the top!