Lusanda Mbane reflects on tough lessons learnt in entrepreneurship

Lesson number one for Lusanda has been to stop talking down on herself ...

01 October 2020 - 08:00 By chrizelda kekana
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'Scandal!' actress Lusanda Mbane has been learning life lessons in business.
'Scandal!' actress Lusanda Mbane has been learning life lessons in business.
Image: Instagram/Lusanda Mbane

Even though actress Lusanda Mbane founded her youth empowerment movement back in 2012, she only made the decision to look into its business aspect last month and she's taken to Instagram to share the lessons the journey has gifted her.

The Scandal! actress only recently felt the stars aligning for her to finally awaken the entrepreneur inside, but nothing could have prepared her for the challenges she was to meet.

In a reflective, lengthy post, Lusanda shared all about her pushing her brand Zazi Zithande Zithembe and the lessons she's learnt since taking on the challenge of entrepreneurship.

One month ago, I took a leap of faith. Zazi Zithande Zithembe. A vision that has been brewing within me, a baby that has been growing inside me. I decided that the time was right.

“That was the first lesson: timing is everything. While the movement was launched 8 years ago, I was never ready for this step. I needed to feel it, to live it, for my heart and my head to be in sync,” she said.

Lusanda said among the many things she had to learn, she realised that starting from scratch was a big part of her journey and it was tough every single time. However, she had to find a way to still be grateful, even in the hard parts of her journey, because she had asked God for everything that was coming her way.

One of the most important lessons for Lusanda has been to learn not to talk badly about herself or allow others around her to fall into that trap.

I have stopped to reprimand a few who speak badly about themselves while ordering. We are in the business of the self and it's been amazing to have those 'self' conversations while processing an order and to hear someone say, 'Thank you Sis' Lusanda. I will be aware from now on. I will not talk down on myself.'”

Read the full post below:

View this post on Instagram

💛🖤🤍One month ago, I took a leap of faith. @ZaziZithandeZithembe 💕...A vision that has been brewing within me, a baby that has been growing inside me. I decided that the time was right. That was LESSON1: TIMING IS EVERYTHING. While the movement was launched 8 years ago, I was never ready for this step. I needed to feel it, to live it, for my heart and my head to be in sync. The second lesson I have learnt is that YOU START FROM SCRATCH EACH TIME. Nothing could have prepared me for the amount of work I have had to do over the past month... researching, negotiating, damage controlling, throwing tantrums 🤣. I honestly have hardly slept. How could I when people were paying for orders at 2am and 4am? I had asked God for this. I simply could not fail. The third lesson I learnt is that PEOPLE BUY YOU. There are many businesses which sell merchandise. The difference is ME and my vision. I cannot delegate that. It IS the value proposition. For me it has meant I deal with all my customers personally (sometimes at midnight 😅 🙈), but because they buy ME, midnight is as good as lunchtime. The fourth lesson I have learnt is that PEOPLE EXPECT NOTHING MORE OF YOU THAN TO JUST BE HUMAN. The perfectionist in me refuses to offer anything less than the promise I made, but the truth is that life happens, and when it does, people understand and their expectations are even exceeded when you simply say "I apologize, and this is how I will fix it". The fifth lesson I have learnt is to SORROUND MYSELF WITH STAKEHOLDERS WHOSE VISION IS IN SYNC WITH MINE. By this I mean suppliers who understand your value proposition to your customers and are willing to bend over backwards to help you fulfill it. I cannot pass on excuses to my customers, therefore I need suppliers who understand that. Even my customers must be in sync with my values. I have stopped to reprimand a few who speak badly about themselves while ordering. We are in the business of the self and it's been amazing to have those 'self' conversations while processing an order and to hear someone say "Thank you Sis' Lusanda. I will be aware from now on. I will not talk down on myself." IT'S BEEN AMAZING!👑🙏🏾💕💃🏾

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