The year 2011 began just like any other year. I was in Uganda and folk were afraid of going out since Al shabab had thrown bombs amongst folk watching the world cup finals at the city’s rugby club. So we stayed home,  lit the BBQ and sat back to take in the fireworks at Sheraton Hotel from  a vantage point of our back yard.

As the year unfolded it turned to be quite memorable. This post is about some of the events that stood out for me.

When I got  back to the UK I hit the road again this time to Libya. Gaddafi had called a conference to discuss the state of the African Diaspora in the Europe and I was to address 600 people on issues that affect African Women in the Diaspora. The conference gave me an  insight into  life in Libya.  I got an opportunity to meet Gaddafi face to face as well as spending time in his infamous compound.

In Ivory Coast there was a political impasse and the livelihood  of cocoa growers was threatened

A gay man was killed in Uganda- what was that about? We saw international donors threaten withdraw Aid from countries with poor record of gay rights – the jury is still out on this one.

In the same month I lost my dear cousin Doreen due to poor maternal health care in Uganda, things didn’t improve in February as my niece miscarried twins whilst a dear friend lost her new born baby.

In February I had a guest a appearance on the SHOOT THE MESSENGER show to discuss issues that concern Africans in the diaspora

In March I was voted as one of the 20 most inspirational African  women in the diaspora what an honour!

Between April and June I worked hard on the Water project in Ruhanga SW Uganda. One of our goals for the year at LET THEM HELP THEMSELVES OUT OF POVERTY was to get clean water into this village and we pulled out everything we had.  I even managed a 5k walk in Virginia Water Surrey  to raise money for this programme.  I was back in Uganda at the end of June to catch up with progress on this water project

In Uganda a new form of  protest led by the opposition  WALK 2 WORK caught the government there by surprise and  the world watched as the opposition leader was dragged through the streets of  Kampala

I got to see my childhood singer Janet Jackson at a live concert in London

In July there was bad news at Ethnic Supplies we had hoped to join the Oxfam’s  Supply chain but we didn’t make it because of they had to cut back due to the poor economy.

Africa got a new country South Sudan and the worst food crisis in decades continued to kill children in Somalia

In August London and other cities in the UK were set on fire for reasons that we still don’t understand several months although most have argued that it was due to systemic poverty . The phone hacking scandal hit the UK, as head rolled, the Met Police lost its Chief and News of The World Britain’s favourite tabloid closed.

September was a sad time in Ruhanga one of our 4 year old WITNESS lost her life in a hit and run accident. The bad news did  not stop there, our application for a grant from Comic Relief was turned down.

Although this year marked 100 years of Women’s day a woman in Uganda was allowed to do die on a labour ward because she could not pay her hospital bill of £66

My plans to get started on that Masters degree fell to pieces in October. I was gutted and I am hoping that I will pick this up in the new year.

In November I was honoured to address a Business fights poverty gathering about my work in SW Uganda and I had to pack my bags again. In Uganda I caught up with the folk at the Uganda Coffee Development Agency and introduced them to Carmel Dennis  a friend from England. We toured SW Uganda and got as far Kisoro on the border of Rwanda and Uganda. I was saddened to learn that things had not improved much for women in that region.

The beginning of December was end of term at Ruhanga Community Development School and the “turning on the taps” in Ruhanga!

The village finally had piped water . I can’t tell you what that felt like and of all the things I have done this year being part of the team that brought clean water to that village  is the one  thing I am most proud of.  And I hope that before the year ends I can add one more achievement! BUILDING A GIRLS ONLY TOILET at Ruhanga community school. Please support my effort http://www.lethemhelpthemselves.org/news/gender-equality-the-girls-want-a-toilet-of-their-own

Technology has played a big role in my world this year and even a bigger one in shaping world events. It appears  that ordinary folk are finding it easier to fight exclusion and the big men of politics can only ignore their citizens at their peril

How 2011 for you?

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Sometime last year I got into a conversation with a woman on Twitter whose twitter handle was simply SMT95. We exchanged several tweets and she asked for my number. I gave it to her and she called me. She introduced herself as Sadia Sisay.

We spoke for 2 solid hours on anything and everything. But mostly about Twitter, the point of black history month and not being able to find underwear that complimented our skin colours. By the end of that conversation Sadia told me that she was going to start a new enterprise producing underwear for women of colour!

A few months later and I get a call from Sadia informing me that she was on her way to Paris to meet an experienced lingerie designer!

Me: So you have done it? You are going to bring knickers especially designed for black women on the market?
Sadia: Yep!

Me: Good luck dear and let me know what I can do to help
Sadia: You will be sorry you asked Ida, I will be in touch

We remained in touch and I followed her progress and the ups and downs of having to nurse her mother through ill health for a whole year.She remained focused through it all.

In the mean time I had taken on the role of curating Africa on the Blog and Sadia was one of the first people I contacted when I was looking for contributors. There was a passion about her on all manner of things concerning the African Diaspora and I wanted everyone to hear that passion and what Sadia had to say. We eventually met face to face in October last year.

After all of that hard work Sadia’s dream of bringing underwear for women of colour to the market has been realised and she has called this brand new label beingU

But like any new product on the market folk need to hear about it and in this case lingerie retailers are reluctant to stock it until folk are actually Asking for it

So to help Sadia along I have designed this simple questionnaire and I would be grateful if you would please spare 1 minute to take part

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This is a question that is usually asked at the end of a formal meeting. This question is useful at the end of meetings to draw out anything that may have been left off the agenda in the first place.

But my  good friend Jackie Groundsell over at the 12:30 The Women’s company has adopted this as the tag line for this year’s annual conference.  I have been thinking about this tag line in relation to women’s networks.

As I pondered this I did wonder whether women are better at networking and if so why? I can’t provide you with a logical answer to this question but I believe that women are fabulous  at networking and I have been at the receiving end of  this .

I had a problem recently when a parcel I needed for a meeting with John Lewis was stuck at Stansted Airport. You guessed it I put out a private message to my fellow bloggers over at Birds on the Blog and before I knew it my parcel had arrived and I made the meeting. What was interesting about this was,  I tagged my question on a thread that was to do with the Birds on the Blog, but ladies took up my “Any other Business” question and dealt with it. I also felt confident to ask this question in such an environment and did not feel that I would be ticked off sidetracking the discussion.

Something else that has been on my mind; the notion of connectedness and I wrote about this a little while ago. The idea of not having to look for work if you are well connected may seem far fetched but Jackie and I tested this out since my post.

Here is what I happened. Whilst I was in Rwanda last December Jackie sent me an email introducing me to Julia a jewellery designer.

When I got back Julia and I exchanged a few emails and phone calls. I discovered that Julia had previously  lived in Ireland where she specialized in Ethnic jewellery but her suppliers had dropped off the face of the  earth  so to so say, leaving her high and dry. She was keen to restart her business here  in the UK and through  a quick conversation with Jackie she learned that Jackie knew someone that might help her and that someone is Me. I gained a new customer and Julia’s problem with suppliers was resolved. That dear readers is the value of being well connected!

So if you are  looking to kick start your networking this year don’t the  Any other Business event on 16 March 2010

A strange thing to say perhaps but that is the exact view of Thomas Power co founder  and Chairman of Ecademy

I met Thomas last night at the Weybridge Ecademy and he gave a powerful talk about the value of networks , being connected and the value of being connected.

The central message to us was that whilst our children understand the value of networks and we need to learn from them. In addition that well connected people never have to look for work  or contracts as these will find them some how.

I had a one to one  5 minute chat after the event and he shared some tips with me on how I can  resolve a current business challenge by growing my network.

Thomas said to me, Ida you can’t be that well connected if you can’t resolve that challenge through your network!

I did wonder whether he had a point so I started to look back on some of the most recent experiences I have had with a view to testing his theory after all I pride myself on my networking abilities!

If you read my story of how I got started with Ethnic Supplies , I will now fill you in with some of the  detail that tests Thomas’ theory.

I mentioned a visit to Madagascar to meet the producers there. I got two phone calls one was from a local glossy magazine known as The Elmbridge, they  had heard about what I was up to and wanted to do a feature about me and my work  The other and perhaps most significant was a call from my local Business Link in Woking.

They wanted me to be a panelist on their road shows  entitled  WHAT  IS  STOPPING YOU  and the idea was that I would share my experiences fo setting up Ethnic Supplies with other women.  The last of these events I took part in was in February this year where I met Jackie who was a panelist too.

Fast forward to May 2009 and I am in Uganda with a client when an email drops in from Jackie, it said

Ida I was touched by story and wondred if you would be  willing to appear as a panelist at our annual general meeting in March next year  as I think some of our members will find it inspiring!

Jackie is someone I have come to know and like and I  immediately accepted  her request and if you are a woman in business I would urge you to connect with her and better still sign up for her event in March.

Back to Thomas’ theory, is this what he means when he says  that if you are well connected  opportunities will find you? Is connecting enough?

Would love to hear your views on these issues

http://www.voxafrica.com/modx/en/ShootTheMessenger/agoa-whose-growth-and-whose-opportunities

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shopping with a conscience

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/missionunstoppable/2008/07/23/Shopping-with-a-Conscience-The-world-of-Ethnic-Supplies

Following the  event on 1/7/09, a week later I was contacted by one of the people who was at the event because he wanted to discuss his project in Uganda and to pick my brains on the best way to approach it.

I told him I was due back in London on 14 July, but had several meetings during the day and wondered if he could join me and my associates at an evening networking event organised by the folk at Business Action for Africa. He agreed and at the meeting he introduced me to two people that had been at the event of 1 July where I had met him but I had not had the chance to talk to them at that event.

What was significant about this is that the reason that we had not managed to talk was because like me they had been “caught up” in the two chaps tale about their project, and nearly three weeks after the event one of them was still very angry about this, specifically because she had not managed to meet other people as a result.

In the last thread I offered up a hypothetical scenario of these guys meeting 500 people over the course of the year that are unable to advocate for them, but here I was standing with 3 of those 500 including myself that makes it 4. If we each know at least 100 or so possible people to refer them to..

This is scary stuff if we work on the assumption that Word of Mouth is a very important if not vital sales tool? The significant point here is that everyone remembered who they were and what their company was called, but the mentioning of their names and company had people “pulling faces” in anger!

How about that! I would certainly hate to be in that situation.

I would like your help to unpack this please, and here are some questions for starters!

Should we hold these guys responsible for the fact that we were unable to speak to the people we wanted to at this event?

What is the best way to handle such situations?

How can we avoid this situation in future?

How can we ensure that people remember us for the right reasons and want to refer us to their contacts etc?

I  enjoy meeting new people and face to face networking is something I really look forward to.

All things being equal I make an effort to meet and speak to at least 3 people whom I have never met before at each event and learn about what they do, their interests etc

 And on 1/7/09  whilst at a networking event in London I had  the same  strategy in mind. I joined a group as someone in the group had caught my eye from early on in the evening. A discussion was already under way so I stood by and listened and even joined in the discussion.

Our host was part of this group and he left to find us drinks. This terminated the discussion, and gave me an opportunity to speak to the person that had caught my eye.

As he started to introduce himself to me two people joined the group. He stopped and greeted them too. It seemed like the two chaps had been let loose.

They spoke at length about their project and the rest of us in the group listened, some in the group walked away, our host had returned with the drinks, he listened for a while and moved on.

At some point I managed to get a word in and I said to the two people, interesting project and I heard you say you are trying to launch it in Africa, how can I help

BIG MISTAKE, the academic chap of the two went into all the science of the project etc
I interrupted him again and I asked “what sort of person are you trying to meet in Africa and have you got a preference of African countries?

Is it the man on the street, a civil servant a minister etc, What do they look like?

“Oh, the general mass” came the reply and at this stage I had lost the will to live as everyone else had left the group.

I thought to myself give it one more try! So I said to them

Your project is a really good idea and I think most if not all the African governments would want to talk to you, but you may want to consider coming up with a way to explain it simply perhaps in 60seconds with emphasis on what problem you hope to solve in order to get their attention

So if you would like to start telling me who you really would like me to introduce to and what would I say to them in 60 seconds that would encourage them to want to speak/meet you!

The penny finally dropped and they both told me about their project and the person they would like to meet in on sentence

I didn’t get to speak to the person I had wanted to speak to but I must say I learned a thing or two.

Your message may be very clear to you but it is important that it is even clearer to your audience

I did wonder what would happen if these two people spoke to 500 people at networking events over a course of say 6 months and none of those 500 people understood who it is they want to meet or what their project is all about!

Would those 500 people go on and advocate for them?

I have to be honest and say they certainly didn’t inspire me to review my network for people they may want to meet!

Some tough questions for you and me

“Do I put my message across clearly enough for people to understand what I do in simple/memorable terms? “

“Does this enable people to advocate for me in my absence?”

There is a new theory that the #FollowFriday recommendations on twitter are open to abuse/SPAM
Nikki Pilkington an expert on twitter advises that in order to avoid this SPAM it is best to write your recommendations in a blog and then post a link to them.

I have a great deal of respect for Nikki’s views on twitter and other Social Media platforms and in my view what she doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing. She has come up with a Twitter mentoring scheme called Tweetmentor and I am currently working way through it. Nikki’s twitter handle is @nikkipilkington if you would like to follow her and to find out about her twitter mentoring scheme visit her website http://www.nikkipilkington.com/

@peter_blanchard is a dear friend who want everyone in his network to succeed, he knows a great deal about selling smartly and IT. To find out about his work visit his company website www.ecom90.co.uk

@procphil another dear friend, he is very generous to those in his network . to find out about Phil’s work visit his blog http://streamliningprocesses.wordpress.com/

@SuButcher is great at connecting people, and what she doesn’t know about the planning system isn’t worth knowing here is Su’ website http://www.barefootgilles.com/

@essex_courier another generous soul that shares tips about all manner of things she taught me how to feed my blog into twitter. Read more about Sarah at her blog http://arrowlighthaulage.co.uk/arrowblog/

I love twitter as you may have figured by now but that is it about #followfriday this week . Oh and if you want to follow me I am @ethnicsupplies

Women possess the potential to create an extra 150,000 new companies every year and hold the key to recovery

By Helen Loveless
Last updated at 12:13 PM on 09th March 2009

Today is International Women’s Day, when the economic, political and social achievements of women are celebrated.

Yet many still face barriers preventing them from setting up in business, even though entrepreneurs are widely seen as the driving force behind any economic recovery. Experts are keen to encourage women to take a more active entrepreneurial role to help the UK out of recession.

Female entrepreneurs contribute an estimated £130billion a year to the UK economy, yet figures show that if as many women as men launched businesses there would be an extra 150,000 start-up firms every year.

In the bag: Ida Horner says women are good networkers

Glenda Stone is co-chairwoman of the Women’s Enterprise Task Force, which was set up by Gordon Brown to increase the number of successful, female-run businesses. She believes lack of confidence is a key factor deterring many women.

‘The majority of women-owned firms are micro-businesses and this is partly because many women don’t have the confidence or knowledge about where to go for finance, or how to take their business to the next level,’ she says. ‘Women’s enterprise is vital in helping the economy to move forward.’

The natural caution of many businesswomen may also be holding them back, says Stone. ‘Women often achieve more than men with less money because they are less inclined to borrow,’ she says. ‘However, this can lead to them not being properly resourced, which can hold them back.’

But one area where women shine is social enterprise. According to the Social Enterprise Coalition, while men are twice as likely as women to set up a ‘ conventional’ business, women are more likely to launch a social enterprise.

Uganda-born Ida Horner started Ethnic Supplies, a social enterprise specialising in handicrafts, textiles and arts and crafts from east Africa, in 2007.

Ida, 43, from Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, had been a housing manager for a London borough, but after visiting Uganda and witnessing the extreme poverty there, she decided to set up her business. Ida imports Fairtrade textiles from Madagascar and baskets and jewellery from east African states including Uganda and Kenya.

‘A key motivation for starting my business was to support women in east Africa and enable them to work,’ she says.

So far Ida has financed the business through the equity in her home and from savings. She has also received help from advice service Business Link. Family and friends help out, too.

‘Women are good at networking and mentoring, and having access to this has helped me to see where I can develop,’ she says.

To contact Business Link, go to businesslink.gov.uk. Women can also approach Addidi Business Angels, which invests in SMEs run by women (addidi.com).

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