By Tasmiyah Randeree
Edited by Imaan Moosa
When people hear “small business”, they think small budget but that is not the case.
Meet Zuleikha Khan: entrepreneur and owner of Zoha Collection. As we end this month’s theme of success, we talk to her about entrepreneurship, finances and the role of gender in running a business.
Tell us a bit about your business
My business is a local, ethically produced South African brand. I wanted to work in fashion but I also wanted my business to be purposeful and meaningful. I wanted it to give back to the economy. That’s why I started Zoha.
I spent a lot of time ironing out the core values of my brand before it launched. It was important for me to exercise my creativity whilst knowing it was ethical. I knew factory workers were being paid fairly. I knew fabric was being sourced from a local fabric store.
How important are finances in a small business?
Finances are the backbone of a small business. It's the heart of a small business. A lot of the time when people hear “small business” they think small budget but that is not the case.
Without forecasting, budgeting and planning, you can go into big losses and you won’t see any returns from it. You have to have constant cash flow that is tracked regularly. In my second and third months of running this business, I realised I needed a spreadsheet to track every sale, track the profit, push the profit back into the business and not into my own pocket.
What advice would you give to a fellow entrepreneur?
I only learned to think this way about finances after making mistakes. So I would advise anyone to do their research in their particular industry and draw up a budget to carry through every month.
I taught myself these skills by watching videos on Youtube about finance in the fashion industry. In the first few months, I definitely made a few losses but now I am more aware of how to handle the finances of my business.
Do you think gender plays a role in understanding finances?
Finance is very gendered. Females are not really taught to budget because they are not expected to do so. Societal expectations of a woman are that she will be a homemaker and caretaker, not a breadwinner. So when it comes to business, finance, budgeting and investing, men are often given the preference.
Growing up, my brother was pulled into conversations about banking and investments, not me. I had to learn these skills by myself. I wish I had been a part of those conversations growing up because it would have helped me better financially plan this business. These days, a lot of women are starting small businesses and they do so well. So I wish the conversations could be steered to include women.
How do you think this gendered approach to finances affects an entrepreneur?
Men are more exposed to finances than women are so they can pick up on financial skills quicker. It was very different for me. I had to seek out the information by myself. It wasn’t readily available for me.
I also find that sometimes if I talk about cash flow management with my male friends, I’m not taken seriously because it’s this perception of, “You’re just making clothes. You don’t have to manage cash flow as a man would in his business.” So being a woman, it’s double the work. You have to go out and find that financial knowledge and skills. And at the same time, you have to hold your own to be taken seriously.
When it comes to males, there’s a different layer that goes into this because they are raised to be breadwinners. But with so many women becoming entrepreneurs, they are breaking that mould. So financial advice and information should be readily available for them as well.
How has your approach to finances changed now that you own a business?
Growing up, I was given an allowance. I would buy food, clothes and shoes and when I started making my own money, the first thing I bought was a designer bag. Now that I own a small business, I’m like how did I think spending all of that money on an item was okay?
Compared to now, I would never spend that amount on an item when I can take that money and put it back into my business.
As you grow up, your spending culture shifts. Now that I have other priorities, I am more conscious of where my money goes.
Being a woman, running a business and handling the finances of that business defies a lot of societal expectations of women. It has definitely shown me the gap that exists between women and easy access to financial knowledge and skills.
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