More than makeup: How Atsoko overcame the challenges of entrepreneurship in Tanzania

Abstract

Africa is an emerging economy with many institutional obstacles that complicate efforts to do business there. These include limited access to capital, a lack of skilled labor, inferior infrastructure, and corruption. The experiences of Marie Englesson, a Swedish entrepreneur, in establishing Atsoko, a thriving cosmetics distribution and retailing firm in Tanzania, offer valuable lessons in addressing those challenges through creativity, dedication, and wise and principled deployment of capital.Securing first mover advantage, establishing early brand identity, providing employee training, offering a basic salary higher than the local standard, rewarding good performance, and focusing on making a positive social impact were all part of her beauty company's formula for success.

Entrepreneurs’ endogenous attributes necessary for small enterprise success in Vhembe rural areas, South Africa

“…This is a sure method to measure the viability of an innovation. These findings are in line with Wang et al (2005) and Alon and Shneor (2017) who emphasised the need to measure business fit by means of survey. In this, an idea is developed based on an existing gap, and is then tested for quality control before execution (Alon & Shneor 2017;Darnihamedani 2016).…”

“…Participants' view of R and business sustainability corroborate those of Alon and Shneor (2017) who asserted that real entrepreneurs endure uncertainties and see how they could transform them into opportunities, whilst others give up. Lack of R would continue to impact negatively on entrepreneurs who have low potential to survive and succeed.…”

“…Research has shown that there is a positive relationship between resilient and business development (Kunaka & Moos 2019). Resilience is the ability to endure hardships and uncertainties, and afterwards, recover from any shortfalls (Alon & Shneor 2017). It explains the ability of entrepreneurs to adapt to disruptions that pose threats to businesses' existence (Kativhu 2019).…”

Crowdfunding in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges

“…And while entrepreneurs deal with adversity regardless of context, some challenges reign prominent in African contexts in general (e.g. Alon and Shneor 2017;Belwal and Singh 2008) and the African crowdfunding context in particular.…”

The role of entrepreneurship education in developing a passion for business

“…Research has shown that passion helps an entrepreneur perform better-that it leads toward a higher entrepreneurial effort (Baum, Locke, & Smith, 2001) and to greater persistence (Cardon & Kirk, 2013). Starting a new business venture is demanding and requires a continual and consistent effort on the part of an entrepreneur (Alon & Shneor, 2017). Furthermore, this effort might require entrepreneurs to invest time and financial capital over several years to make their business successful (Gielnik, Spitzmuller, Schmitt, Klemann, & Frese, 2014).…”