Many Rwandan entrepreneurs do not see themselves as leaders at first but that does not mean to say that they cannot and will not become leaders in future.
"In the grand scheme of things, most of the entrepreneurs in Rwanda are really just trying to make living,” says Rehema Uwamahoro, who is a social entrepreneur in youth empowerment and lecturer at the University of Rwanda’s College of Business and Economics.
"Some women entrepreneurs are natural born leaders. Some see a market opportunity and build a business to make money. And some have lost their job, have no leadership experience and need to learn the skills from the beginning," says Chantal Munanayire, who is the In-Country Facilitator of the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS program of the USA-based Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women.
She says that whatever their background or motivation, "any entrepreneur needs to be her own boss first of all." She specifies that Vision, Passion and Confidence are three personal elements that are vital for success here in Rwanda.
"In the journey of an entrepreneur, the most important thing is self-belief and the ability to convert that belief into reality,” says Mukesh Ambani, an Indian entrepreneur. "Be humble, focus on your target and vision, and don't be scared to take risks!” adds Denyse Umuneza, who has navigated the notoriously changeable Hospitality and Cultural Tourism sectors for over 10 years.
Beyond these internal ‘self-leadership’ competencies, business entrepreneurs will require both strategic awareness and technical skills in relation to such areas as product and service development; customer and market knowledge; and financial management.
"Be the person who knows your customers' wants and needs better than anyone else and who takes ownership to surprise and delight them,” says a foreign entrepreneur, based in Rwanda.
Apart from market research and customer surveys, entrepreneurial leaders will also need to develop softer skills to really get to know and work closely with their customers, as well as investors, vendors and, of course, employees.
"Here in Rwanda, the entrepreneurial leader is responsible for creating a good working environment in which all employees are happy to feel part of the business and want to help it grow,” Munanayire says.
Even so, entrepreneurial leaders may not always feel part of that close working environment themselves as they often feel that they and they alone are the ones who bear the ultimate responsibility for the success or failure of the enterprise.
"I realized that the journey of entrepreneurship can often be a lonely one. Not everyone wants to believe in or support your vision, and every entrepreneur faces this moment of truth. It's hard to walk away but harder to persevere,” says another Indian entrepreneur, Naveen Tewari.
Uwamahoro is more optimistic: "With perseverance you can get there.”
But perseverance may not be enough.
Most successful entrepreneurial leaders in Rwanda and beyond seem to recognize that while they might feel isolated at times, they do not have to do everything on their own.
In the early Ideation and the critical ‘Valley of Death’ stages of their entrepreneurial venture, they will hopefully be able to draw on strong moral sustenance from close family and friends … who may or may not always have useful advice for them. Their religious faith and spiritual beliefs can hopefully help too.
Successful entrepreneurial leaders also invest time and money in other kinds of professional support.
This might be to consult with financial advisors and business coaches on the more technical aspects of their work and with trusted peers and informal or formal mentors for the more personal aspects of their leadership.
The best professional advice that this columnist - who has been working on his own for more than 30 years – ever received was from an informal mentor in Zurich nearly 40 years ago: "If everything seems right except for the money, don’t worry about it. You’ll make up it up later.” Ironically, we were both working in banking then.
In the Rwandan context, an entrepreneur may certainly just be trying to survive financially at first but as the enterprise grows, changes and matures, hopefully they can become true leaders who, in the words of Munanayire: "Do not just provide for themselves and their workers but also for their families, their extended families and their community”.
The views expressed in this column are entirely those of the writer who can be reached at jeremy@jeremysolomons.com