Across South Africa, countless women are quietly running side hustles that blend talent, creativity, and care. She’s baking at midnight while her children sleep, crocheting dishcloths that end up in German homes, running a WhatsApp-based beauty salon, or hosting travellers in her spare room.
These small but powerful enterprises are proof that entrepreneurship often starts at the kitchen table — and grows through trust, connection, and community.
“Many South African women are already entrepreneurs in action, even if they don’t use that word,” says Alvira Fisher, MBA graduate at Stellenbosch Business School. “These businesses, born from necessity, talent, and care, thrive on something powerful called social capital.”
Social capital: your hidden superpower
Social capital is the network of trust, relationships, and support women build daily — through school gate chats, family ties, community groups, and digital networks. According to Alvira, it’s also the perfect foundation for applying design thinking, a problem-solving process used by the world’s most successful start-ups.
Without formal training, many women already follow design thinking’s five steps: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test. Whether it’s creating a rooibos balm for a friend’s child with eczema or offering a custom service for neighbours, these small acts are powerful business experiments.
The 5-step launch checklist for women entrepreneurs
Alvira’s advice for turning informal ventures into structured businesses:
- Scan your world daily – Look for recurring problems or needs in your community.
- Activate your network – Share ideas with trusted people and use feedback as market research.
- Prototype together – Offer small samples or service previews to test your concept early.
- Iterate openly – Be willing to adapt based on real feedback.
- Reinvest trust – Turn your first supporters into brand ambassadors.
From kitchen counter to company
“The bottom line is that women with side hustles already know how to do this,” says Alvira. “Design thinking might sound like corporate jargon, but it’s really just human-centred problem solving — something women do every single day.”
Whether you’re selling bakes, crafts, beauty services, or unique experiences, you’re already running your first innovation lab. The next step is intention — and the courage to call yourself what you already are: an entrepreneur.
