Lessons on Surviving COVID-19 from Women in Tech

Optimising Community

The "glass cliff" is a visually evocative term that brings to mind the fragile area one would be teetering on and the courage it takes to venture onto a surface of this nature. The reference alludes to scenarios where women have been placed into leadership positions when business is calamitous and needs fixing. These situations are often also instances where the chances of failure have been abnormally high too. According to the Harvard Business Review, upon looking at this phenomenon, what the trend demonstrates is that women appear to lead better in a crisis. Turning a lens onto the real-life chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its effects particularly on women and women-led businesses, the World Bank Blog notes that "Despite the challenges, women-led businesses are responding to the COVID-19 crisis with resilience and innovation. Women-led small and micro businesses were much more likely to increase the use of digital platforms compared to those led by men."

A challenge facing all businesses during the COVID-19 period was contending with the shift to work-from-home models from being office based, testing the digital capabilities of businesses in a critical way. "The pandemic led to us drastically increasing female representation within our company, and we adopted the AGILE method of working, which was crucial in providing us with the structure we needed to work with efficacy and scale. The demand for our work forced us to scale during that time," said Wahseema Roberts, CEO of software development company, Temo Digital, an SMME supported by the Innovator Trust Enterprise Development Programme. She elaborates on the 2020/21 period, noting a few key factors that led to them surviving and thriving during the pandemic. "Because of the hybrid work situation, we observed that how we had already been working was right. Remote working had some infrastructure and management challenges. Keeping track of productivity was another challenge. However, being a part of an incubation programme with the Innovator Trust, really helped us cope better.”

Using Opportunities

Two significant events during 2020-2021 served as a catalyst for change that helped Temo Digital thrive: the pandemic and their first Innovator Trust Women In Tech (WIT), Dare to Dream conference. "We took on more work during COVID, but working around the clock, as exciting as it was initially, was not sustainable. We had to recruit more talent. We were suddenly living our motto to create jobs in the ICT space, and we were doing so but not nearly fast enough,” says Wahseema.

An unintended consequence of the period was that SMMEs found themselves in constant training mode, resulting in many existing teams becoming experts in problem solving under difficult, uncertain, and chaotic circumstances. SMMEs that were able to think creatively, pivot and automate or digitize parts of the business quickly, emerged as winners during this time.

Wahseema touches on how being awarded 2^nd place for the 2021 Women In Tech Enterprise Development Quarter 1 (First Quarter 2021) Top Achiever’s category, led her to reflect on the pandemic and unpack what they had done right.

Leading Innovation

While for some female entrepreneurs, the COVID-19 pandemic presented opportunities to adapt, creating space for new customers and revenue streams, for others, the period was a difficult struggle marred by loss and devastation. “Lockdown happened and the effect was quite tragic. I run a group of companies and one of the sister companies was the first that was shutdown. I had just given birth 3 months before and the loss of the business was devastating. We didn’t know what to do,” shared Lerato Rampana, CEO of Kathabo Trading based in the Free State, in a panel discussion looking at the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and unemployment on small businesses in the tech space at the Innovator Trust 2021 Women In Tech experience.

As lockdowns around the world were announced and hysteria set in, the demand for PPE equipment became vital for businesses in order to keep operating. “Everyone was looking for sanitisers and masks. We began to supply these products, got involved in disinfecting premises and that is what kept us going. It gave us hope as a small business,” adds Lerato.  

Aptly described, the impact on women at the onset of the pandemic was more shock than surprise. Within days, markets across the globe began to feel the effects of the loss of economic productivity, within weeks, budget freezes, salary cuts and lay-offs began to emerge as a common trend among businesses as a means to survive the uncertainty of the pandemic. The roles of women became multi-faceted. “A lot of the women became breadwinners, caregivers, and teachers overnight. As business owners we were forced to pivot and our leadership approach had to be agile in the way we managed our staff,” explains Ruby Moodley, CEO of IT Network Recruitment & Consulting, previous Innovator Trust Top Achiever who also featured as a guest panelist at the Innovator Trust 2021 and 2022 Women In Tech event.

The resilience and growth of all the female tech SMMEs are outstanding lessons for all businesses to apply:

• Pay attention to your growth. Too frequently, we focus on what's not working. It's equally important to know what is working and replicate that as far as possible. – Lerato Rampana, CEO, Kathabo Trading
• The positive that came out of COVID is that we’ve learnt as women that we have the strength, and we can overcome – Ruby Moodley, CEO IT Networks/Vizin Group
• Observe how you can engage your team, so everyone uses their voice effectively. Naturally confident and outgoing team members make their voices heard in the physical workspace. The pandemic created a safe space online for other voices to come to the fore - their contributions are as valuable.
• Find your mentors - don't shy away from people who can guide you. Whether you choose one-on-one mentorship or a master circle of mentors that an incubation programme provides, build a community of people that will support your growth.