Kirsten Goss Jewellery designer and businesswoman

❝There are so many opportunities here to find a niche where you can offer a unique product or service and create a business around it.❞

Kirsten Goss understands that flexibility and patience are the secret to entrepreneurial success. She believes that entrepreneurs need to be realistic with their expectations – nothing happens overnight. Her own journey has been ‘the most amazing 20-year overnight success story’!

Women are placed under so much pressure – not only to work and achieve, but also on how well they parent their children. This can be crushing, but Kirsten believes that embracing the challenge is what helped differentiate her business and fuelled her success. At the heart of the entrepreneur is dedication – ‘and a fair amount of blind faith’, she maintains.

Bravery in business is in Kirsten’s blood – she cites her parents as her inspiration. She admires the way they ‘took a huge gamble when, as a young couple fresh out of university, they moved to the then Transkei in the late ’70s – when most people were petrified of the idea. They took over a small family trading company that grew into what is now Boxer Supermarkets.’

Of course, part of being a successful entrepreneur is the resilience to survive the knocks that inevitably come with starting your own business. Kirsten says it’s important to remain positive by focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel. Family and community have been crucial to her own success, she says. ‘In South Africa, there’s a definite sense of community among women … and there are so many opportunities here to find a niche where you can offer a unique product or service and create a business around it. All you need is the courage to take the plunge!’