Did you know that Africa, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship in the world, with 1 in 4 women actively engaged in entrepreneurial ventures? Now, imagine the possibilities if more African women leveraged the right business models—not just to close existing gaps but to thrive and lead in their industries. This article discusses seven practical and powerful business models that can help African women turn their dreams into successful, thriving legacies.

Starting a business as a woman comes with unique challenges, from limited funding, to societal expectations, and balancing responsibilities. But the good news is, with the right business model, you can overcome these barriers and build a profitable, sustainable enterprise.

As someone who has worked with countless women, I have proven that the key to growth lies in choosing the right foundation. In the context of this article, that foundation is – starting with a business model that works.

In the next few minutes, we’ll discuss the top 7 business models every African woman should know, explore, and build legacies around.

The first is “The Service-Based Model” which focuses on offering services directly to clients or customers. This model is ideal for women who have specialised skills, such as coaching, consulting, beauty services, or writing, graphic designing, photography, among others. This model requires low startup costs, flexible working hours, and has the potential for building strong client relationships. The key to success in this business model lies in establishing credibility, building trust, and leveraging referrals from friends, fans, family, and clients.

The next type of model is “The E-commerce Model” which involves selling handmade products, kids’ educational materials, beauty products, African wears or decors, etc online through platforms like Jumia, Ebay, social media, or your own e-com website. This model allows women to work from home, while still offering a global reach with minimal costs, and can scale as the business grows.

The third business model is “The Subscription Model.” This model involves having clients or customers pay a recurring fee to gain or retain access to products, services, or content. It is great for women looking to establish a steady income stream. This model encourages repeat engagement, and builds long-term customer loyalty. Some examples of businesses in the subscription model include monthly self-care checks and products, online fitness classes for postpartum mums, bi-monthly meal prep subscription services for working women or single men, and accountability check-ins for busy mothers.

“The Franchise Model” involves women buying into an established brand and operating their own branch of the business. This model comes with minimal risk as there is already an established model. It gives you access to training and support from the parent company, and provides easier access to financial due to brand credibility. It’s a beautiful model for women who want to start a business with a proven system and brand recognition. Examples of businesses that can be done in this franchise model include owning a beauty salon franchise under a well-known brand, starting a cleaning service franchise, or a food-delivery franchise.

“The Content Creation Model” focuses on producing valuable content in niches like fashion, fitness, love and relationship, health, or finance. This model is perfect for women passionate about sharing knowledge or experiences, and is scalable with a growing audience. Businesses owners in this model enjoy multiple streams of income from courses, social media contents, books, ads, sponsorships, or brand deals. Women could launch YouTube channels on cooking tutorials, office hacks for women, blog about work-life balance for women, or DIY fashion tips for ladies and gentlemen.

The sixth hot business model African women should explore is “The Event Planning Model” which involves organising and managing events. Women with organisational and creative/innovative skills can thrive in this model. It offers high earning potential per project gotten, presents opportunity to showcase one’s creativity, and generated repeat business through referrals. Two examples of businesses in the Event Planning Model are organising corporate team building events, and coordinating retreats.

Finally, “The Licensing Model”, the last on our list, is one that involves creating products like designs, inventions, or intellectual property and licensing them to other businesses for use or distribution. This is one extraordinary model for women with innovative ideas or creative works. It generated passive income over time, and eliminates the need for direct production or sales. Women could license their unique fashion illustrations or designs to retail brands, create and license educational resources for schools, or license their photography or artwork to stock image platforms.

It is time for African women to arise, and leverage these models to build global legacies. What story do we want the next generation of women to tell about how we broke barriers and inspired change?

 

.Ejinkeonye-Christian, a certified life coach, and business educator, is the CEO of Phebeon Consulting and Media Solutions Ltd, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria (+234(0)708-048-0510; [email protected])