top of page
Articles
Ideas. Insights. Lessons from the Business Frontline.
Business is rarely as neat as the textbook suggests. These articles are where I unpack the realities of entrepreneurship; the decisions, mistakes, lessons, opportunities and uncomfortable truths that come with building and growing a business.
Drawing from my work with entrepreneurs, corporate partners, and enterprise development programmes, as well as my own journey in business, I explore the things that matter when you are trying to build something that lasts. From strategy, money and leadership to growth, markets and the realities of being an entrepreneur in South Africa and across Africa and the world.
Think of this as the Business Doctor’s waiting room for ideas; a place to think differently about your business, challenge what you know, and hopefully leave with something practical you can use.
You May Not Be Interested in Politics. But Politics Is Interested in You.
On elections, the power of questioning, and why our voices matter. I have been following the recent local government elections with great interest. Not necessarily because of who won or who lost, but because of what the results represent. People have spoken. And whether we agree with what they have said or not, we must acknowledge that they have exercised their democratic power. There is something profoundly important about that. Elections are not simply about political parti
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
1 day ago5 min read
THE SWEET RELIEF OF WINNING
Sometimes victory is less about celebration and more about finally being able to breathe. If you watched the Soweto Derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, you will understand exactly what I mean when I say that some victories are not good for your blood pressure! There are games you watch comfortably, knowing your team has everything under control. And then there are games where you spend most of the time negotiating with God, questioning the referee, coaching from
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Nov 13 min read
What good is a beautiful car if it cannot take you anywhere??
The uncomfortable truth about the basics of doing business. This week, I had the privilege of facilitating a four-hour Funding Readiness Masterclass at the Sanlam Santam SMME Day and while the subject was funding readiness, the conversations in the room reminded me of something I have observed repeatedly in my work with entrepreneurs. We have entrepreneurs chasing funding, growth, expansion and opportunities when the very foundations of their businesses are not in place. And
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Oct 256 min read
The Blessing of Knowing What It Feels Like to Be Spoilt.
Sometimes, you stay in bad situations because you genuinely don't know how good life can get. Look...... I've been thinking about what a blessing it is to know what it means and feels like to be spoilt. And when I say spoilt, I'm not necessarily talking about money, expensive gifts, luxury holidays or grand gestures. I'm talking about the experience of being treated exceptionally well. Being considered. Being prioritised. Being cared for. Being in environments where you don't
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Oct 186 min read
Not just a destination!
Heritage isn't just a September thing, right... anyway, as you might have seen on my socials, I spent Heritage Day exploring Cape Town as a tourist, learning more about its history and taking in the places and stories that make it what it is. The commentary on the Red Bus is actually so good.....It really immerses you in the experience. It reminded me how much I love and appreciate South Africa’s tourism sector: our landscapes, food, languages, people and the histories that m
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Oct 42 min read
What Single Parenting Taught Me About Entrepreneurship.
I woke up today, and my daughter is 15. Fifteen! How did that happen? Where did the years go? For context, I’ve been a single parent since she was three. And I want to be clear about what I mean: I’m not co-parenting. I have raised her on my own as a single parent. That means I have spent twelve years doing the school runs, making the decisions, paying the bills, showing up for the celebrations and figuring out what to do when things go wrong. Some seasons have been beautiful
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Sep 274 min read
You Cannot Fly a Plane with a Motor-Vehicle Engine.
I am probably on a flight every second week, on average. You would think that by now, the fascination would have worn off. It hasn’t. Every time I sit on a plane, I am still amazed that something so enormous can leave the ground, carry hundreds of people across countries and continents, and somehow land safely at its destination. I watch the wings. I listen to the engines. I notice the change in sound as we begin to accelerate. I remain fascinated by the fact that this massiv
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Sep 206 min read
Feed the business you have, not the business you’re watching online.
Social media has done something very interesting to entrepreneurship: it has made every business look the same size. A block!! Think about it. On your screen, the startup operating from somebody’s spare bedroom occupies exactly the same little square as the company turning over hundreds of millions. The entrepreneur with two employees appears right underneath the entrepreneur with an executive committee, five departments and 200 employees. You scroll from one to the other wit
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Sep 135 min read
Some things reveal their best features in the dark.
I got a new car recently: a stunning Renault Duster. And yes, I love it. The interior is brilliant, the exterior looks great, and it drives beautifully… all the things you notice when you're excited about a new car. But then I drove it at night and suddenly saw the car differently. With the lights on, it's like the interior changed. Little details that I had barely noticed during the day suddenly became part of the experience. The exterior looked different too. Same car. Same
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Sep 63 min read
Peaked too early in life, and now you're feeling stuck?
I recently listened to a conversation with the founder of Discovery, Adrian Gore, about purpose and what it means to live as an impactful human being. Somewhere in that conversation, he touched on something we often joke about: people who peaked in high school. You know the type. They were head girl (yes, I know I was also the first black head girl at St Catherine's Convent), but let's continue: head boy, captain of the first team, the most popular person in school, and the o
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Aug 305 min read
Under the Influence.
When we hear the words “under the influence,” our minds immediately go to alcohol or drugs. We think about someone whose judgment has been impaired by something they have consumed. We think about someone behaving differently, making questionable decisions or doing things they probably would not do if they were sober. But lately, I have been thinking about this phrase very differently. The truth is, alcohol and drugs are not the only things capable of impairing our judgment. E
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Aug 237 min read
Seeing Life Through Curious Eyes, Not Privileged Eyes!
The ocean is fascinating!!!! 🌊 It's Friday evening, 14 August 2026, and I’m sitting at Camps Bay in Cape Town, looking at this enormous body of water, and I caught myself thinking: How does the ocean know where to stop? 😂 I know. There are scientific answers. Tides. Gravity. The moon. Geography. I get it. But still… HOW?! How are waves formed? How deep does it actually go? What is happening underneath all that water while I’m sitting here casually having a drink? And how ca
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Aug 163 min read
WOMAN TO WOMAN: SOME OF MY BEST LESSONS CAME FROM MEN.
It’s Women’s Day! And while many incredible women have shaped me, challenged me, opened doors for me, and taught me lessons I carry every day, today I want to talk about something slightly different. The lessons I have learnt from men. And look, I have been around some tough men along my journey. Look, I'm not talking strict; I mean tough! I have spent many years in business. I have sat in boardrooms, negotiated contracts, pitched ideas, helped build businesses, lost opportun
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Aug 96 min read
Stop People-Pleasing Yourself Out of Your Own Blessings
One of the greatest tragedies isn't that people reject us. It's that we reject ourselves long before anyone else gets the chance. We spend so much of our lives trying to be acceptable, agreeable and easy to digest that we slowly erase the very things that make us unique. We soften our opinions. We shrink our dreams. We avoid difficult conversations. We become experts at reading the room but strangers to reading ourselves. The problem with people-pleasing is that it doesn't ju
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Aug 23 min read
Don't Die With Your Life Still Inside You
This week, my family and I buried my uncle (for context, my mom's younger brother, because anyone can be an uncle). As with every funeral, there were tears, memories, laughter, old stories, and the familiar question that quietly lingers long after everyone has gone home: What will people say about us when we're gone? I hope they never have to say, "She was still planning to travel." "He always wanted to start that business." "She kept saying one day." "He never really got aro
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Jul 262 min read
Bittersweet: The Emotion Nobody Prepares You For
Life has a strange way of refusing to fit into neat little boxes. When one part of your life begins to flourish, another seems to demand your tears. Your career is taking off... while someone you love is fighting for their health. Your business is finally making money... while your marriage is struggling. Your child is thriving at school... while you're silently battling anxiety. You receive the promotion you've prayed for... and, in the same week, you attend a funeral. Welco
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Jul 193 min read
You are giving your accountant too much power..... Dear Entrepreneur, the business is yours - act accordingly!!
Over the past few months, my team and I have spent countless hours reviewing management accounts and financial information from entrepreneurs across different industries. And I need to say something: the quality of accounting work we're seeing is deeply concerning and bothering. I'm not talking about the odd mistake. We all make mistakes. I'm talking about a pattern. Expenses allocated to the wrong accounts. Invoices captured in the wrong financial periods. Supplier balances
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Jul 123 min read
How Many Tabs Are Open in Your Brain? Your mind isn't broken; it's overloaded!!
If your brain were a laptop right now... How many tabs would be open? That proposal you still need to finish. The client who hasn't responded. Your monthly targets. School fees. Payroll. The supplier who let you down. Your tax return. That business idea. The gym you've been meaning to join. The side hustle everyone is talking about. The podcast you "must" start. The investment someone else made. The holiday you saw on Instagram. The business another entrepreneur just launched
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Jul 52 min read
Stop Being Fixated on Owning 100% of Nothing.
There is a phrase I hear entrepreneurs repeat with so much pride: "I will never give away shares in my business." Every time I hear it, I ask one simple question: 100% of what? Because owning 100% of a business that is struggling to grow, cannot access funding, cannot enter new markets, cannot afford the right people, and cannot scale is not necessarily a victory. It is simply complete ownership of a limited opportunity. Somewhere along the way, many entrepreneurs were sold t
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Jun 283 min read
Special Edition: Dusty Grounds. Bigger Dreams.
Today is so special for South Africans!!!!! We're celebrating our national soccer team, Bafana Bafana, not only for winning but also for the hope and joy they've instilled in our rainbow nation. The goal, the celebrations, the pride, and the unity reminded us why sport is so powerful. I sat and smiled by myself, thinking about every little boy who plays soccer on dusty grounds in our townships and rural areas. I frequent Soweto a lot, and on any given afternoon, you'll find y
The Business Doctor Keitumetse Lekaba
Jun 252 min read
bottom of page