- Insight: Leverage your network to get traction.
- Insight: Presales are proof that you have a good solution that people want.
How She Started: What's Ellect’s story?
Sandra D'Souza: Ellect is a platform that helps companies achieve gender balance and diversity in their business.
Whether it's their leadership team, board of directors or the whole company. We also work with suppliers to grow their business by connecting them with enterprise buyers.
HSS: How did you acquire those first users on the platform?
SD: I'm a serial entrepreneur and I've made a lot of mistakes in the past. Sometimes you think you have a really good idea and you put it out there and there's crickets. A couple of businesses ago I learned to really leverage my network. The reason is because they know you as a person, so there's already trust.
I'm a people person, so naturally I have a great network (thank goodness for all those coffee meetings that I used to do!). When I told people what I was doing with Ellect, and I decided it would be a membership model, I got my first few members that signed up for it. They paid for it before it was even ready. Making presales proves that you have got a good solution that people want.
HSS: How do you retain your customers and users?
SD: Open communication and exceptional customer service are paramount in retaining our customers. I go the extra mile to ensure our customers feel they are receiving value from our platform because they put their trust in me.
HSS: What is your growth strategy?
SD: I previously founded and ran a digital marketing agency, so I have a very strong background in digital marketing. With Ellect we tried everything. We did social media, newsletters, ads and found that LinkedIn was the platform for it. Our growth strategy revolves around impactful campaigns on LinkedIn, complemented by our email newsletters.
HSS: What are your lessons learned as you look back on the business so far?
SD: Find a mentor and don't feel like you have to tackle everything yourself. While seeking advice is important, it's equally essential to trust your instincts and make decisions aligned with your vision and judgement.
HSS: Do you have any additional advice for female-founded businesses?
SD: Women can be quite risk-averse, and we can lack confidence to take risks. It's OK to be careful, but I would caution against being so careful that you don’t move forward.
- Insight: Leverage your network to get traction.
- Insight: Presales are proof that you have a good solution that people want.
- Insight: Providing outstanding customer service is critical for customer retention.
- Insight: Mentors can help guide you.
- Insight: Leverage your network to support your endeavours.
- Insight: Don’t be afraid to take risks.
I messaged Sandra and we scheduled a time to meet.
I've always been passionate about women helping other women. I created this blog to tell stories of successful female-founded businesses. Hopefully, these stories will help inspire more women to found their own businesses.