Successful Women Entrepreneurs Must Work 5 Times Harder Than Men, Tabitha Karanja

Some years ago, entrepreneurship was considered a man’s territory, but as time goes by more women entrepreneurs are on the journey to lead their own companies. This does not mean that the playing field is level. Men still dominate this area, particularly in Africa.

Women entrepreneurs inspire other women, but many female business owners still face significant obstacles because of their gender.

Some of these challenges include the strict legal, cultural and regulatory environment that hinders the development of women entrepreneurs.

Nevertheless, some women have braced through the odds, found balance in what they do, and worked to show the world that women can triumph – case in point, Tabitha Karanja.

Tabitha Mukami Muigai Karanja is a Kenyan businesswoman, entrepreneur, and industrialist. She is the founder and current Chief Executive Officer of Keroche Breweries, Kenya’s second-largest brewery.

She is one of the country’s leading entrepreneurs, a remarkable trailblazer, and an exemplary woman who’s made good against all the odds.

Tabitha has made a name for herself. She has strived to show that while emotions and nurturing skills can affect women’s businesses, there is a workaround to that.

By nature, women are more emotional and nurturing, which can sometimes be a hindrance to running a business. Usually, men are judged by how well they do in their careers while women are judged by how well they excel with family, friends, and their careers.

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It’s a struggle to find enough time in the day to focus on them all. A work-personal life balance is often a goal of many entrepreneurs, but mothers who start businesses have to simultaneously run their families and their companies.

With a lack of enough support from other female business leaders, and the often self-limiting thoughts and actions, women entrepreneurs are challenged to rise above social structures that limit their mobility.

For women, success relies on overcoming an additional layer of challenges, which can be self-limiting.

Speaking during an online session by the Healing Our Earth Organization dubbed Women Empowerment and Self Care, Tabitha highlights the challenges she has gone through to get where she is today.

She notes that her starting the company came about during the most difficult time where she sought to break the 80-year monopoly in the alcohol industry.

Tabitha says that the struggle of breaking this monopoly has greatly shaped her journey and made Keroche Breweries what it is today.

Although she is a mother of four, she has managed to find balance in running the business and being there for her children.

“Because of being a woman and knowing that family comes first, I knew from the beginning that I must find a balance. Compared to men, who often don’t spend as much time with the family, balancing your career and family as a woman is not easy,” says Tabitha.

She notes that her balance comes from having the resolve to work five times harder than men, something that is quite difficult to handle but quite fulfilling once you get the hang of it.

“At the end of it all, it is fulfilling to know that you have managed to balance work and family life,” she added.

On her remaining vibrant, healthy, and taking care of herself, Tabitha says the secret is to eat a balanced diet and good exercise – not forgetting to have plenty of sleep. These, according to her, will keep you on your path to successful entrepreneurship.

Tabitha’s words come as an inspiration to many women who are struggling to juggle family life and growing their careers. It is a hard-knock life that requires confidence in one’s ability to make it.

Of course, entrepreneurship is hard for any person who decides to venture into it. But even if women tend to face a unique set of challenges, they have got what it takes to be even more successful than their male counterparts.