Entrepreneurial Competence
By this stage, Naledi Mokoena had made hundreds of decisions about HarvestBox.
She had chosen a customer segment, tested her sales message, improved operations and built a small team. Some decisions worked well. Others created extra work or led the business in the wrong direction.
At first, Naledi measured her progress only through results: orders, revenue and customer numbers. But those figures did not tell her everything she needed to know.
She also needed to understand how she was developing as an entrepreneur.
Looking Beyond the Result
After a workplace promotion produced fewer orders than expected, Naledi’s first reaction was disappointment. She wanted to move on quickly and try something else.
Instead, she paused to reflect.
She realised that she had rushed the campaign because she was excited about the opportunity. She had assumed she understood what employees wanted without speaking to enough of them first. The idea itself was not necessarily wrong, but her decision-making process had been incomplete.
Naledi began asking herself three simple questions after important activities:
What happened? Why did it happen? What will I do differently next time?
This turned the disappointing campaign into useful learning.
Recognising Personal Patterns
Regular reflection also helped Naledi notice patterns in how she operated.
She was effective at building relationships and generating ideas. She made progress quickly when she could speak directly with customers or partners. However, she sometimes committed to new opportunities before checking whether the team had enough capacity.
Under pressure, she tended to solve problems herself instead of pausing to involve the person responsible. This worked in the moment but weakened the ownership she was trying to build within the team.
Becoming aware of these patterns did not mean criticising herself. It allowed her to make more intentional choices.
Before agreeing to a new partnership, Naledi began checking its fit with HarvestBox’s priorities and operational capacity. When problems appeared, she asked questions before stepping in with her own solution.
Building Competence Over Time
Entrepreneurial competence is not something you either have or do not have. It develops through a continuous cycle:
Take action → Observe the result → Reflect honestly → Adjust your approach → Act again
Every customer conversation, business activity and difficult decision gives you information—not only about the business, but also about yourself.
As you reflect on your own journey, ask:
- Where am I most effective, and which habits help me make progress?
- Where do I repeatedly get stuck, and what could I test or change next time?
You do not need to analyse every small action. Create regular moments to pause, notice and learn. A short reflection at the end of the week or after an important activity can reveal lessons that busyness might otherwise hide.
Naledi became a stronger entrepreneur not because every decision succeeded, but because she learned from what happened. She understood her strengths more clearly, recognised where she needed support and became more deliberate about how she wanted to operate.
Action creates experience. Reflection turns that experience into growth.
Until next time, Instant Startup community!
