BUSINESS NEWS - She’s baking late into the night while the kids sleep. She’s crocheting custom dishcloths over weekends that end up in homes in Germany. 

She’s running an after-hours mobile beauty salon through a WhatsApp group or renting out the spare room to tourists who want something more “authentic” than a hotel. 

Maybe you are her, running a side hustle that doesn’t have a name yet, but is very real.

“Many South African women are already entrepreneurs in action, even if they don’t use that word,” says Alvira Fisher, an MBA graduate at Stellenbosch Business School. “These businesses, born from necessity, talent, intuition and care, are hidden in plain sight, yet they thrive on something powerful called social capital.”

“Social capital is the invisible web of trust, connection and mutual support that women build every day through friendships, family bonds, school gate chats, and increasingly, digital networks,” explains Alvira”. It’s not formal but a powerful business tool that women need to start using more strategically.”

Strong community networks, access to emotional support and a sense of belonging significantly uplift business performance, especially for women who run a side hustle outside of formal structures by selling, creating, renting, and offering services from home, often while juggling caregiving, day jobs and everything in between.

“The beauty of this is that most of these women are unknowingly applying the same thinking used by major startups and innovation labs. They’re just doing it with less jargon, more heart and at the school pick-up,” says Alvira.

Design thinking – a problem-solving method used by top innovators – is often followed exactly, step by step, by side-hustling women.

Let’s bring it to life.

Imagine a woman hears a friend lament: "My child's eczema is flaring up again. Nothing helps."

She doesn’t jump in with advice. She listens. Asks thoughtful questions:

“What have you tried so far?” “Did anything give even a little relief?”

That’s step one: empathy.

Then she digs deeper to understand the real issue, not just the rash, but the discomfort, the frustration, the impact on daily life.

That’s defining the problem.

Next, she starts generating ideas. She chats to an aunt who swears by rooibos, browses Facebook groups and checks her kitchen cabinet.

That’s ideation.

She experiments with a homemade balm of rooibos, coconut oil and lavender. She pours it into a small jar and gives it to her friend: “Try this. Let me know if it helps.”

That’s a prototype.

And when her friend reports back with, “It soothed the itch, but it’s a little too oily for daytime use”, she adjusts the formula.

That’s testing. 

Without realising it, this woman has just walked through all five steps of design thinking: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test - not in a lab or office, but in a kitchen, through care and curiosity.

“This is where the shift happens,” says Alvira. “From casual help to entrepreneurial insight. When that balm gets shared with a neighbour, then a cousin, then someone from church, you’ve moved from social capital to startup thinking.”

“These early exchanges, rooted in trust and care, are the true currency of informal entrepreneurship. They allow you to test, refine and grow organically. You’re not starting from scratch. You’re starting from strength.”

But how do you move from here to a real, structured business? “With intention and a lot of heart”, says Alvira.

Here is her 5-Step Launch Checklist, which you are probably doing already, but now it’s time to do it with purpose.

1. Scan your world daily
Start paying closer attention to the pain points and unmet needs around you in your family, your street, your WhatsApp groups, etc. Business ideas are often hiding in plain sight. If something frustrates people or feels unnecessarily hard or expensive, there’s an opportunity. Make notes of the things people complain about. Over time, patterns will emerge.

2. Activate your network
Don't keep your idea a secret. Share it with people you trust. Use your community as a sounding board. Your circles are your first market research panel. Let them help shape your idea.

3. Prototype together
Hand out small samples or offer a service preview. Not only does this reduce risk, but it builds early credibility and loyalty. You're involving people in your journey and that creates emotional investment. Don’t wait until it’s “perfect” - nothing ever is. Getting feedback early is more valuable than getting it “right” alone.

4. Iterate openly
Be open to tweaking your offering. Don’t get stuck on your first idea or what you think people need. Real customers will show you what they value and what they don’t. Listening with humility is one of the most powerful growth tools to learn. Feedback is not criticism - it’s insight that will help your business grow.

5. Reinvest trust
Your first testers and supporters? They’re now your brand ambassadors. Let them help you spread the word. Ask for referrals, reviews or shares. That trust you’ve built becomes your foundation for scaling. Offer them a small thank-you gift or a lifetime discount to reinforce their loyalty and to encourage word-of-mouth.

“The bottom line is that women who have side-hustles already know how to do this. Design thinking might sound like a boardroom strategy, but it’s really just human-centered problem solving, something women do every day. You already have what it takes!” says Alvira.

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