Accra, Ghana, October 12, 2020//-Margaret Jackson, the Founder and Managing Partner of Rainbow Consult has been consulting for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for over two decades.
Under the dynamic leadership of Mrs Jackson, Rainbow has provided several consulting services to national and multinational companies as well as government and civil society organizations in Ghana and beyond.
As a leading management consulting firm, Rainbow Consult provides solutions in the areas of human resource management, strategic management and corporate risk and compliance.
Big-ticket projects
After the devastation wrought by Ebola, she embarked on capacity building projects in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The Ebola Recovery Projects, which were funded by the IFC, were set up in order to help reviveLiberia and Sierra Leone’s economies.
Mrs Jackson trained 12 trainers and over 500 participants from approximately 250 SMEs. Her work, however, did not just stop at training, she also facilitated symposiums and ‘speed dating events’ to provide the SMEs with access to markets and to link them with the large corporates who would procure their products and services.
In a project very near and dear to her heart, Mrs J (as she is known her participants) provided 1500 market women with financial literacy training.
This project was organised by the Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection in conjunction with the UNDP.
As an advocate for women in business, Mrs Jackson found that working with the market women was an especially fulfilling experience.
Another gratifying endeavour for Mrs Jackson was the Catalysing WASH: From Possible to Profitable (P2P)” project. Rainbow Consult (led by Margaret)in collaboration with the SNV Netherlands Organisation and Fidelity Bank Ghana, created the SNV-Fidelity Bank Possible to Profitable Academy.
This Academy provided training for 153 MSMEs in the WASH Sector in the areas of finance, management, governance, technical proficiency and soft skills.
After successful completion of the Academy, participants then had access to financing from Fidelity Bank.
So far over GHS 27 million has been disbursed to MSMEs, 2000 jobs have been created in the WASH sector and 30,000 households have improved access to water.
Motivation to set up company
Mrs Jackson’s children served as the primary motivation for setting up her company. As a working mother with a regimented work schedule, she found that it was hard to give a 100% to both work and her children.
Going into consulting gave her the flexibility to set her own hours, hit her career goals and to also have a lot of time to spend with her lovely daughters. As she puts it, by starting her own business, she had found a way to eat her cake and have it.
Her entrepreneurial life
Narrating her entrepreneurial life to African Eye Report, Mrs Jackson, said she had always felt the need to chart her own path. “My first job out of school was at Ghana Textile Printing Company (GTP).
However, in 1994, when GTP was handed over to VLISCO, I thought it was my opportunity to collect my lump sum and go into business by myself- this had always been my dream”, she revealed.
When asked how and when she developed her entrepreneurial traits, the seasoned consultant indicated she learnt them first from her family, and then later, from other influential mentors.
“Growing up, my parents encouraged entrepreneurship among my siblings and me, and I watched my mother start many businesses in my childhood. It seemed like the natural thing to do was to toe that line myself”, she added.
Mixed entrepreneurial path
“Initially it was exceedingly difficult to start my own consulting firm. In hindsight, I should have waited a few years to be better known in my industry before branching out on my own.
Just like in any profession, people prefer older, more seasoned consultants. I found it exceedingly difficult to find clients in the early years”.
In a bid to upgrade her skills, she obtained an MBA and later, joined another already established colleague and worked with her for a few years, while trying to build her name and brand.
“It gave me the experience I needed to get bigger consulting jobs when I finally set up my own consultancy”, Mrs Jackson, stated.
She revealed that there were times she had to sell her car to attend courses to enable her to grow in her chosen field.
Meteoric rise of Rainbow Consult
From humble beginnings, Rainbow Consult has grown by leaps and bounds as it continues to provide quality services for businesses and organizations in Ghana and beyond.
With the recent high demand for consulting services in the country and across the globe, most industry watchers say Rainbow Consult is one of the companies to look out for.
Mrs Jackson’s beginnin story is not different from the experiences of hundreds of entrepreneurs and business executives profiled by the African Eye Report but her ambition to provide world-class consulting services for local and international businesses and organizations is unique.
Her company is succeeding because Mrs Jackson continues to serve the needs of the people. Her clients are her most prized assets, thus providing them with quality and prompt services is her topmost priority.
Mrs Jackson had the right services and at the right time – which translated into high demand on a mass-market scale. But all that would have been worthless without her unique brand of commitment, high energy, sheer determination, perseverance, spirit of excellence, and the zeal to provide business solutions for Ghanaians and the other nationals.
As an indomitable entrepreneur, she never allowed the different headwinds to weigh her down. Mrs Jackson rather turned those challenges into golden opportunities.
Current Projects and Vision for Rainbow
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Mrs Jackson transitioned from in-person training programmes to online webinars.
She has held 13 webinars for six companies on topics ranging from self-care to building a business plan. The beautiful thing about the webinars, she said, is that her attendees are not limited by location.
Her vision for her company in the next three years is: “To be the leading online adult learning facilitation firm in Africa”.
Legacy to leave behind
She wants to leave behind a consulting firm that lasts years after her retirement and death.
In her words: “When I die, I want the many SME owners I trained to say that I taught them with all I had and that their businesses are much bigger and better after their encounters with me”.
I am so passionate about SMEs because I want SMEs in Ghana and Africa to thrive and become conglomerates, as other SMEs have done in other parts of the world. I believe that if it can be done elsewhere, it can be done here”.
Advice
Mrs Jackson used the opportunity to advise young Africans not to die with their dreams, saying: “Persevere. If you believe in your dreams, please persevere. You can make it happen”.
She further advised them not to forget that they need mentors and coaches. She leaves them with one of her favourite quotes by Isaac Newton: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Mrs Jackson who stands for “going over and above the call of duty to achieve excellence” is a businesswoman, mother, wife, pastor, and nature lover.
By MasahuduAnkiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
