SMEs News South Africa

Tips from founders of successful small businesses

As failing South African parastatals continue to put huge pressure on the economy and negative international sentiment makes corporate investors nervous, the mission to grow the country falls increasingly at the feet of entrepreneurs.

Building a new company out of an idea isn’t for the faint of heart, so Absa WorkInProgress, a workspace for startups and entrepreneurs, asked four of the country’s entrepreneurial stars for some advice on how they got their ventures off the ground and what drives their success.

Learn from your failures

Elspeth Boynton, co-founder of diiVe
Elspeth Boynton, co-founder of diiVe

Elspeth Boynton, co-founder of diiVe, says that not only do you need to learn from your failures in the startup space – you also need to move past the failure and rejection, as quickly as possible.

“It happens a lot in the early days – and don’t forget to celebrate the little wins, along the way!” she says.

diiVe is a learning organisation that provides students and recent graduates a unique, global experience that develops their digital, innovation and entrepreneurial capability, guides their direction, and builds their capacity, as leaders, to drive real impact in their careers whilst elevating their employability.

Amanda Louw Bester, founder of Pragmattica
Amanda Louw Bester, founder of Pragmattica

Amanda Louw Bester, founder of digital-first consulting firm Pragmattica, says that her mantra for the first two years of starting her business is “patience and persistence leads to perseverance, leads to meaningful growth and eventual success”.

She says that ‘doing’ is better than ‘strategising’: “An entrepreneur ‘does’, a ‘wantrapreneur plans and plans and plans...”. Pragmattica specialises in digital transformation and strategies for companies that need support in navigating the digital advertising, marketing, monetisation landscape for SME businesses.

Surround yourself with like-minded people

Gour Lentell, CEO of biNu
Gour Lentell, CEO of biNu

Gour Lentell, CEO of biNu, believes that working in a shared space has delivered results through collaborative potential.

“We have found that an open collaborative environment has been stimulating, motivating and opened up business opportunities we would not have found otherwise,” he says. biNu aims to remove the data cost barrier to connect with mobile audiences, via their #datafree platform.

Boynton agrees that a co-working space that comprises an array of entrepreneurs and innovators is critical in all stages of starting and running a business.

“Surround yourself with people that are willing to provide advice, business support or contacts that enable you to learn quickly, save unnecessary costs, and grow your own network, whilst still keeping your main team lean and agile,” she says. Bester also cites the incredible sense of community and family at the Absa WorkInProgress space as a contributing factor to the growth of her business.

Jacques Sibomana, founder of Kuba
Jacques Sibomana, founder of Kuba

Jacques Sibomana, founder of Kuba, says that advice he has received from individuals who have gone through what he’s going through has been invaluable in his business journey. Kuba aims to formalise informal enterprises by providing them with tools needed to facilitate easy access to market, while making it easier for corporations and individuals to buy and work with small business owners.

Be single-minded, but not inflexible

“Develop less and listen more to your customers,” is Sibomana’s advice to any prospective entrepreneur. “You may have the world’s greatest idea, but without being open to input and diverse perspectives, you’re creating a product that will only have one perfect customer – yourself”.

Bester says it’s key not to hesitate at that big opportunity for your business. “In other words, don’t overthink things, in the early stages of entrepreneurship you have to seize the opportunity fast. The more you hesitate, the more you overthink and procrastinate will lead to talking yourself out of taking action and making progress,” she says.

“Entrepreneurs need cheerleaders but they really need smart people who aren’t afraid to tell them when they’re heading down a blind alley,” says Charmaine Lambert, head of WorkInProgress, an Absa innovation lab. “We aim to cultivate a community of talented, driven people, who are as interested in developing their own businesses as they are in seeing others thrive.”

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