Article provided by Nedbank
Primedia Broadcasting’s talk radio stations 702 and CapeTalk, joined by corporate partner Nedbank, have concluded the eighth year of SA’s longest-running small business mentorship and investment programme; Nedbank Business Ignite. The five winners share in mentorship and advertising packages worth over R 1 million.
The winners have been receiving in-depth mentorship from Nedbank and independent business incubator specialist, Matsi Modise. This year’s mentorship programme aims to help businesses adapt and grow in the current, often extremely challenging, economic reality.
“2020 has been one heck of a year,” says Matsi Modise, Founder and Managing Director of Furaha. “Many businesses faced developmental challenges and they either had to adapt, adopt or fail to exist. Our 2020 Nedbank Business Ignite winners were chosen because they were dynamic and adapted to the challenge of existing in a digital world. We have done a deep dive into their businesses and identified some gaps. The next step of the incubation programme includes setting up consultations with industry experts to help address these business gaps and challenges”.
All winners have recently been featured in interviews on 702 and CapeTalk, with prize recipients sharing their learnings with talk station audiences. Says CapeTalk winner Siyabonga Tiwana, owner of Skywalk Innovation: “My Gap Analysis showed that most of my revenue is going to expenses. Nedbank is guiding me on how to contain my expenses and increase profits as a result.” The future for this company looks bright, with Tiwana saying that his company has dreams of listing on the JSE in future.
For Thabiso Wilson Hlongwane, owner of Greener Pastures Recycling, winning the competition has made a big difference: “I’ve seen so many doors open as a result of this initiative. I’ve recently signed up a big contract with property developers and have accessed new funding. My incubation sessions have shown that I now need to focus on getting my operational systems in place and marketing to a broader market. One of my mentors have connected me to the relevant people to craft an operations system, and personally I will be upskilling myself in financial management training to compliment my operational strengths.”
Lerato Dontache, owner of Nxatel says: “Since winning Nedbank Business Ignite, we partnered with the Pepco Group and our services will now be available on prepaid. My incubation session showed that I need to focus on finding and outsourcing skilled developers, creating a stronger digital brand presence and leveraging my business in partnerships – a valuable way of thinking that has already paid dividends.”
Says Alan Shannon, Nedbank Executive: Client Engagement. “Covid-19 has reinforced our long-term commitment to small businesses in South Africa. The number of Gauteng entries increased by 20% this year and this is testament to not only the value of the Nedbank Business Ignite property, but also the growing need to support small and medium enterprises. This campaign, and Nedbank, gives small business the practical skills to survive and thrive in these exceptional times.”
Listen to the winners at www.igniteyourbusiness.co.za