Meet the Absa Small Business Friday featured Small Business of the week – nFold.
nFold helps businesses win more work through strategic proposals, tender support and pitches. They are the first and only company in South Africa that covers this niche from an end-to-end perspective and is also the only APMP-approved consultancy ensuring they align to best practices both globally and locally.
nFold was started because of an immense need for well-articulated value propositions and a huge skills gap when it comes to responding to tenders, proposals and selling. Many businesses don’t realise that customers don’t want to hear about you but rather about how you can satisfy their needs. With many proposals not highlighting this, nFold was born.
nFold is a 100% female-owned business. They have 17 permanent staff members and 7 consultants. The current owners of nFold (Larissa Cornelius and Izane Cloete-Hamilton) have grown it from a one-person business making a million rand in revenue to a Qualifying Small enterprise which supports employees and makes a revenue which is over R10 million.
Larissa Cornelius is nFold’s Chief Win Strategist and her passion for making positive changes and impacting people’s lives has been the driving force behind uplifting others.
One of the recent challenges she faced with her company was the loss of a large retainer contract. To conquer this challenge, they adopted a day-by-day management approach with an unwavering focus on transparency and a shared determination to succeed. By openly discussing the situation with their team and involving them in finding solutions, nFold fostered a sense of ownership and commitment among their staff. The staff members’ insights and contributions were crucial in identifying new sales opportunities and adapting their strategies to meet evolving market conditions.
By tapping into the team’s collective talents and expertise, nFold not only avoided staff retrenchment but also discovered new avenues for growth and continued success in their business.
Izane Cloete-Hamilton is nFold’s Chief Inspiration Officer. It took her 25 years in the corporate world to realise that she can, will, and should be a successful business owner. Izane’s business philosophy is rooted in the idea that everything can be figured out. She values curiosity and understanding that success doesn’t always mean winning but sometimes it means learning from setbacks.
Izane has tackled numerous hurdles, many of which revolve around financial constraints and the complex business, tax, and compliance requirements that small businesses must navigate. This has been achieved by investing in assembling a team of amazing individuals who share their vision for inspiring success. By continuously addressing these challenges and learning from experience, they are gradually strengthening their foundation and optimizing their strategies for effective business growth and better resilience.
In the future, nFold hopes to grow into a large enterprise that isn’t just an industry leader but also an industry maker. They want to be business influencers who inspire all businesses to succeed.
nFold was chosen to receive a Top 10 Award and a National Business Excellence Award at the South African Small Business Awards 2023.