During a recent interview with Ray White on the Money Show on Radio 702, we discussed the challenges that entrepreneurs face and how to adequately prepare for them. In December 2017, I stepped out of the corporate world to join my husband and re-launch our business. Just a month later, during a regular mammogram, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

What followed was a series of decisions, surgical procedures, chemotherapy, treatments and a complete disruption of our lives and our business. Having worked with entrepreneurs for many years and having stepped out of corporate world to be an entrepreneur twice within my career, I wanted to share some practical insights on how to prepare for unexpected challenges and share some of my journey.

If you fall ill or have to take care of your loved ones or deal with unexpected personal challenges follow some of these basic principals to ensure sustainability of your business.

Always give yourself a financial run way

Before embarking on an entrepreneurial journey, ensure you have enough funds to cover your existing expenses for at least 6 to 9 months. This helps in a few ways. Firstly if you are establishing a new venture these funds will allow you to focus on the growth of your business without the stress of trying to sign on clients immediately. Also remember that many clients will not pay up front for your services, and depending on the clients payment processes, your payment can be delayed by up to 90 days from date of invoice.

Identify Associates that can Deliver on your behalf

If you are a SoloPreneur (the only one in your business) or if you have a unique technical skill that your business is dependent on, identify associates outside your business that can be brought in as and when needed. Negotiate these services and payment structures before you actually need them and create a database of possible associates that you can draw on. Remember that you may need a few associates to cover the spectrum of your skill set, include these contingency plans in all of your proposals to ensure that there is no breech of contract should you need to replace yourself on a project with an associate.

Avoid Unnecessary Expenses

Its quite tempting when launching a new business to make your mark and create visibility, although this is important be cautious about spending too much of your capital. These expenses could include signing of long term lease contracts with a 3 month up front payment towards rental of office space and could also have lock in and penalty clauses, costing you additional funds should you wish to get out of the contract earlier.

Rather opt for a home office space if you are able to or alternatively look into co-working spaces that offer great services for the start up business and they have flexible desk options and month to month contracts if needed. We are situated at the OPEN in Sandton. The facility is professionally managed, open 24 hours, has adequate parking and is ideally located close to public transport and the Gautrain. In addition they have a track record of managing spaces and have locations across the country, which makes your presence in other locations affordable.

Other expenses to avoid is permanently employing staff without first getting paying clients for your offering. Your corporate job may have afforded you with the luxuries of a receptionist and a personal assistant, as well as a financial controller and driver, but as an entrepreneur you will need to fulfill as many of these roles as possible until your business can pay for these services without undue pressure on its financials.

Ensure you have Adequate Financial Protection

Insurance is often thought of as a grudge purchase. However as an entrepreneur you need even more protection as you do not have the added security and benefits as a corporate employee. Ensure you have adequate medical cover that will cover yours and your loved ones medical expenses and look into oncology benefits before you actually need it. In addition investigate and ensure you have policies that will protect your income should you fall ill, or pay you a lump sum as a living benefit or dread disease cover. Discuss these options with your financial adviser, if you do not have a financial adviser speak to family and friends and ask for details of their financial planners that are trusted or search company websites that offer these services. Remember to this this before you actually need it, it is almost impossible to get cover once you have fallen ill.

Be Present

Being present is absolutely critical to stay relevant. Although you may be facing an unavoidable challenge you will have to get back to your business in the future. Its important for your clients to feel and experience your presence. Although I have not been able to make public appearances and give talks during this year, I have still contributed in the form of articles to publications, I have continued with my social media presence and I have taken a few meetings and interviews when I was able to.

But being present also means being available to your loved ones and to yourself. Give yourself the time to heal and deal with your challenge.

YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON YOU KNOW!

Do not take life for granted. Your life is precious. Take time for your health. Have your regular check ups and examinations. Breast Cancer is not a death sentence. Have regular mammograms and get your loved ones to do the same. Do not become a statistic. Of all the emotions I have felt this past year, regret is not one of them, don’t let it be one of yours!

Just over a decade and a half ago, an amazing new term took centre stage, it was used in almost every meeting, it became the key to strategies, marketing campaigns and if you could some how weave it into your job title then it gave you almost super natural like powers and started opening up new and exciting doors. The term was “Innovation”

Those of us who were fortunate enough at the time to realise the super natural nature of innovation began working together, collaborating, sharing thoughts and strategies and for the first-time linkages started to emerge, across industry sectors, age groups, across the multi helix and indeed wonderful, magical futures were imagined.

Innovation fuels economies, and in a developing country like South Africa it becomes the driving force of success and long-term sustainability. As groups and teams and in our own little offices we quickly began to realise that if it was easy everyone would do it. So, what was the key ingredient to driving innovation? And the answer was Entrepreneurship. The output of entrepreneurialism was innovation, and just like that the code was cracked or so we thought. Many of us were in large corporates at the time, further away from entrepreneurial thinking than any of us wanted to admit. But in order to drive innovation we had to start by driving entrepreneurial thinking and we had to embrace entrepreneurs, understand their world and bring them closer into ours, creating eco-systems and platforms that could add value and in doing so we hoped it would somehow rub off onto the corporate culture that we were in.

 Its no wonder a decade or so later and this new term “Entrepreneurship” has made its way to corporate strategies, marketing campaigns and even presidential addresses. But like Innovation, Entrepreneurship is not new but it is novel enough for the smart consultants and agencies to latch onto, in order to make their clients look even more appealing to society. In my previous life as a corporate custodian of changing lives (my interpretation of my roles), I had the privilege within a couple organisations to work with both innovation and entrepreneurship functions. During the many public addresses that I had to give as part of my role, my favourite was to quote a line from Spiderman, “With great power, comes great responsibility”. The relevance of this line was addressed to large corporates. They indeed have great power, in terms of their size, scale, reach, resources, funding and the list goes on. With that power comes the responsibility to do more, be more and give more. Even though I love being an entrepreneur myself, I have to admit, being able to use a corporates cheque book to change lives and make an impact has been my second favourite role.

I’ve spent almost two decades working for corporates, I am also fully aware that the responsibility we are seeking from corporates is not always easy to extract, or for them to volunteer especially when the bottom line is what drives most corporate strategies and decisions, despite what the marketing campaigns would have us believe. However, there are organisations all around the globe that have invested in great initiatives that support entrepreneurs and this support has translated into bottom line benefit. Imagine that, being able to do good and make money, while growing the support systems required for entrepreneurs and ultimately improving the innovation stack not just of the corporate but of the country. 

Some of these initiatives include departments that drive a focus on developing entrepreneurs, incubators that provide spaces for growth and development or simply access to the internet, innovation or industry labs that drive and encourage open innovation and open working spaces that have been made available in unused or dead spaces for the use by entrepreneurs and or clients. All of these provide opportunities to leverage the resources of the corporate for the benefit of the entrepreneur. More recently we have seen the emergence of several platform businesses that are designed to rapidly increase the impact on creating access to market opportunities, showcase products and services more broadly and even out the playing fields so that even the township entrepreneurs have the same level of access to an opportunity as an established business.

This is not some futuristic plan of action, all the above examples can and have been done. They have contributed positively to job creation figures, access to markets and showcasing opportunities and have assisted entrepreneurs positively with their growth and advancement. There has been discussions and debates around incubators and entrepreneurial programmes not having the desired benefit or not making an impact, but I have witnessed first hand the real impact that these initiatives can have if run properly with adequate funding and a long term run way, strategic intent and the right level of support and funding for the entrepreneur from the organisations that run them. 

In addition to physical infrastructure and face to face engagements corporates have also partnered with global recognition organisations that provide platforms for innovative entrepreneurs to showcase their products and services both locally and abroad. These have opened up new opportunities for raising much needed funds, collaboration linkages and new markets access.

The use of e-commerce platforms and opportunity market places by corporates has meant that entrepreneurs that have benefited from high touch initiatives can now also access further opportunities by being visible on online platforms. The common thread and major success factor across all of these approaches is access to markets. Entrepreneurs need clients and those clients are either the corporate that has created a touch point through any, or all the above initiatives and approaches or through the vast ecosystem that surrounds the corporate. Very often these ecosystem players include other corporates, industry bodies, academic institutions and international organisations and regulatory or government or state departments.

In addition, South Africa is one of the few countries that has great funding instruments and codes that are designed to specifically focus on the development of entrepreneurs and additional and increased benefits for those that open supply chain opportunities and provide funding to entrepreneurs. With all of the positive benefits and the associated impact that these can have on the economy its actually quite surprising that only a fraction of corporate South Africa has embraced and leveraged of this opportunity. So maybe its time to change my favourite Spiderman quote to “With great power comes great opportunities”.

These opportunities will ensure we build the thriving ecosystem for entrepreneurs to produce more innovations, and innovations will continue to fuel our economy.

About the author:

Jayshree Naidoo is a thought leader in the space of innovation and entrepreneurship. She has led the innovation and entrepreneurship functions of large corporates in South Africa. Her last corporate role was the Head of the Standard Bank Incubator. She is currently an entrepreneur consults in the space of Innovation, Incubation and Entrpreneurship. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram on @jayshnaidoo 

As published in Fast Company South Africa, July/August 2018 Issue

We are currently delivering a Business in a Box Programme for a client. To date we have trained about 100 staff that have embarked on an entrepreneurship journey after being impacted by Section 189 processes. The experience has been extremely rewarding as we have watched staff members shift from a place of despair and anger to one of gratitude and excitement. It reinforces our commitment to up-skilling and re-skilling and creating awareness around the need for embedding skills like innovation and entrepreneurship into training curriculum’s.

Our past experience with new entrants into entrepreneurship highlights a few areas that require focus They include but are not limited to the following:

• Idea Validation – using tools to test and validate your idea
• Gap Analysis – What are your Soft Skills and Hard Skills Gaps that you need to address before embarking on your new business
• Strategy and Business Modelling Tools – How to use them to understand and run your business
• Company compliance and registration, – Do you know what your obligations and responsibilities are and are you selecting the correct business model
• Human Capital – As a startup, its important to understand the requirements and legislation
• Financial Management – Understand the psychology of money and how you can effectively manage your finances
• Social Media and Networking Platforms – Learn the basics of using social media to grow your business effectively
• Marketing and Branding – How to create meaningful brands for your business
• Pitching, and effective communication. Can you effectively pitch your business and articulate its key offering

The Business in a Box high touch programme is suited to new entrants into the world of entrepreneurship and provides all of the necessary tools, resources and skills to validate your business idea and kick start your business. In addition to addressing some of the gaps, the delegates get a registered company with CIPIC, marketing and Branding Support, a professional Logo, electronic Business Cards and Banners and access to an E-Commerce platform were they can sell their products and services.

To help entrepreneurs on their journey we exposed them to some amazing guest speakers and facilitators who helped inspire them with real life experiences.

Some of the feedback we have received from delegates on the programme:

“This course has given me a lot of confidence and I’m not looking back”

“Top quality excellent, authentic and real. All the speakers, presenters and material was greatly appreciated”

“A very informative session; learned a lot and I am taking what I’ve learned home to inform other people”

To date 15 new businesses have been registered since January and 6 have already started trading and landing contracts. We are looking forward to many more success stories and we are sure that these new entrepreneurs will be helping change the narrative as we move forward.

Article by:
Jayshree Naidoo – CEO of YIEDI
jayshreen@yiedi.co.za

Established black owned tech companies in the financial services, healthcare and telecommunications sectors can get help from IBM to grow their business — with the latest call of IBM’s Techscale programme.

IBM South Africa has opened applications for its six-month IBM Techscale programme. Applications can be made through Joburg-based consultancy Youth Innovation Entrepreneurship Design Institute (Yiedi) which is implementing the programme on behalf of IBM.

Applications close on 10 April, while the selected companies will be announced later on in the same month.

Over the course of programme, participants will get the opportunity to collaborate with decision makers from the tech industry and gain access to mentors and coaches. Some of the topics that will be covered include business development and enablement, as well as investor readiness.Yiedi’s six-month long IBM Techscale programme is aimed at tech companies operating in the financial services, healthcare and telecommunications sectors

The programme is open to commercially sustainable SA registered companies that are black owned and managed, as well as older than a year.

To be considered for the programme, companies must have a turnover of at least R500 000, or must have secured purchase orders and verified contracts to the value of more than R500 000 within 2019.

Applicants must also be involved in the business’s daily operations and management on a full-time basis. Moreover, the business must no be currently participating in any other enterprise development programme at IBM, or any of its competitors.

IBM SA and Joburg-based consultancy the Youth Innovation Entrepreneurship Design Institute (Yiedi) have welcomed seven SA tech startups into the IBM Techscale programme.

The six-month programme is targeted at established black-owned tech companies in the financial services, healthcare and telecommunications sectors.

The programme was officially launched at an event last Tuesday (21 May) in Johannesburg at Workshop 17 in Sandton, where the programme will take place.

The seven companies range from firms focusing on software-as-a-service (SaaS) to artificial intelligence (AI) and bitcoin. The six-month IBM Techscale programme is targeted at established black-owned tech companies

The startups and their founders are:

Qualip Solutions (Sizwe Hlongwane): Qualip Solutions is a software and application development consulting company which builds applications and systems to help organisations automate their processes.

KryszanTec (Jermain Kallideen): KryszanTec has developed Subware, a solution that allows businesses to understand how they are spending money on IT. Through the solution, the company is able to show a business how much it would cost them to move to any new technology.

Smartech Holdings (Florah Ngwenya): Smartech Holdings is a custom software development company which helps clients digitally transform their businesses through solutions that are tailored to clients’ requirements.

GeoPay (Thabang Mashiloane): GeoPay is peer-to-peer (P2P) blockchain remittance platform that helps people living in the diaspora to transfer money across borders quicker and more affordably.

Zyelabs (Ismail Dhorat): Zyelabs facilitates and supports data driven decision-making so that clients can improve their customer experience, boost revenue and reduce costs. The firm helps companies make sense of big data by providing data engineering, data science and analytics and data operations services.

BotsZA (Harmony Mothibe): BotsZA is a research and development company specialising in applications powered by AI. The startup helps companies integrate AI, machine learning and chatbots into their business processes to improve their customer experience, productivity and efficiency.

Konecta (Yandisa Sokhanyile): Konecta builds wireless networks and platforms to enable value-added services and data analytics.

In a statement last week Yiedi CEO Jayshree Naidoo (pictured above, far left) said IBM SA COO Ziaad Suleman committed at the event to closely engaging with the cohort as the businesses grow further into their respective areas.

Naidoo added that IBM SA VP for partner ecosystems Craig Holmes offered to make as many IBM resources available to the participants and encouraged them to partner and grow with IBM.

“Over the past few weeks we have already seen them grow and learn from some of the mentors we identified,” she said.

She said the IBM leadership team had made the launch event “extremely beneficial” for the programme participants by giving them insights into available opportunities as well as on IBM’s strategy.

Said Naidoo: “For many entrepreneurs one of the major barriers to success is access to markets and having a giant like IBM on the side of these businesses will give them the edge to succeed and grow”.

Over the years, Design Thinking has fundamentally reshaped how we approach product and service development, placing the customer at the centre of every solution. As an Innovation and Design Thinking practitioner, I have witnessed a profound shift in customer personas, prompting critical reflection on the role of technology in influencing customer behaviour, personality traits, and cultural values.

There is no doubt that customer behaviour has evolved, particularly among younger generations. However, this shift is not exclusive to youth, technology has impacted every generational cohort, reshaping expectations, interaction patterns, and decision-making behaviours across the board. These shifts add both richness and complexity to the Design Thinking process. At the heart of any effective Design Thinking methodology lies empathy mapping and persona profiling. These are not just steps in the process, they are foundational to developing meaningful and impactful solutions. To design for the customer, we must first understand the customer holistically, their needs, pain points, motivations, and contexts.

While the tools and frameworks we use, such as design questionnaires and customer problem statement templates, may vary across industries and organisations, the core methodology remains consistent. This adaptability ensures Design Thinking continues to be a powerful, relevant approach in a world where customer expectations are dynamic and constantly evolving.
As we move forward, our ability to remain curious, empathetic, and reflective will determine how effectively we continue to innovate with and for our customers.