JONGA is a low-cost community-based alarm system for townships and other low-income areas that allows for real-time crime reporting and community responses. Safety is a basic human right, and Ntsako recognized a great injustice in security companies that were not offering affordable security measures to South African's. In this interview, we learn what motivated Ntsako to start JONGA, during his second year of studies.
Being a finalist on Top Chef SA brought Ayabonga Gope into the public eye as a rising star in the food industry. The experience was one of Ayabonga's highlights in his career and equipped Ayabonga with the confidence needed to pursue the culinary profession full-time. How did Ayabonga go from making eggs, rice, and tomato sauce for friends, in his home in Khayelitsha, to cooking for high profiled guests in their homes around Cape Town?
Heavy Chef, in collaboration with Ghetto Sessions, is launching 'The Raw Sessions', a series of inspirational events in the heart of Khayelitsha, on August 3rd. Each event will comprise of a full day of talks, presentations and creative performances. The inaugural session will feature national celebrities Zolani from Freshlyground, radio and television show host Danilo Acquisto and the co-founder of Bridges For Music, Thulani ‘DJ Fosta’ Headman, in addition to local talent from the community.
Heavy Chef introduces a special guest onto our Show, Zolani Mahola, lead singer of the proudly South African band, Freshlyground. Zolani Mahola truly embodies the image of prosperity for many aspiring South African artists. In this interview, Zolani (in a stunning locally-made outfit) speaks from her heart with our amazing Heavy Chef anchor, Caley Africa (also in a stunning outfit), about 'the business side of creative output'.
Last week, the newly-hatched Heavy Chef Foundation collaborated with Nedgroup Investments to bring one of Silicon Valley's brightest stars to South Africa. Niket Desai started his first company in college and sold it to Google before his 25th birthday. Niket now presides over a $120b fund for the University of California. In this fascinating interview, Heavy Chef CEO chats to Desai about the early days of startup life to the heady period of rapid scaling.
Heavy Chef, in partnership with Discovery Insure, is launching a series of events pitched at enriching the ecosystem of activities and learning experiences for South African entrepreneurs, deepening intellectual support to this critically important community. Discovery co-founders Adrian Gore and Barry Swartzberg will share their experiences of starting a business, the associated trials and tribulations, and their personal views on what it takes to succeed.
If you have a small business and don’t have much to spend on marketing, how do you build a brand in an impactful way? Market research maestro and experienced entrepreneur, Musa Kalenga, started his first business at the age of 19. Hear what inspired him as he talks to Fred Roed about building a business and personal brand. A seasoned researcher, Musa believes your sales and research need to happen simultaneously. He shares how to do that and how to change your focus in marketing for services and marketing for goods. Listen as Fred and Musa share a laugh in between contemplating the future of marketing for a new generation living in a technology age.
The story of Ukhamba is rich with history and tradition in the African Culture. Head brewer and co-founder of Ukhamba Beerworx, Lethu Tshabangu talks with Siyabonga Wilson Mbaba about what it takes to start a successful brewing company in South Africa. The story of Lethu’s successes and Ukhamba Beerworx is motivation for anyone to turn their passion into a business.
This week on the HealthyBusiness show, the conversation goes to sales. Can anyone be in sales? What are the differences between B2B and B2C sales processes? Fred Roed chats to two seasoned sales professionals, Sean Raymond who is the founder of The Sales Department and Claire van Wyk, a certified financial consultant. Answering some tough questions, they share experiences and tips on how to be successful in sales as an individual and as a business.
Orgasmic Gawulo is a fine-dining restaurant in the heart of Gugulethu, founded by Thulani Mguda and Tumi Mayenge through love, sweat, and tears. Thulani's story is one of trials and tribulation with a thread of hope and vision running through every word he speaks. In this Heavy Chef interview that he gave with Siyabonga Wilson Mbaba, Thulani takes us along the tough road he walked to get where he is today.
As an entrepreneur, you’re always looking for opportunities to grow your business. While there are countless ways to do this, one particularly creative option is through charitable collaborations. Working with a non-profit or a charity is a growth opportunity that entrepreneurs need to embrace in 2019. Read on to discover why, with some useful tips to get you started as well.
Podcasting seems to be the new Facebook but for audio. These days everyone has a channel with a cute profile pic and gets to talk into the microphone about anything that's on their minds. False! It is much more sophisticated than that statement, and we learn Who, What, Where and Why in this article.
Lulalend, South Africa’s first online automated provider of short-term funding for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), announced its Series A financing of $6.5 million. The round was co-led by IFC and Quona Capital, a leading fintech firm whose funds are sponsored by Accion, with participation from existing investors Accion Venture Lab and Newid Capital. After the announcement, Heavy Chef spoke to Johan Bosini of Quona Capital: “We feel that this is an important investment for the South African ecosystem.
Keet van Zyl, co-founder of Knife Capital, and Dov Girnun, founder and CEO of Merchant Capital, talk about the exciting environment that entrepreneurs find themselves in. In conversation with Fred Roed, they delve into the different aspects that funders of initial capital and funders for growth would look at to invest in a business. Get their top tips to guide your thinking around funding and gather some pearls of wisdom on how to make sure your business stands out in a crowd of attractive investments.
In this interview, we host the power couple, Tim Withers and Danielle Withers LeChat to talk about what companies can do better to protect the rights of women and mothers in the workplace. Tim and Danielle share their Individual experiences of the challenges they faced in the workplace when Danielle fell ill with serious Hyperemesis Gravidarum, the infamous and potentially deadly morning sickness-ailment related to pregnancy.
Rapelang Rabana is an internationally renowned tech entrepreneur, computer scientist, speaker, digital thought leader, and business leader. Her honors include; Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum; Fast Company Maverick; Entrepreneur for the World by the World Entrepreneurship Forum; Forbes 30 under 30 - Africa's Best Young Entrepreneurs. In this Heavy Chef presentation, Rapelang presents her revolutionary ideas that approach measuring competency differently.
Valter is a true digital leader, recognized globally as an expert in the fields of disruptive innovation, business re-imagination, and emerging technologies. He is also a member of the Singularity University and a recipient of the Constellation Transformation 150 award.
In this HC exclusive video, Valter was a speaker alongside Ian Russell, Happy Ntshingila and Rich Mulholland, and he gets into a conversation about the future of jobs for South Africans in the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Having the right partners with the right resources can make all the difference to your business. What are some of the secret ingredients to solid business relationships? For this week’s guests, Mike Anderson, CEO of National Small Business Chamber, and Jos Dirkx, an international consultant and entrepreneur, learning to listen is an important skill in partnerships. Fred Roed speaks to these seasoned entrepreneurs about their personal experiences and the main attributes in attracting lasting business partnerships.
Innovation is what shines through each of the 10 scale-up companies that have been selected for Knife Capital’s first Johannesburg Grindstone Accelerator program. Grindstone is a structured entrepreneurship development program, jointly owned by Knife Capital and Thinkroom Consulting, that assists high-growth innovation-driven SMEs to become sustainable and fundable. Knife Capital joined forces this year with the SA SME Fund and Deloitte to run the program in Johannesburg.
