Nelson Mandela once said, “There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
With the second phase of our Entrepreneur Internship Programme (EIP 2) having come to a successful close, these words of wisdom from Nelson Mandela could not ring truer. We saw first-hand the passion and drive demonstrated by the 21 entrepreneurs who graduated from the programme, which was a collaboration between our enterprise development initiative, Zimele, and Aurik Enterprise and Supplier Development.
Through the programme, the entrepreneurs received business development support, training and mentorship, providing a launch-pad to grow their businesses and the opportunity to create much needed jobs in the country. Business venture, 115 Electrical is the perfect example of this empowering programme in action.
Headed up by Selwalenkwe Anthony Mpati in Fourways, Johannesburg, 115 Electrical is an early-stage business with a vision of being “a world-class engineering service provider of choice”. It’s a 100% black-owned business and provides electrical and mechanical engineering consulting and construction services.
Before EIP, the business only employed two people, while today it has 10 permanent employees and 5 contractors. Selwalenkwe says the programme taught him the value of putting systems into place so that he could focus on the strategic side of the business.
“Through the seminars and workshops, invaluable networking opportunities arose,” says Selwalenkwe. “Thanks to EIP, my business was able to develop a solid business plan that saw a combined total of R5 million injected into the business.”
Selwalenkwe aspires to employ at least 50 people in the next three years. “We’re also planning to expand our operations to all nine provinces in South Africa and increase our annual turnover by 300% within the next three years,” he says
Find out more about what we’re doing to help grow entrepreneurs in South Africa.