Proper research cannot be ignored if you want to start a new business. It is one of the critical lessons Freddy Mahhumane learned from his failed business venture.
Freddy Mahhumane is an IT leader with more than 15 years of experience in the IT industry. The 35-year-old entrepreneur from the Ibazelo section in Thembisa credits his parents for imparting entrepreneurial skills to him at a younger age.
“I have to thank my parents for teaching me entrepreneurial skills without telling me that it was entrepreneurship. They used to sell vegetables and snacks and asked me to package all of that,” recalled Mahhumane.
While pursuing his IT qualification, Mahhumane decided to drop out to start his own IT company, Open-Technik. He would later qualify as a certified Novell Content Management Specialist and work for several big brands such as FNB, Momentum, and ABSA, where he is still the head of DevOps.
He has spoken at various open source conferences in South Africa, such as Net.share and Open-Horizons. He was voted “Best New Comer 2009 for Information Technology and product implementation” by Novell South Africa. He is also the founder of the Facebook group “Young Black Entrepreneurs in South Africa,” which allows young entrepreneurs to interact and share information.
His company operates nationwide, and one of his key clients is Royal Bafokeng Municipality, located in Rustenburg. His company has offices in Thembisa, and his team comprises only Thembisa residents. According to Mahhumane, his company has created job opportunities for eight people, excluding the drivers. He plans to open offices in Soweto and Mamelodi, a township in the northern part of Pretoria. “We are planning to hire fully local in those areas. And if we see we can’t find any skillset locally, then we will have to invest in some sort of training,” Mahhumane told TransformSA.
“We do understand the level of poverty in South Africa. For instance, getting a learner’s licence or driver’s licence is very costly. So we would rather provide that service, which costs less.”
It was Mahatma Gandhi who once said; you must be the change that you want to see in the world. Mahhumane echoed Gandhi’s sentiment: “I also want to be instrumental in changing the status quo in our townships.
“What inspired me to start this business was giving back to my community. It was also about assisting the youth of South Africa and creating jobs for them. I believe there is no way we would be able to transform the country’s economy if we are unwilling to invest in the township,” he added.
“We shouldn’t be focusing on the urban side, but we should focus on our township. Why should we continue pumping investments to people with all modes of transportation? “
In business, success teaches you how to sustain your business and compete and invest strategically. In the same vein, failure teaches resilience, patience, and planning.
Seven years ago, Mahhumane started a digital mobile App business for car washes, Koolwash, without conducting research. Unfortunately, the company failed within a month. He said South Africa was not ready for a digital mobile App for car washes at the time. That was a valuable lesson for him not to launch another application without researching his market.
He has the following advice to young people: “When you are good at trying, you’ll be good at winning. Your first win is to try; the more you try, the better you will be at winning.”