2020-04-01 Forbes Africa

APRIL 2020 FORBES AFRICA| 67

FORBESAFRICA

ENTREPRENEURS• MANDLA NGCOBO

FORBESAFRICA.COM

I soldmyfancywhiteAudiTTcar,

movedoutof mylavishapartment

in Sandton.I hadto downgrade

mylife,I neededto bringit back

to a levelwhereI couldmanage

my month’s expenditure.

hairfromhome.Shewasa firmbelieverthatonemust

havemultiplestreamsofrevenue.Mymotherusedtodo

whateverittooktoputfoodonthetable.”

Thisattributemadehimresourcefultoo,ashesawit

work.Hewasemployedbutwasinspiredtostarthisown

business.

Hisjobforsixyearsata globaltechnologyand

consultingfirminJohannesburgexposedhimtothe

innerworkingsoftheICTbusiness.

Thecomputerhadbeena loyalcompanionsincehigh

school.

Inthemid-1990s,hisbrotherboughthimhisfirst

TVgameconsole,thengavehimhisoldPentium One

computerwith 133 megabytesofdata.

“Iwasfascinatedbythe

factthatyoucouldprograma

computertodocertainthings,”

saysNgcobo.

GraduatingfromtheUniversity

ofCapeTowninSouthAfrica

witha BScin2005,hewasn’t

particularlypassionateabout

theory,butwasdrivenby

formulae.

“Ialsodidbusinessasan

electivebecauseI wasthinking

aboutthetrade.So,varsitywas

mostlyaboutcomputersand

businessandthat’swhereitall

began.”

Twoyearslater,heventuredintothechickenfeed

businessashismotherhadstarteda chickenfarm.

Heranthebusinessforfiveyearswitha fairturnover

andemployingthree.

“Thatmoneywasabletopayformycar;I sawithad

legs.I triedsomanybusinesses;I evensoldprepaid

airtimeandelectricityaroundwhereI grewup.”

Thechickenbusinessdidn’ttakeoffbutatleasthewas

nowluredintotheartofmakingmoney.

In2011,the36-year-oldserialentrepreneurregistered

AcceleritTechnologies,a smallandmediumenterprise

providingturnkeyICTsolutions.Heneededtohave

licencestoruna telecombusinesstodobusinesswith

othercompaniesandconsumers.

Hewasstillanemployeewiththecompanyheworked

for,buttimehadcometogoonhisown.

“Ihadtobebillableasa consultant,soI hadtowork.

Therewasa projectI workedonthatabsolutelyalmost

broke me; I didn’t enjoy it at all, so I was in a space

knowingI didn’thavetodowhatI wasdoing.IfI could

dedicatea littlebitofmytimetopursuemyownventure,

I couldmakeitworkandthatwasit,I wasdone,andI

resignedin2013,”hesays.

Havingtastedentrepreneurship,heknewhecould

doit,butthistime,hehadtobefullypresentand

committed.

“IsoldmyfancywhiteAudiTTcar,andmovedout

ofmylavishapartmentinSandton.I hadtodowngrade

mylife,I neededtobringitbacktoa levelwhereI could

managemymonth’sexpenditureandalignwiththefact

thatI wasnolongeranemployee,”hesays.

Hesharedofficespacebuthada businessaddress;it

was time to get his firstcustomer.

Hesetupa Wi-Fibase

stationathissister’shouse

andsoldvouchers;expanded

toGreyhoundLines,an

intercitybuscarrier;then

a studentcommunearound

theJohannesburgCBD,and

withinmonths,Ngcobowas

turningoverR10,000($617) a

month.

“Thatmademefeel

chuffed,”hesays.Hissister

washisfirstemployeeandtwo

otherfriendssoonwereonhis

payroll.

“Iwascomingfroma jobthatpaidmeR60,000

($3,700)a month,andtheR10,000($617)hadmesuper

excited.I knewI neverhadtowork[forsomeoneelse]a

dayinmylife.IfI putin 10 timestheeffort,thenI would

bemakingR100,000($6,168)a monthandthatishowthe

journeystarted.”

Businesswasgrowingandwithin 24 months,Ngcobo

setupWi-FibasestationsinestatesaroundMidrandstill

usingthevouchersystem;atthetime,itwasmassive.

Inearly2017,AcceleritTechnologiesmovedtofiber

optictechnologydeliveringhigh-speeddata.

“Thatmadeusverycompetitive;wewentfromnorth

Johannesburgtoprovidingservicesnationwide,turning

overR900,000($55,512)attheendofthe 2018 financial

ye a r.”

Currently,NgcoboisprojectingR30million($1.85

million)forthefinancialyear 2020 andemploys 20 full-

timestaff.

It’sbignumbersandwiredambitions, but as always,

he is sure he can make it work.