Julie Alexander Fourie
Fourie is the founder of iFix, a business that repairs and services Apple devices, ranging from iPhones, to iPads and iPods.
Bheki Kunene
Kunene is a Khayelitsha entrepreneur. He is the founder and owner of Mind Trix Media, a creative design agency.
Doug Hoernle
Hoernle is the founder of Rethink Education, a programme that delivers educational content broken down into ‘bite-size bits’ and presented through a social network style, chat interface.
Since inception, the program has been distributed to more than 500 000 people.
Ludwick Marishane
TIME Magazine named Marishane one of the “Top 30 under 30 people that are changing the world.”
Founder of HeadBoy Industries, he invented “Dry Bath” an innovative product that allows users to use a gel for bathing, when there is no access to water.
Marishane has a Bachelor of Business Science, majoring in Finance and Accounting from the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Entrepreneurship in the South African context
There are about 2 million small businesses in South Africa –businesses that sustain many individuals and families.
These small businesses also employ approximately 55% of the country’s labour force.
South African entrepreneurs under 35 face a number of challenges when starting their businesses. The most common one is funding.
A recent survey found that for many entrepreneurs, bootstrapping remains the most popular way to raise initial funds (56%). This is followed by investments from friends and family (11%).
Despite these challenges, many South African entrepreneurs are forging ahead with unique and innovative ideas to create small businesses. Many South African entrepreneurs under 35 consistently strive to create sustainable businesses, with job creation often being at the fore of their goals.
Many of these individuals realise that entrepreneurship drives many economies towards growth and they are doing their bit to improve the economic prospects of the country.