Malakalaka takes honours
POLOKWANE ENTREPRENEUR TO OPEN ONLINE SHOP WITH DELIVERY
Innovative techpreneur, Khomotso Malakalaka, was announced as the national winner of the 2018 SME Toolkit BUSINESS/ PARTNERS Business Plan Competition for Aspiring Young Entrepreneurs – a competition that saw 800 young aspiring entrepreneurs attend business planning workshops across the country to equip them with the necessary skills and tools to turn their business idea into a reality.
The competition aims to encourage, assist and inspire South Africa’s youth to start their own businesses as a means to reduce the country’s high unemployment rate by promoting entrepreneurship as a viable career choice.
However, according to Petro Bothma, enterprise development manager at Business Partners Limited, who was speaking at the awards ceremony in Johannesburg, in order to do this, it is crucial that aspiring entrepreneurs be taught the essentials of starting a business, such as developing a business plan.
“This year, the competition saw an increase of entrants, especially from the country’s smaller cities, which is testament to entrepreneurship becoming a more popular career path throughout South Africa and not just in the larger metros,” says Bothma.
“It is for this reason that 11 regional winners were chosen as opposed to the usual eight – with the exceptionally high calibre of the submitted business plans following the workshops, it was an extremely tough competition to judge.”
Malakalaka was awarded the national prize for her business plan for her Polokwane-based online grocery shopping and delivery start-up, The GoodGrocer, which ultimately exuded the “wow-factor”, explains Bothma.
“The GoodGrocer will offer services that take advantage of the growing customer demand for e-commerce by providing a convenient and high-quality service, whilst taking into account customers’ lifestyle needs and catering to the essential requirement of hassle-free, easy, and convenient online grocery shopping.
“The business plan submitted by Malakalaka was an outstanding representation of her startup, showing great attention to detail and ultimately, the viability of the business.
“Set to begin trading in 2019, Malakalaka ensured that all her bases are covered and that the foundation for her business is in place. This, combined with her passion and her enthusiasm all played a role in her win,” says Bothma.
When selecting the national winner, the judges considered the quality of the business plan, the level of innovation, viability of the business concept, entrepreneurial ability and whether the aspiring entrepreneur is, in fact, ready to become a business owner in terms of their leadership skills and suitability to mentorship.
For being crowned the national winner of the 2018 SME Toolkit BUSINESS/PARTNERS Business Plan Competition for Aspiring Young Entrepreneurs, Malakalaka will receive R25 000 in seed capital for her business, a mentorship voucher valued at R12 000, a smart tablet and goodie bag.
Now in its ninth year, Bothma says: “The younger generation is filled with such passion, enthusiasm and hope, and our aim remains to continually support and channel this passion in order to help them to make their dreams a reality through the competition.” – Citizen reporter