Woman on top – Refilwe Matenche
Chartered accountant REFILWE MATENCHE, 32, quit crunching numbers for a big firm, to start her own businesses.
Business runs in Refilwe Matenche’s blood. In high school she sold sweets, amakipkip (popcorn), and photographed other kids and got paid for it. At varsity she made clothing, which she sold on campus and today this mother of one lists several businesses she’s started. Her current position is as co-founder of the African Woman Movement, a networking group Refilwe says she’s been building with all the knowledge acquired through each of the businesses she’s ventured into.
“I’m pleased that I can impart knowledge to other aspiring businesswomen,” she says, adding how it all started with a WhatsApp group. “It was the four of us sharing our business frustrations. We spoke about day-to-day struggles and achievements. Within two months we had 175 women chatting about their highs and lows.”
At the time of initiating the network, Refilwe also ran the Unicorn school shuttle service, not long after the birth of her daughter, Khazimula, in 2015. “When I became a mother, I saw a need for emergency school transport. You know that call that comes through about your child not feeling well at school and you have to come fetch them? The question is, who’ll fetch the child when you are busy? My company was set up to address that need and a luxury van was purchased, since the whole concept was to cater for CEO and directors’ kids,” she says, adding the service also provided first aid where required.
Refilwe, born and raised in Evaton, in the Emfuleni region of Gauteng, says things went well at first but she didn’t have enough resources to meet the growing demands of the business. “It grew too fast and I was not ready. I’ve was actually using my own resources to manage it. However, I brought in two more companies to help with the smooth running of the business,” she says.
Before the shuttle business, Refilwe had a designing studio, a business skill she picked up from her mother while still at school. “We had a residence dinner at varsity and my mother gave me some cash, but I could only afford a matching top. She opted to make a skirt for me. I didn’t believe she could but, to my surprise, the skirt turned out really nice. That sparked my interest in sewing.” She recalls how her mom introduced the different patterns and showed her how to go about putting them together.“I studied during the day and made clothes at night. I would even find time to sew during studies, since orders came my way for a final year dinner, for which I made two dresses for my friends.”
After graduating as a chartered accountant, Refilwe went on to do her articles at the well known accounting firm Ernst & Young. “One day they held a staff talent show and I put on a full fashion show, complete with ramp, I even showed a few designs of my own,” she fondly recalls.
Six months into her job as a CA, Refilwe began to feel overwhelmed and like she didn’t belong there. “I went back to designing clothes and registered Maten’s Closet, my first clothing company in 2013. I opened a studio in Tshwane, where all the production was done. Business is tough when you don’t work on it full time and I battled with time management because the person appointed to manage the shop was not delivering.”
She says she had to also manage the business even though she was more on the production side of things. With all these problems, and falling pregnant on top of it, Refilwe’s designing business crumbled. “A year later, I closed shop and put all my energy into being a mother .”
At present, Refilwe juggles business with her fulltime post as an accounting lecturer. “While I was doing my second year, I was offered to lecture first year students and would also do private tutoring while I was busy with my articles. I am a senior lecturer at the Unisa College of Accounting Science, within the tax department,” she says of the post, which she obtained through a scholarship she’d successfully applied for.
With business, Refilwe says she saw the need for women to network and share their experiences, hence the network organisation was established in September 2016.
“I spoke with a friend about starting a network for women to share experiences – from getting information to running a successful business. I’ve been in business long enough to know how daunting the task of getting information can be and how discouraging all the necessary requirements can be.”
The 32-year-old is first to admit that she’s living proof that women aren’t always good at networking. Fortunately she had a friend who’s a serious networker. “I bounced the ideas off my friend and we formed a networking group, where she introduced me to her circle of contacts, and visa-versa. Not long after, our NGO the African Women Movement was formed.”
Refilwe says they were able to hold a fully catered and attended conference on members contributions only. “Our unique selling point is positive thinking,” she says, noting how a book club is also in the pipeline and that in March 2017, the African Women Movement will be officially launched.