by MarkLives (@marklives) Ask Karidas Tshintsholo how he became an entrepreneur, and he’ll tell you in just one word: poverty. Growing up in Ekangala township near Pretoria, his mom could barely provide food and shelter for the family. Even if he wanted a small treat, he had to work for it. Now, just 21, he is co-founder of a textile company with its own fashion brand, Push Ismokol, and of Moneytree Group, which specialises in media, publishing, recruitment and financial education for young people.
Hear more from him at Open Design Cape Town, where he is making a presentation at a TALK100 session on the theme, “The Steve Jobs factor: what qualities do we need in future business leaders?” The session starts at 11am on 11 August 2016 at Cape Town City Hall and is free and open to all.
What will you be discussing at the upcoming Open Design Cape Town TALK100 session?
Karidas Tshintsholo: Haha, I don’t want to give too much away but my talk will be centred [on] value-based entrepreneurship in the context of South African business. This covers two key aspects that I have learnt are absolutely vital for business leaders:
- Value creation: you need to actually find a gap/ problem in society and use your business to address it.
- Value-system (ethics): it’s very important to have a moral compass on how you do business, to be guided by a specific set of values.
Among a number of entrepreneurial ventures in which you are involved, you and a colleague have designed your own fashion brand, Push Ismokol. How successful is this venture and what are you doing or intend to do to realise the potential of your brand?
KT: The brand has been doing very well and has surpassed a lot of our expectations; we have been trying to contain growth as demand was exceeding our production capacity. However, we are now in the process of expansion and ‘building’ a factory; we are very adamant and strict about producing our garments locally, even though this has meant that we have to deal with slower growth of the brand as we upscale our production.
I can’t give too much away as we are in a very competitive space, but we’ve quite a few ground-breaking things in the pipeline.
The ventures in which you have been or are involved all seem to be rooted in the Ekangala township where you were raised. Will future ventures continue to be community-based, or do you see yourself expanding into other areas and markets?
KT: My first instinct is to give back to where I come from but, no, I have actually done a lot of work outside Ekangala through Moneytree Group.
My first priority for the next few years is the SA market; I want to use my entrepreneurial spirit to not only create employment but encourage a change in mindset towards entrepreneurial thinking. I am definitely not confined to a specific geographical location, but I believe in gradual growth.
Is the number of entrepreneurs in poor disadvantaged communities such as Ekangala in fact increasing? If not, why not? If so, perhaps you can give us a few examples of successful entrepreneurs.
KT: I would say that it is increasing and actually there is a high number of entrepreneurs/‘hustlers’ in townships, but my concern is more on the type of businesses that are being created. There needs to be more-disruptive (even in a local context) and wealth-generating businesses. The increase of entrepreneurs is probably caused by SA’s education system, as it makes it quite difficult for someone who is not ‘smart’ to have a good life; people then realise that their future rests on no else but themselves.
Open Design is open to everyone, whether they are new to design or already see design and innovation as critical to designing a better future world. While some festival events are ticketed, most events are free to attend. For more information and a full festival programme log onto www.opendesignct.com or follow @opendesignct on Twitter, @opendesignct on Instagram and Opendesignct on Facebook. The official hashtag is #ODCT2016.
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