As the ENGEN Pitch & Polish programme celebrates its twelfth anniversary, the project is looking back at some amazing success stories to come out of the competition. This is the story of 2013 competitor, Nhlakanipho Shange, the owner of AD.IT Solutions, an outdoor media and marketing agency.
“I grew up in Umlazi, Durban and started my career studying medicine at UCT. While I was deciding whether I wanted to continue my studies, I flew down to Cape Town to conduct a feasibility study for a low-cost bakery. On the flight, I saw those dropdown screens and thought it would be a great idea to put something like that in taxis. During my stay in Cape Town, the idea kept haunting.
“When we started with taxi TV, we thought funding was the biggest problem. I now believe that, as an entrepreneur, the money will come, but that convincing the client to use your services is the key. I was helping out a friend with his business in 2013 when we came across flyers advertising the competition. At the last minute, I decided to enter.”
“Something important I learned was not to romanticise your business idea or its prospects. You need to be realistic about its prospects, the numbers and everything that goes into building it. Everything I learned during the programme has played a significant part in building my business.” Since starting up, the business has gone through so much – both good and bad. We’re currently coming back from a bit of a dip after a few years of incredible growth. I definitely recommend that anyone who is running their own business or thinking of starting one up participate in the competition. It opens your mind to a variety of possibilities for any business,” – Nhlakanipho Shange.
