Pat on Brands Podcast

Many people are struggling to find the balance between their jobs and side hustles. The decision to quit a comfortable job with a guaranteed salary for a side hustle is a tough one. With the side hustle, the stakes are high. There are no guarantees.

In this week's episode, Pat Mahlangu and Nompumelo Satsha are joined by Awakhiwe Kona - Founder and Creative Director of Suitability to help answer the burning question.

When is the right time to quit your job?

Awakhiwe Kona is a self-made stylist that seeks to redefine style in the South African landscape. He studied Actuarial Science at Wits University and continued working in corporate as an Actuarial Analyst.

As a young professional, he faced the problem of buying very expensive retail suits that did not fit really well (the man had very long arms). This led him to tailor his suits and the results were amazing. At a lower cost, he could get a taste of both worlds... a perfect fit and a tailored suit that reflected his personality. Compliments from colleagues and co-workers triggered the idea of Suitability.

At the age of 23, he started his first tailoring and style consultation business. Awakhiwe often uses suits to spread messages about how every gentleman should define themselves. Suits come with great responsibility. Respect for oneself is fundamental as a gentleman. If a person respects himself, it will be easier for him to be a responsible citizen who respects women and children.

Marketing is about understanding human behavior. Understanding human behavior is the key to success in any business. For small businesses to succeed, it is important for them to understand their target consumers, how they think, and the reasons for how they behave.

In this week’s episode, Pat Mahlangu and Nompumelelo Satsha are joined by Linda Appie - Head of Marketing at Tyme Bank, to help us answer the burning question. What does it take to lead the marketing of the fastest-growing bank?

Linda Appie is an experienced FMCG marketer in emerging markets. She considers herself as an Afro-optimist and Afro-marketer. She has a strong track record of managing cross-functional teams, project management, and helping young people reach their full potential.

Construction is an important sector that contributes greatly to the economic growth of a country. In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in more women picking up sledge hammers, breaking down barriers, and smashing down gender stereotypes.

In this week’s episode, Patrick Mahlangu and Nompumelelo Satsha are joined by Mikateko Nkosi - Founder and Managing Director of Houses on Wheels Modular Developments, to help answer the burning question, how do females penetrate the male-dominated industry?

Mikateko Nkosi was Born in Mpumalanga and she is currently based in Gauteng. She holds a BSC Degree in Construction Studies from Wits University. Mikateko’s entrepreneurial journey began after the publication of her first book in 2010 and was sponsored by Standard Bank. She started her first construction company in 2015 called Multi-National Group (MNG) when she struggled to secure a job due to a lack of experience.

In 2018 her company MNG was invited to the annual Metropolitan Showcase at the Sandton Convention Centre where they had the opportunity to customize the homes of the former Mayor David Makura and Minister of Human Settlement Uhuru. The same year, the company was nominated by the Department of Small businesses for Township entrepreneur of the year.

She has earned a reputation in the industry for her work on custom projects including building Discovery and being nominated by SAWAL for the 2019 Women Engineer of the year award.

Houses on Wheels was officially established in 2021 which created mobile container structures such as container homes, restaurants, mobile offices, etc due to the slow growth of the construction industry making shipping containers that are cheaper, faster, and more convenient.

In 2021 Houses on wheels became one of the 25 of the Womhub cohort founders in Africa selected to be funded by the Embassy of Finland.

Digital Marketing plays an important role in the development of small businesses. Small businesses that use digital marketing effectively, can connect directly with their ideal customers.

In this episode, Pat Mahlangu and Nompumelelo Satsha are joined by Bolawana (Mags) Shivanda - Founder and Managing Director of Digital Shero Media Group, to help answer the burning question, how can small businesses use Digital Marketing effectively?

Shivanda shares important tips on how businesses can use Digital Marketing effectively to reach their target audience.

Bolawana(Mags)Shivanda is a female entrepreneur from Bloemfontein who has turned challenges into opportunities. She has over 13 years of experience in Digital Media Marketing.

She is the founder and Managing Director of DigitalShero Media Group. DigitalShero is a 100% Black female-owned #ADTECH media and digital marketing company.

She is also the founder and Cheerleader of BloemGirlsRock Foundation – NPO. Mags Shivanda’s career began in 2007 when she interned at one of the largest media houses in South Africa. .

In 2019, Investec sent her to Banglore, India, along with 13 other young media owners to their Network Global program.

She is also an ambitious investor who invested in a growing e-commerce company in South Africa. Her dream is to inspire young girls across Africa, and show them that female leaders really exist, and do things differently.

#Marketing #Entreprenuership #DigitalMarketing

One of the major challenges that many small businesses face, is the high rate of employee turnover. Employee turnover is when a large number of employees do not stay in a company. There are various reasons why many employees leave companies.

Daisy Lepheana - Managing Director at Affinity Human Capital, shares some important tips on how small businesses can retain their employees.

Daisy Lepheana has over 17 years of experience in attracting, developing, and retaining the right people for businesses. Her unique professional experience comes from years of providing excellent support and guidance to employees and businesses.

Social Media has become an important part of our daily lives and it enables businesses to effectively reach and engage with existing and potential customers. To be successful in the digital age as an entrepreneur, it is important to acquire social media skills.

In episode 6, Pat Mahlangu and Mpumi Satsha are joined by Lebo Lion to help answer the burning question, how can entrepreneurs use Social Media effectively?

Lebo Lion is a digital marketer, podcasting pioneer, digital philanthropist, and strategist whose passion for the African continent, social media, and the study of African consumer behavior has led her to transform over 1000 South African start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses. Her podcast, THE LEBO LION SHOW is one of the top 100 on iTunes globally.

She is a force to be reckoned with in digital and the marketing fraternity at large.

In this episode, we are featuring a young and ambitious entrepreneur in the eCommerce industry. Lebohang Likhojane is the founder of Smartsentials and ReThink Afrika. Lebo (as he is affectionately known) started his business from the dusty streets of Bloemfontein. He is taking the e-commerce industry by storm, one cart at a time.

As a Facebook trainer, Lebo has trained over 2000 young people in digital skills across the continent. In 2018, he was nominated for the M&G 200 young people of the year.

Last year he co-authored a book on “eCommerce in the context of Southern Africa”. Lebo also started ReThink Afrika which looks at helping entrepreneurs start or augment their traditional businesses into digital businesses.

Lebo helps us to answer the burning question - How to build a proper eCommerce business?

#Entrepreneurship #Marketing #eCommerce

Episode 4 of the POB Podcast unpacks heritage brands and answers the burning question - What can entrepreneurs learn from Heritage Brands?

Heritage brands play a vital role in our society and they have become part of our lives.

To help us answer this burning question we a joined by Thembi Sehloho - Marketing Director for Rice and Pasta at Tiger Brands SA.

Thembi is a seasoned marketing specialist with a passion for meaningful and impactful brand work. After graduating with a BCom in Accounting degree from the University of Johannesburg, Thembi joined the auditing team at Unilever where she stumbled upon marketing and instantly fell in love with it. She has since gone on to build a formidable career in marketing spanning over 15 years. Her abilities to run strategic and capital expansion projects have landed her accolades which include:

● Building the Mama KOO franchise propelled the brand to be SA’s most loved brand.

Thembi is also passionate about leadership and mentorship and she was recently awarded the 3rd Positive Role Model Award- 9th Annual Gender Mainstream Awards.

Her vast experience in leading SA’s Iconic FMCG brands (All Gold, KOO, Bakers, Tastic, and Fatti’s& Moni’s) has solidified her place as a seasoned marketer in SA.

In this episode, we attempt to answer a burning question that most entrepreneurs struggle with, how to increase sales for your business?. Sales are the lifeblood of any business irrespective of the industry.

To help us answer this burning question, we are joined by Albert Makoeng who is the Head of Sale at theSALT. Albert is an engineer by trade and later turned into a Marketer. He has a distinguished pedigree of over 12 years within the media and advertising industry where he has fulfilled roles in media sales across broadcast and digital media.

He is the former BBC Worldwide Sponsorship Manager. In this role, he used to increase the channels sponsorship, draft sponsorships strategies across Africa, increase revenues, and form partnerships. He also worked as a Sponsorship and Promotions Manager for 3years at Mnet.

Albert also worked for Supersport as the Sponsorship & Promotion Manager and as well as a Media Planner. During this role, he was responsible for looking after sponsorship deals and ensuring that promos flighted as per the brief, media planning across SS Channels, and working closely with the Marketing team to increase channel awareness.

He also has a degree in MAP, Business Management, Marketing, and Related Support with WITS Business School and a degree in Strategic, Strategic Marketing with Vega as well as NPM, Organization Design, Finance, and Marketing.

The burning question is - "are entrepreneurs born or made?". To help us with this question we are joined by Kelebogile Sephoti an entrepreneurial coach and consultant. Kelebogile has served and lived in three different African countries(Mauritius, Rwanda, and South Africa). Her aim is to facilitate the development of an African entrepreneurial economy through the generation and dissemination of critical information, the teaching, and training in core entrepreneurial and economic competencies, the creation of lifelong networks, mentoring opportunities, and advocacy towards the development of an enabling ecosystem for entrepreneurial development.

She has the personal insights and experience of an entrepreneur. She is the founder of Dikatso, entrepreneurial coaching, and consultancy firm, and works as the Operations Director for Perpetu8. Africa, a boutique SME implementation consultancy firm.

Kelebogile is committed to supporting the personal transformation of individuals, organizations, and society to become changemakers. She is completing her Master of Management degree in the fields of entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation with Wits business School, currently reading with Harvard Business School Online, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Economics and Marketing from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Entrepreneurshipmarketingsmall business