For so many entrepreneurs, one of the biggest challenges is scaling and sustaining a business, and often expertise advice and practical support is needed to help them take it to the next level. That’s where Perpetu8 comes in, the niche, SME focused consulting firm created by entrepreneur S’onqoba Vuba.
LoA chatted to the entrepreneurial force that is S’onqoba Vuba this month to find out more.
What does your company do?
Perpetu8 is the African leader in building SMEs into exponential organizations aligned to the global rate of change and opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Perpetu8 is a boutique SME implementation consulting firm that is building relevant, sustainable and scalable SMEs through leveraging the gig economy. Perpetu8 makes skilled specialists/freelancers available and affordable to SMEs through on demand implementation consulting to grow the business and create jobs. We do this through partnering with funders in the SME ecosystem.
What inspired you to start your company?
My interaction with and involvement with a large financial services corporate over six years as well as running a corporate internal innovation programme at First National Bank resulted in many lessons on systems and processes for scale. It also made it abundantly clear to me that there was a gap to bridge between large corporates and small businesses. I then moved into a new education startup as the COO and drove the growth of the business from 3 employees to just under 100. I managed many elements of the business from nothing to creating systems to staffing people into the business areas. That business was Sifiso Learning Group owner of Future Nation Schools, Sifiso Publishers, Sifiso Edtech and Sifiso Education Properties. I started my own business, Perpetu8 in August 2018 because I wanted to build more scalable businesses like this one! I think that the support given to small businesses needs to be linked to actual business growth as well as job creation rather than training and mentoring alone.
Driven by principles of the future world of work and how to build a exponential business that can double in size each year, I decided that I wanted to play a part in building more of these while creating a market for freelancers and for an SME to SME ecosystem.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
If you want to move from single digit growth to more, call us! If you want more than advice and training and are looking for people to roll up their sleeves to implement solutions to problems in your business, call us! If you have a problem you are uncertain how to solve, call us! If you need skilled people that you can't find and/or afford, call us!
Any industry and any type of problem: we will find the right people to IMPLEMENT the solution.
Tell us a little about your team
Our team includes me, S'onqoba Vuba as founder and my co-founder, and my Business Development Head, Luthando. Then we pack the power of having 2300 freelancers, SME businesses and subject matter experts ready to assist your business.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And, do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
No entrepreneurial background here! I worked my way from graduate to a senior executive in an African financial services business. I then joined an education startup as employee number 2 and worked into the role of COO of the business Sifiso Learning Group (owner of Future Nation Schools and Sifiso Publishers). Based on these learnings and my continued frustration at how the SME ecosystem continues to fail entrepreneurs, I decided to become an entrepreneur solving the issues of other entrepreneurs.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
Africa! We want to grow across the continent with awesome global partners.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
Seeing another entrepreneurs business grow and watching jobs be created. There is simply no feeling like it. There is also nothing like seeing eyes brighten when experiencing an ‘aha’ moment.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Be bold! Just start!
Contact or follow Perpetu8
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | EMAIL sonqoba@perpetu8.africa
Why LoA loves it….
Africa’s women entrepreneurs often have a vision to build significant, impact driven, high growth businesses that will be sustainable, but it’s a hard journey and one that needs lots of support in the early days. In S’onqoba Vuba, they have a key champion, and one that is willing to roll up her sleeves, think out of the box, and practically help those entrepreneurs to achieve the growth they desire. --- Melanie Hawken, founder and ceo of Lionesses of Africa