TASHLINE JOOSTE’S TRUSTWORTHY ENDEAVOUR TO SUPPORT BLACK-OWNED SMMES

The philanthropist in Tashline Jooste was awakened when she noted the lack of support for Black-owned SMMEs in South Africa

It emerged during her research that entrepreneurs in the country were (and still are) developing a keen interest in STEM-based companies.

However, the success of emerging technology companies in particular was being hindered by how a lot of business owners were struggling in the areas of funding, business acumen, technical skills, and infrastructure support among others.

Tashline’s thirst for seeing Black businesses thriving would ultimately lead to the establishment of Innovator Trust whose mandate is to facilitate training that develops their skills as business owners and provides necessary resources and mentorship

In 2014, telecommunications giant, Vodacom, known for championing South African entrepreneurs, established the Innovator Trust to be a beacon of empowerment for the growth of SMMEs in the ICT sector Tashline has been at the helm of the organisation since, executing on the bold vision and mandate She continues to drive impact in the lives of entrepreneurs with her passion and humanitarian spirit.

Qualifying entrepreneurs can apply for the Innovator Trust Enterprise Development Program in order to benefit from Tashline and her team’s expertise in business sustainability training which has been making a meaningful impact in the SMME ICT sector for close to a decade under her leadership. In order to qualify, ICT companies that have been in business for 2 years or longer must be 51% Black owned This inclusive program welcomes applications not only from businesses that have proven to be fruitful but even those that have the potential, vision, and desire to grow

The ICT powerhouse that is Innovator Trust has successfully incubated over 100 sustainable ICT-based SMMEs. Tashline and her team’s expertise and dedication have been the driving force behind the growth of these companies from start-ups to small, medium, and for some even big entities.

The team’s direct interaction with entrepreneurs has brought them to the realisation that business owners are not merely in the pursuit of handouts, but rather, are hungry for guidance on how to navigate the business environment in ways that breed prosperity in their entrepreneurship journeys

There is a misconception that the only steep hill for SMMEs is funding but in reality, they also battle with skills training and accreditation, compliance, infrastructure, and access to opportunities The team at Innovator Trust has been able to position themselves as industry leaders in their ability to train entrepreneurs to not just survive the trials and tribulations of the business world but to equip them with the necessary skills to respond with innovative solutions that make a tangible difference. Entrepreneurs that are fortunate enough to make the cut into these programs are taught how to contend in competitive markets and deliver at levels similar to those of major ICT corporations.

The average South African today can no longer ignore or deny the dishevelment that load shedding has thrown into our lives and our current economic state is such that small businesses are bearing the biggest brunt of this misfortune as it puts a damper on their ability to maintain operations and productivity.".

The rising fuel costs, interest rate, and the aftermath of Covid-19 all have a severe impact on the mental health of entrepreneurs,” says Tashline who also believes that limited access to funding, market access, and cashflow remain some of the major challenges facing small business owners in our country today. Through her and her team’s years of working with SMMEs in the ICT sector, Tashline now has a deeper understanding of the importance of opening up business owners, to greater access to business acumen, as this is a winning formula for accessing the knowledge base that is the cornerstone of

Running one’s business optimally and efficiently. When starting a business, the end goal is usually for that business to be sustainable so that its impact on people’s lives can outlive the founders and more importantly for the employees to be able to maintain their livelihood, especially in our crippled economy. Employment creation continues to be the most crucial element of entrepreneurship in South Africa

Tashline’s well-informed professional opinion and greatest concern to date is how little a lot of businesses have transformed (if at all), digitally Realistically though, how can businesses attain this conspicuously necessary digital transformation when the capital to introduce technological assistance in their businesses in order to successfully compete in today’s digital era is virtually nonexistent?

Ironically, technological advances are fast becoming many a young person’s redemption from the clutches of unemployment as they attempt to meet their financial requirements. One of the best things about the modern world is how access to technology literally being at your fingertips enables us to utilize digital platforms for viable businesses.

“The Innovator Trust Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) focuses on giving tech entrepreneurship training to matriculated, unemployed youth specifically as a means to alleviate the alarming unemployment rate among South African youth and also to show them within a guided environment, how they can utilize technology to become entrepreneurs”

In Tashline and her team’s experience, the technological advances over the past two decades have taken us all down a path that Bob Kahn and Vince Cerf could have never anticipated when they first embarked on their respective internet innovation journeys. It is undeniable that one way or another, every single industry that exists in today’s world has somehow been affected by information communication technologies.

These advances have brought about very welcomed changes in the lives of entrepreneurs as they have brought about growth, increased efficiencies, productivity, and new solutions.