INSPIRATION FROM THE GROWTH ICON AND FOUNDER OF HELPLINK AFRICA

# Brief Bio, nature of business and what drives you to set up this company?

The status of any economy is strongly dependent on the health of its Small Businesses. I am Kudakwashe; Head of Growth and Executive at Helplink Africa is a small business tool propelling SMEs on the continent to thrive in a Digital-First Economy.

Our team works with Small Businesses to energize their online presence. We intersect engagements between professional services businesses and their customers to further enhance it so as to ensure that our clients never lose a lead, activate a customer, generate revenue repeatedly, and engrave customer loyalty.

Helplink Africa achieves this by managing the most important resource that any professional service provider has with their customer, which is 'TIME'. Get booked online, process payments, send out email and SMS reminders, run marketing campaigns, start a loyalty program, integrate your online presence, get your customers to be your advocates, and manage your client database through one simple business management platform. Build a business you are proud of.

KUDAKWASHE MAZHETESE

# How do you define your business model; what dierentiates your products & Services from others?

Helplink Africa is 'A Software as a Service Company' distributing vita technology customized to the market needs. What makes the African growth company dierent from any other CRM or business management tools is that we specialize in servicing the professional services sector, with one simple platform that guarantees to return customers, and handholds SME's to building financial s u s t e n a n c e , o p t i m i z i n g p r o c e s s e s p l u s c u s t o m e r satisfaction.

The concept of engaging outside firms (people) is foreign to typical African businesses, why should people start being open to services like yours.

We live in a Digital First Reality. Statistics have proven that 80% of all purchasing decisions are made through the influence that comes from online platforms even if the customers pay for the product or service in cash or by card physically. Customers are only willing to acquire your services when they can socially prove you, if your website adequately gives them the information they want or if you have good brand equity. We assist in ensuring that when they land on your Facebook or your website or see your Google listing on search results that they do the first and most important step, activate an action to enquire or better yet acquire from you. Just having a website won't be good enough especially when you trade your skills through time. Giving the customer the ability to schedule, better yet pay and confirm without having to call, or try to write an email asking to be helped is the future of optimizing for customer satisfaction. So if some trades time for money they must also have a system that generates leads for them whilst they do what they do best.

# How do you blend the societal norms in particular deep-set family culture and business?

Time is important in families too. I believe in a society where most parents spend their time working for a better future for their families our platform allows these small business owners or workers the ability to schedule time appropriately that they can spend with their families and loved ones. Though it's important to make money, it is also important to give time to what is valuable in life. By synchronizing your calendar to our business management tool you can block times when you need to be at your child's amapiano dancing competition or your wife's big webinar just by noting them on your calendar. Your clients will see it as unavailable and schedule the next available slot to their convenience. So the long and short of it is that we bring value to time and being able to exercise good time management practices that uphold deep-set family cultures and business.

# W h a t a re s o m e o f t h e re a s o n s w h y s i m i l a r businesses do not survive particularly in Africa?

There are three which Helplink Africa fights to help businesses overcome. These are:

1. Financial sustenance | Small business financing gap in Africa is large. The reason is simple; there have not been adequate bookkeeping practices available for these businesses to provide evidence of revenue generation.

Secondly, there are small businesses that suer from the seasonal nature of their industries.

2. Establishing and Maintaining processes | Most small businesses didn't need to gather their leads online, or to have a website, now more than ever they have to. In a corporate setting there would have been some sort of Change Management for these new elements of the business that have to gel with the traditional methods of businesses. Badly handled this can frustrate customers and seem like a step backwards. This is where our Customer Success Team steps in to find the best processed suitable for that specific SME.

3. Customer satisfaction | If I have to wait three hours just to get a haircut trust me, I am not going back. Small businesses also have to understand that customer satisfaction is not just in-store or on a social media page, it is also in the way the customer engages with the brand before and after the service.A simple thing such as an email or SMS reminder goes a long way. These touches are important for success. To email, your customer their receipt after their Spa Treatment makes them feel valued and also helps them account and rememb er that sp e cific exp erience. Properly automating these functions will keep the customers that enjoy your service longer than when you do not have a CRM system like Helplink Africa. Even just remembering the customer's name enhances your engagement with them. A customer is not just a number they are emotional beings who try to connect with their experiences as they have them. These are the main reasons small businesses in Africa do not survive.

# What are the three key actions that businesses like yours should take today?

I will tell you what small businesses can do because FinTech businesses like mine are already doing a lot to try to reboot economies. Small businesses must:

• adopt a growth mindset. • Be customer-led • Become a data-driven small business

# Businesses come with stress; what gives you the joy to keep you going?

Seeing small businesses grow after the stress we go through with them. As you might have noticed we call ourselves the African growth company. Any growth to us is beautiful. I could be personal growth, spiritual growth, physical growth, financial growth, and all forms of growth imaginable. The joy in realizing that the stress endured amounted to something is worthwhile. Besides all that, I strive to maintain a work life balance. Sometimes I am out in nature, sometimes I feed my adrenaline. True joy comes with being present in every moment.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THEIR LINKEDIN PROFILE FROM THE LINK BELOW;

:https://www.linkedin.com/company/33204833