By: Zethu Gweva
Young and ready to conquer the business world, Sandiswa Mgolozeli, 24, has secured herself a spot as a finalist in the South African heroes awards under the business empowerment category which will take place in Johannesburg on April 27.
These are the inaugural South African Heroes Awards which aim to recognise the unsung heroes who are doing magnificent work. Mgolozeli who is from Nqamakwe has put the Eastern Cape province in high ranks as she is the only finalist from the province.
According to the 24 year old who was elected as a Buffalo City Metro Municipality Youth Council member and is also a member of the Black Business Forum, she runs two businesses which are a Public Relations, Marketing agency and Epitomely Interior Doctors in East London. She added that the PR and Marketing agency has an international footprint.
“The international footprint comes from the fact that in 2018, I hosted a Forbes international business coach in the city from the United States, to coach women who are in business during women’s month, both who are aspiring and who are already entrepreneurs,” said Mogolozeli.
Speaking about the challenges she faced in business, she said the most common challenge was capital, resources and the inability of reaching a larger audience.
“I like challenges because at the end comes a beautiful story. Coming from a public relations and marketing background, I have always known that brand first and capital later,” she said.
The young businesswoman hopes to launch her academy this year which is a part of the CSI branch.
“it is going to take part in an after school programme, the academy will focus on PR, Marketing and also entrepreneurship students who are doing first year,”she said.
Mgolezeli expressed that majority of students have a traditional way of thinking when it comes to career choices and programmes.
“Now come reality post matric their results don’t match what they want, they end doing PR, Entrepreneurship, Business Management and Marketing not because they are passionate about them, but enroll in these courses to make ends meet,” she said.
Mgolozeli said young people need to try and engage in dialogues that speak around entrepreneurship. She explained that entrepreneurship is the only solution with the current high unemployment rate.