Motivation To Make It To The Top: SA Entrepreneurs

Working in a large company isn’t for everyone. In fact, it can get pretty monotonous. Your hours are set, what you do is set, and a lot of times there’s not much room for innovation. If the idea of going to work and executing someone else’s vision doesn’t sound appealing anymore, you may be ready to step out on your own and become an entrepreneur. Read more about how these men became entrepreneurs and are contributing to a better South Africa, by being innovative.

Ludwick Marishane

Time Magazine named him one of the “Top 30 under 30 people that are changing the world” in 2013. 

Havinginvented “DryBath” at the age of 17 – a product set to revolutionise sanitation in impoverished areas – Marishane is the founder of Headboy Industries. He is so dedicated to his product that Marishane was quick to file patent and thus became South Africa’s youngest patent filer. Marishane was rated the best student entrepreneur in the world at the Global Champion of the Global Student Entrepreneurs Awards in 2011.

All this led Google to name him as one of the 12 brightest young minds in the world in 2011 as well. This young innovator holds a Bachelor of Business Science, majoring in Finance & Accounting, from the University of Cape Town.

Grant Rushmere’s 

Global Success With BOS Ice Tea, Rushmere had gained valuable insight from his exposure to the inner workings of Red Bull’s marketing mechanics.

Five years after starting the company, BOS is South Africa’s fastest growing soft drink with almost 14% of the local ice tea market in the bag. The brand has also successfully expanded abroad. 

Ryan Bacher

NetFlorist, SA’s largest online gifting company, was launched by accident

Our plan was to run the site for one day to prove that they could do it- they just wanted to prove to Makro that they could design and run an e-commerce site. 

Ryan ended up making R30 000 worth of orders which was the equivalent of a whole month’s revenue at a flower shop. 

Tebogo Ditshego

Ditshego is the chief executive officer of Ditshego Media, a black-owned public relations company. 

He has recently been listed by Forbes Magazine asone of the Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30 for 2014. His advice to other entrepreneurs include, investing in education, getting experience in their industry and reading books which can assist them with sales, deal making, growing and leading their business.

Denislav Marinov

Having attented the prestigious St Stithians Boys’ College in Johannesburg on a music scholarship. Denislav, joined an entrepreneurial society where he met an architect who introduced him to Blender, open-source 3D-creation software. 

Soon, Marinov was producing architectural renderings for clients and with this income and help from his parents, he managed to buy his first 3D printer. 

His plan is to put one 3D educational printer into every school in South Africa, which he believes will drive solution-based, collaborative and cross-disciplinary thinking among learners. The goal is to democratise quality education while also demystifying the technology.

Let us know in the comments below who your entrepreneur inspiration is