Kabelo Montja | 8020 Digital (trading as Vertex Media)

Kabelo Montja | 8020 Digital (trading as Vertex Media)

Programme sponsor: DuPont

“I could understand the business language and really engage with clients on that level”

Kabelo Montja started his content creation business in 2019 after becoming disheartened with his run-of-the-mill nine to five job. “I would go to my job in the morning and clock out in the evening, but that frustrated me because I felt like there was more to life. It started eating me up inside. I wasn’t happy and I started to feel a sense of stress. And then I decided that I was going to leave my job and pursue something that will help me sustain my own life,” he says. He resigned and took a short course in social media marketing. “I aced the course. Then I got a couple of clients. I had four clients that I was creating adverts for,” he says.

Already on his way to becoming established, Kabelo saw an advert for a business growth programme sponsored by DuPont and powered by Raizcorp. “That’s how everything started changing for me, and from there, I haven’t looked back. I felt that I was on the right track. I’m doing something that I love and I’m happier now than I ever was before,” Kabelo says.

Before going on the DuPont programme, Kabelo wasn’t aware of what the term “scaling a business” meant. Doing everything himself was overwhelming. “I had to go out there, get the client, do all the work and then deliver the work by myself. It has taken so much from me, even though I’m enjoying it. I realised that I couldn’t be doing all the functions of my business alone,” he explains.

“I knew I had to scale the business, but I didn’t know there was such a thing as scaling,” he laughs. The DuPont programme taught him the skills he needed. “I know which functions are important now, what to do first to last. The scaling of the business – where to scale and how to scale has been the most important part for me during the programme.

He’s found other aspects of the programme helpful too. “Raizcorp has helped me think outside the box. So, how to formulate your market, how to find your buyer, how to narrow down your client, deciding if your ideas or products are good for the market at the time – is it feasible? That’s been very valuable,” he says.

Kabelo noticed the shift personally and in his business. “My lightbulb moment came when I was dealing with a client and I could understand the business language and really engage with them on that level. I have Raizcorp to thank for that. I had the toughest guide (mentor) but it was more of a collaborative thing than a student-teacher thing – it was challenging and eye-opening,” he says.

While Kabelo hasn’t employed extra staff full time, he outsources some of the business tasks and has started to increase his turnover. “I have two more clients. I couldn’t handle the producing of content on my own and everything else, so I managed to outsource that part of my business. We are definitely starting to make money now,” he says happily.

His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is to believe in yourself. “Get that hustle spirit up. You need to be able to go out there and get those deals. Never, ever say to yourself that you cannot talk to certain types of people because you’re not at that level yet. Believe in yourself and make sure that before you go to bed, you learn something new,” he encourages.

In a message to his sponsor, Kabelo very gratefully says, “Thank you to DuPont for teaching me how to learn my business in and out. Raizcorp really pushed me to understand my numbers – business without numbers is not a business. Thank you for believing in me when I didn’t even really believe in myself that much. My business has taken a sharp turn to the positive because of you.”