The Awethu Project, a local enterprise that supports entrepreneurs, has introduced a mobile app to provide virtual incubation to entrepreneurs and those aspiring to one day run their own businesses.
The Awethu Project provides basic business training, tools and mentorship to support informal entrepreneurs. The organisation also helps businesses expand through assisting them with funding.
According to the incubator, the app is a "business coach in your pocket"; it provides informal entrepreneurs with business tools, basic business concepts and entrepreneurship coaching.
Currently only available in the Android Google store, the app assists informal entrepreneurs in emerging markets to learn to improve their entrepreneurship skills, ultimately making more money.
It has a "sell and earn" section which offers the entrepreneurs a system for recording their financials and keeping track of their daily operations by inputting their daily sales, expenses and profit. It also provides a networking platform by connecting entrepreneurs to like-minded peers, adds the organisation.
Awethu CEO Yusuf Randera-Rees says: "Over the last four years, 100 000 people applied to our incubator. We only had the resources to incubate the top 2 100, and those entrepreneurs have created over 2 500 jobs. Now, it's time to replicate this success on a much larger scale.
"The app has been built to support informal, micro entrepreneurs. There are 2.5 million of these entrepreneurs in SA, and they are the lifeblood of black entrepreneurship - but they are also the most neglected entrepreneurial demographic.
"The app condenses the best aspects of our incubation model and puts them into the hands of anyone who wants the opportunity to start or grow their own business."
The app, he continues, brings together everything Awethu has learned about incubating entrepreneurs. Since 2013, around 75% of the 2 100 incubated businesses did not have a business prior to starting the incubation programme.
"An independent study has shown that businesses incubated in Awethu's programme achieve an increase in average monthly profit of R3 000. Users also have the opportunity to network with other like-minded entrepreneurs," explains Randera-Rees.
The free app is also interfaced with a section that provides simple and entertaining in-app videos to guide entrepreneurs to learn how to grow their business.
The company is also running the Awethu CashUp Competition on the app, through which users stand a chance to win a grand prize of up to R50 000. Prizes of R25 000 and R10 000 are also up for grabs. These prizes will be rewarded for business growth, innovation and app usage.
Although the app is free, data to download the app will cost about R30, and monthly data costs for use should not be more than R3, says The Awethu Project.
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