With financial clarity, small businesses stand a better chance of achieving big success!

Written By Sizwe Shabalala

This year, Momentum got entrepreneurs and women-led business excited again for the latest installment of the Momentum ‘Small Business, Big Success’ campaign. This exciting initiative aims to empower women entrepreneurs from various sectors by giving them an opportunity to win their share of R1 Million.

Momentum understands that having a good plan can bring financial clarity and with financial clarity, small businesses stand a better chance of achieving big success. They also believe that, now more than ever, we need a plan that will help us weather any storm and that is why they offer #AdviceForSuccess that will guide you in creating a solid financial plan. The Momentum ‘Small Business, Big Success’ campaign and the #SheOwnsHerSuccess Workshops are the perfect steppingstones and boost that any small business needs in their journey to success.

*Zibu Masotobe, Owner of Zoluhle Financial Wellness*

This year, Zoluhle Financial Wellness, owned by Zibu Masotobe was one of the winners selected to be a part of the Momentum Small Business, Big Success campaign. The company was initially registered in 2012 but officially started training in 2014 and it currently has a total of six full-time employees.

“More than 19,000,000 credit-active South Africans are over indebted and in financial distress. They need help repairing their credit profiles, debt repayment plans and financial literacy so to make better financial decisions.”

“At Zoluhle we have dedicated all our resources to developing solutions that advance economic opportunity by providing our clients with the tools they need to reach their goals. We help employed individuals by offering financial education, one-on-one coaching as well as pathways towards a clean credit score and home ownership.”

For Zibu and her company, success means the ability to effect change and bring their vision to life. “Success for Zoluhle will be the birth of a new financial services sector, one that makes both shareholders and clients wealthy. Having a client discover that we exist and being ecstatic because we are exactly who they have been searching for, is what drives the design of our solution.”

Zoluhle Financial Wellness is focused on changing the way Africans make, spend, and invest their money. “I would consider myself successful when Zoluhle has delivered on this vision of a changed continent, one that makes financial decisions that work for its citizens. The realisation of the company vision is our definition of success,” explains Zibu.

Being a part of this initiative by Momentum is a life-changing opportunity for any business and Zibu has ideas on how she can take advantage of this moment to take the business to the next level. One is to hold free Money Masterclasses in each province of South Africa.

“It normally costs R2,000 to attend a Zoluhle Money Masterclass and many people never get a seat,” she explains. “I would subsidise the tickets and have each province register 100 participants.”

Zibu explains, “When South African workers get paid, 72% of their income goes towards debt repayment. This is because of the extremely low levels of financial literacy. No one trains like Zoluhle. Our programme is highly sought after because I have invested every resource to making it an authentic South African experience and every worker deserves the experience. Funding can help me reach more people and save more workers from financial anxiety.”

Zibu says the business has been growing exponentially since 2018 and that, even with the uncertainty of COVID, they managed to adapt. “We are solving a real pain point and we have improved processes and innovated the systems we use. We are making it work. What we need now is mentorship to help us manage the growth and we also need support to broaden the solution to be end-to-end.”

Zibu adds what makes the business so effective are these innovative products, processes and how it communicates financial wellness to clients. “At the end of the day, we approach financial wellness as a journey and not a one-time event.”

This initiative comes at a time when the 4th annual of the now very popular #SheOwnsHerSuccess Workshop Series is just around the corner.

Head of Brand at Momentum, Charlotte Nsubuga-Mukasa says she is most looking forward to seeing small business plans taking big steps to realise audacious and unmet dreams. “I am excited for new ideas of how we can take this property to entrench its authenticity and purpose in more lives, post the campaign,” says Charlotte. “Watching the winners rise as we partner with them in our #SheOwnsHerSuccess Women’s Month campaign in August is going to be very exciting.”