Dudu’s story: supporting tomorrow’s leaders

Dudu Makhari is Executive Director of the Ngangezwe Foundation in South Africa. She’s dedicated to building resilient leaders through education, sport, art and youth development initiatives. Our Road to Growth programme supported Dudu to build her digital marketing and finance skills so that she could grow her business and empower even more people through her work. 

“My name is Dudu Makhari and I’m a female entrepreneur. I am the executive director of the Ngangezwe Foundation. We are dedicated to building resilient leaders through education, sport, art and youth development initiatives. 

As a female entrepreneur, I’m constantly thinking about the challenges we face compared to men. It seems that men who run businesses don’t have to deal with the constraints of looking after a family in the way that women do. Trying to balance family life with business can be very hard. Society also perceives women differently to men, we face different barriers.  

I joined the Road to Growth programme because my business was approaching its fifth year and it was time to start doing things differently, to restructure and grow. I am on an investment WhatsApp group, and somebody posted the programme in the group. It was a godsend and was just what I needed.  

On the programme I learned about digital marketing, finance and how to grow my network. The course helped me reflect on my relationship with money and how I think about it in a business sense. I now understand management accounting – I can create invoices and allocate expenses to various accounts. Before the program, I used to do all my invoices manually and I had a big Excel spreadsheet. That feels like a lifetime ago now. I also set calendar reminders for myself for when VAT payments, are due so I don’t miss deadlines. Being able to wrap my mind around the finances, knowing there are tools that can help me run the business and using those tools effectively has been crucial for business growth. Achieving the next stage of growth will probably require me to take out a loan, and that’s something I’ve really been considering since the programme.  

Not only have I gained business since the programme, I’ve changed how I package my services. I used to tell people I offered strategy and consulting work, but since the course, I’ve started to use the term “thought partnership” and clients seem to like that.  

I also made friends on the programme. It feels like I have a new sisterhood. We have created a Road to Growth WhatsApp group where we post opportunities. It’s great to stay in touch with the course members and support each other.  

Overall, I think that having the time and space to think about my business with the experts around me was fantastic. It gave me time to remind myself again what I’m trying to do, and why. I gained a lot on the programme, and I gained business, so I feel more empowered.“