Share This Article
LIVING in a country where finding employment or a decent paying job is almost impossible, we see many female entrepreneurs emerging every year to help grow themselves and be financially stable. The public sector is now encouraging young black women to become entrepreneurs; this is something they have successfully fought for many years.
It is still a sad case that this has not made things easier. Many are still struggling to become successful. It’s either they just don’t have enough knowledge, don’t know the right people in the industry, or have no funding. In turn it takes them many years to pick up business, some even give up and return to their 9 – 5 jobs. However, initiatives such as the NYDA have been put in place to ensure that small businesses have the right equipment to grow. It is up to the aspiring entrepreneurs to research how to build a business, where to find help, and more about the industry they would like to go into. There is now an amazing growth in the communications industry with Public Relations companies mostly owned by women.
“It is very hard finding employment immediately after graduating and staying at home can be depressing. I did not have the 3 years of experience they required, or could not make the cut in the few internships that thousands of graduates apply for. As Public Relations graduates, my business partner Lucia Matebane and I were motivated to start our own PR Company. We are facing many challenges as a self-funded consultancy; however we are happy that we managed to find a way to make a living for ourselves by doing what we love,” Says Tinyiko Mathebula, Director of Extreme Exposure PR Consultancy, a company she co-founded with her friend Lucia Matebane.
“Starting Extreme Exposure PR Consultancy has been a great journey for us, and we have been working very hard to provide the best PR services to our clients and enhance the importance of this industry in our country. We are still a young company that plans to expand throughout the country and ultimately Africa,” Says Matebane, also a Director at the company.
With the high number of graduates every year and less companies to employ graduates, it’s advisable that the youth need not lose hope, but rather take the advantage of using what you learned in varsity and make it an opportunity to be selfemployed and also create employment by starting own businesses in respective fields. “We need to constantly look out for opportunities and learn as much as we can whilst still studying, in order to take more risks to employ ourselves.”