Alex Msitshana - Deaf Empowerment Firm
Alex Msitshana is the founder and Managing Director of the Deaf Empowerment Firm (DEF), a social enterprise which aims to transform the lives of members of the deaf community. Their mission is to empower the deaf through skills development, sustainable work placements and enterprise development. They also aim to change mindsets, educate and raise awareness about the deaf, while removing the barriers that prevent them from contributing to the South African economy. Alex Msitshana is a past participant and graduate of the SAB Foundation Tholoana Enterprise Programme.
Alex lost her hearing in 2015 but comes from a long background of strong, resilient women, having grown up in a household predominately run by women. Their influence taught her to always keep her head high and tackle any challenges head-on, with humbleness and maturity. Losing her hearing made Alex realise how much the deaf community struggled to access jobs and opportunities.
Like many entrepreneurs, Alex initially lacked capital and struggled to get her business off the ground. A colleague told her about the SAB Foundation and she applied to the Tholoana Enterprise Programme. Through this programme she was able to achieve her business goals.
“I always say that the SAB Foundation is the midwife that brought DEF into the world, which was born because of the seed capital provided by them. Through this, I was able to bring on board my right-hand lady, Lindiwe Dladla, who is my interpreter. Lindiwe is the one who calls prospective clients and books appointments,” says Alex.
With Lindiwe on-board, DEF quickly increased their client base, secured two new projects and was able to empower 48 deaf people within the first year.
“The SAB Foundation has empowered me immensely as an individual. My participation in the SAB Foundation Tholoana Enterprise Programme gave me a lot of the entrepreneurship skills that I did not have. Coming from a development and human resources background I came into my business armed only with my passion, my vision and the corporate governance skills I had - but no entrepreneurship skills,” explains Alex.
“The workshops that we attended assisted me in developing myself as an entrepreneur as they touched on things that I had no knowledge of, such as costing and pricing, marketing and branding, sales and closing. These were all valuable skills that empowered me to run my business efficiently. The individual mentorship and coaching sessions were very helpful, giving me a mentor, who would be my sounding board. This helped me to navigate, shape and reshape my offering to my clients, so I can provide a professional service,” she continues.
With the SAB Foundation’s assistance, the DEF has grown their annual gross turnover from around R450 000 to over R4 million. Alex has also grown her team from just one employee to three permanent staff members and an additional four people on a contractual basis.
In their four years since they became operational, the DEF has empowered close to 350 people with skills development, sustainable job placements, entrepreneurial development and business support. DEF has a flagship programme in the ICT field where they are developing deaf software engineers.
“If you want to gain the necessary tools to assist you to take your business to new heights, the SAB Foundation Tholoana Enterprise Programme is the programme you want to be part of. Funding is an important aspect for us as entrepreneurs, especially when starting out, but with this programme you will receive much more than that. You will get personalised mentorship and step-by-step business coaching from people with vast entrepreneurship experience to guide you on your journey. It’s hard work but worth every minute spent in the programme,” concludes Alex.