I t took Kabelo Ncholo 13 years to establish a successful marketing machine that is also venturing beyond our borders. Dressed in a dashing black suit and projecting a confident aura, Kabelo Ncholo is a force to be reckoned with. His welcoming smile and poise beam a sense of humility and power.
Building a business on a desire to change his world
Ncholo is founder and CEO of Yourself Management - a 100% black-owned marketing agency that provides services to millions of Africans. The agency was founded in 2004 and prides itself in offering services in both urban and rural landscapes in South Africa and across the continent. His clients include Tiger brands, Microsoft and L’Oreal. He says SA brands recognise the importance of content, yet content without a robust strategy has no use. It’s vital to begin a content marketing venture with objectives - a strategy with a game plan on how to execute those objectives. And that is where Yourself Management fits the glove. Born from misfortune and struggle in Rustenburg, Ncholo calls it the struggle of everyday living. “I always wanted to change it, I didn’t accept it, [and] it was a shame for me.” With the tenacity to succeed, he was adamant to change his situation.
Starting out
In 2001, while completing his matric, Ncholo worked as a waiter to earn a living. He had received an opportunity to study medicine but declined the offer. While working at the restaurant, he discovered an opportunity that would change his life. The restaurant hosted matric farewell parties, and often students would be told to keep their noise levels down. He started to organise matric farewells and capitalise on the opportunity. “I didn’t put a pen and paper to it. Even up to this day my business doesn’t operate with a business plan. I started the business out of discomfort.” With R350 that he raised from tips, Ncholo created his company profile and started approaching schools. “There’s never a right time for anything in life. You will wait forever to raise capital in your life. You can start wherever you are.” He signed up four schools to organise their matric farewells and charged them R25K each, making his first R100K at age 19.
Learning to deal with success
With so much success at a young age, Ncholo was on his way to the high life. But, he made one of the biggest mistakes. “When I started to make money I never knew how to separate the business income from my personal income and I just took it as one. And I started to spend the business capital as if it was my own.” He says as a young black person from a rural background, there had never been financial education. Therefore, when entrepreneurs are starting out they often misuse money and spend it on flamboyant lifestyles. “Entrepreneurship is not about money.” He says most black people in business don’t focus on the future - they only think about the present. They should be thinking about creacting generational wealth for the future. Ncholo stresses the importance of building businesses for the benefit of family and friends, and moving away from the economic and political systems of the past. “The reason some of us are where we are now is because of the generations before us. They never had the opportunities that we have.”
The importance of failure
For this entrepreneur, running Yourself Management has been a roller coaster ride. He had to learn all the skills of running a business through life experiences that often left him depressed and ready to give up. “The entrepreneurial journey is a very lonely one. It is a journey with a lot of rejection. It is success, full of pain.” He recalls a period when everything was grinding to a standstill and no one wanted to do business with him. “It took me six years before I could really say I knew the direction. Throughout I doubted myself, and that it would turn out the way it did. My self-esteem was very low.” He even wanted to change the company name, but fate would have its own way.
Importance of mentorship
The turnaround was in 2008 with the help of his mentor, Michelle Combrinck. She regained his self-belief and purpose. “She started to share with me some of her journey, shaping my mind and how to think the way I’m thinking now.” He says if it were not for her mentorship, he would probably have lost it. Ncholo stresses the importance of mentorship and surrounding oneself with positive people and spiritual guidance. “I rely on mentorship until this day.” In the competitive marketing world, Ncholo says one needs to have a strong character because the pressure can take over your state of mind. “It’s an adrenalin-driven world. It’s a world where everything changes every second. You need to be a lion where you will hunt for meat even when there’s grass all over.”
Upwards and onwards
Since starting out, Yourself Management has employed 300 youths, and partnered with FET colleges to provide part-time work for students. With branches in Durban and Cape Town, and now Zambia and Namibia, Ncholo is planning to explore the rest of the continent. He highlights the importance of thriving on an existing market before venturing across borders. “I needed to learn the models. What works for me and for the business. Because when you are starting to think globally or you are starting to branch out into other African countries or anywhere else, you need to ensure that your systems are aligned.”
Leaving a legacy
Ncholo is passionate about entrepreneurship and leaving a legacy for generations to come. He believes that entrepreneurs need to put their personal needs last, and take care of their employees. His love and compassion is greatly influenced by his late great-grandmother and his son. “With life as an entrepreneur you write a test and only when you’ve failed, life gives you a textbook and you learn how you should have done it.”
