Growing up in a family that ran several home based businesses had a big entrepreneurial influence on the owner of one of South Africa’s fast growing accounting and consulting company. The experiences of growing up in such a household and surroundings, where the exchange of money for goods, products and items were a daily routine sparked an interest for founder and managing director of Maneng Consulting Inc, Tshepo Nonyana, to learn and understand the flow and management of money.
“I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur, I grew up in a house which sold alcohol and also ran a tuck shop. I think this experience had a lot of influence in my entrepreneurial journey. So I have always been in the business space,” explains Nonyana.
With such a barclground and influence, working with money became a fascination and attraction to Nonyana, prompting him to study accounting and finance when he reached varsity. Nonyane completed his South African Institute of Chartered Accountant articles with BDO South Africa Inc. and worked for the South African Reserve Bank as an Accountant and has over 15 years experience in accounting, banking, employee benefit, investments, auditing and consulting.
Noynana also credits his background of working in various financial services for the experience and lessons he gained in the financial and accounting sphere. He says hise expereinces helped, euipped and prepared him with the necessary tools before starting his own firm in 2012.
"I started my business in 2012 but before then I was working for several organisations before I moved into the accounting, auditing and tax space. I have also worked investment companies where I worked as a front manager and financial director of the administration business," explains Nonyana.
Nonyana also has extensive public sector experience which he gained at Auditor General ,where he audited all spheres of government. He also served as a Financial Director of a financial services company and Fund Manager for various Provident Funds entities in Johannesburg.
He is a Registered Accountant with a professional accountancy bodies i.e. the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and South African Institute of Business Accountants and General Tax Practitioner (SA) with the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners and SARS. He is also a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors.
With all these titles and experience under Nonyana's belt, It took eieght years for his businees to make a turnover of more than R 7 million. Nonyana says he did not make these attarctive numbers in such a short space of time over night. He had to work between his job and operating his businsess. This left him in a difficult position because he couldn't give focus on the two without compromising the other. Most of the time it was his business that got compromised a lot.
"Having to juggle between my day time job and business at night was quite a challenge. I was moonlighlighting meaning that I was working a full time job and running my business at night. Sometimes you find that I am at work but really I would be absent-minded because I would be thinking of my clients. At other times I would be at work and my clients would be asking to meet up with me, and that was a big challenge," says Nonyana.
"In addition, we didn't even have an office, we used to operate at Mcdonalds, I'd always prefer to go to them because I didn't have an office. It was only when I had a visual office at the Nelson Mandela square in Sandton that my potential clients started taking me seriousy, however I was not really operating there," he recalls jokingly.
When Nonyana ventured into business full time he came up with a strategy that would help him to get clients and reach his target audience. He says he used to google small businesses databases and approach the bsuinesses he found online with the hope and intention of offering his services to them.
" I would research various smalll companies online and look for the contact details of the CEO and would send them proposal emails about my sevices late at night, around midnight, knowing very well that my email would be the first thing they see in the morning when they opened their emails," explains Nonyana.
Today Nonyana (35) who is originally from Burgersfort in Limpopo, runs a thriving accounting and consulting firm that has a very handsome clientele from all over, including Asia and Europe.
Locally, businesses such asTalitha Pharma, Kena Outdoor, Matupunuka, Shamandu, Streetcred Media, as well as Jack and Gill productions which produced the popular South African drama comedy film, Table Manners are just among the names of that form his growing clientele and businesses that Nyonana's firm has serviced.
Vital Stats
Featured entrepreneurs - Tshepo Nonyana
Age - 35
Company name - Maneng Consulting
Turnover - R5 - R10 Million
Start-up funding - - Self - Funded