University drop-out from Ibazelo starts successful multinational IT company
The entrepreneur said that he has had his fair share of challenges and obstacles
Self-made entrepreneur Freddy Mahhumane (35) from Ibazelo section in Thembisa said both his parents have entrepreneurial spirits; hence, it was easy for him to go after what he wanted. He decided to leave university while studying for IT, specialising in software development and started his own IT company called Open-Technik.
“I was taught entrepreneurship at a very young age, but it all became clear to me when I was at varsity that I should start my own business. That was when I dropped out and started my first IT company,” said Mahhumane.
He said that his mom used to sell jerseys and on weekends when he was not going to school, he would accompany his mom to sell them. His dad, on the other hand, used to sell vegetables, and that is where he learnt his entrepreneurship skills.
“Becoming an entrepreneur when there was no digital social place to share challenges with other entrepreneurs was tough, and that pushed me to start a Facebook group called Young Black Entrepreneurs In South Africa (YBESA), which now has more than 9 000 users to date.
“Most of the difficulties came from funding and finding resources and relevant information. The lack of entrepreneurial role models in the neighbourhood was also a challenging factor and that resulted in me making mistakes, which I learned from,” Mahhumane said.
Mahhumane added that his main goal was to create solutions using open source software, a free software available for everyone, and which led him to win the best newcomer award.
“I was voted the best newcomer by Novell South Africa and became the first South African to be certified as a Novell content management specialist in 2007,” said Mahhumane.
The entrepreneur said that he has had his fair share of challenges and obstacles.
“I will always be grateful for all the risks I took to get to where I am,” said Mahhumane.
“The eye-opener for me was realising that entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be a full-time job, one can set up models to entirely run a business while working for another company to help fund yourself without creating more debt,” explained Mahhumane.
He said that one of his highlights was when he got published in Germany as well as in local reputable media houses such as IOL, Sunday Times and HTXT. He said they published him as one of the promising young entrepreneurs.
“We started doing business abroad and speaking at local conferences. We now have clients in India, USA and Botswana,” said Mahhumane.
Mahhumane said that Open-Technik operates nationwide. He added that one of their clients, which is Royal Bafokeng Municipality, is located in Rustenburg. Other clients are in KwaZulu-Natal.
“We have developed quite a lot of software for our clients, such as a digital document management system, a digital carwash app called Koolwash, and an instant office messaging system called Kuluma. We also have partnerships with software companies in the US, such as Zello,” added Mahhumane.
He said that people should remain humble in their success and should always recognise their wins and losses.
“It is difficult to fail openly. When that happens, try to look back to your accomplishments no matter how small they are. Also, never forget those that are around, so look for opportunities to help bring them to your summit,” concluded Mahhumane.
