Meet iKhokha: Ballito’s darling startup

Ballito locals Matt Putman and Ramsay Daly are two young fathers and loving husbands who’ve known each other since their high school years. They meet early on weekdays for a coffee and a surf at Granny’s Pool and on weekends take their families to The Lifestyle Market. Other Ballito residents Sassoon, Dylan, and Jono join them for a run along the Ballito promenade on Friday mornings.

The unassuming, smiling squad includes the founders and senior managers at iKhokha, a #BallitoBorn card machine company that empowers small businesses to accept VISA & Mastercards on-the-go and with no monthly fees.

Today, with close to 100 employees and empowering 20 000 businesses across South Africa, “iKhokha’s kind of a big deal” says Ramsay with a laugh.

But it wasn’t always like that. iKhokha’s journey is one of winning against the odds and the founders know a thing or two about perseverance and taking on the big guys.

Going against banks and targeting a market that is notoriously hard to reach was a bold dream. But us Ballitonians are not known to back down. As a result, five years later, iKhokha is the fastest growing player and is still proudly setting the tone for the mPOS (mobile Point of Sale) market in South Africa.

Absa, Capitec, FNB and Yoco entered the mobile market with insane marketing budgets after iKhokha’s bootstrapped launch in 2015, but instead of focusing on expensive ads iKhokha focused on relationships with its merchants, and negotiating better transaction rates – allowing the Ballito company to be the most affordable solution, and the only mPos present in Game, Makro and Builders’ Warehouse.

We sat down with Sales Manager and #BallitoBorn Dylan Skewis to talk about iKhokha.

Q: What does iKhokha offer?

A: iKhokha offers businesses user-friendly point of sale solutions, like card machines, cash registers, POS software and more – all of which won’t cost you an arm and a leg. We are the most affordable on the market, and I have found that small businesses that go with iKhokha generally experience a 40% boost in sales.

Q: What makes iKhokha different to traditional card machines?

A: Apart from awesome support, the biggest difference is that once you buy an iKhokha machine, it’s yours to keep – zero monthly rental fees and no lock-in contracts. And, we offer the lowest standard transaction rates in South Africa!

Q: What kind of businesses use iKhokha?

A: Geez, all kinds! We have retailers, restaurants, bars, taverns, hair and beauty salons, spaza shops, even doctors and clowns for kid’s parties.

Q: How can Ballito entrepreneurs get hold of you?

A: Just visit our website HERE and I’ll come show you how it works.

Q: Final question, are you more of a Natural or a Goofy?

A: I’m a Natural, come watch me catch some waves at Willards on a Saturday morning.