The decision by South African social entrepreneur Janice Scheckter to establish KasiKonnect in 2022 has created an ideal platform for emerging startups to connect with business ecosystems to facilitate their entry into mainstream markets.
In South African street lingo, ‘kasi’ means township and KasiKonnect has made a significant impact in uplifting historically disadvantaged entrepreneurs by enabling them to flourish and compete against more established businesses.
“The problem KasiKonnect addresses is the lack of sustainability of kasibusiness due to the lack of a connected ecosystem. At the same time, ESG requires robust solutions and reporting from the corporate sector and we can deliver that,” says Janice.
“Finally Municipalities have failed in delivering local economic development and again KasiKonnect can support this endeavor, where the impact is monitored and measured. We are headquartered in Rosebank, Johannesburg and I have a strange structure but not strange for a start-up. Three people based in the office, eight interns in Soweto, my partner in the US and our tech team in India,” she adds.
Strong Work Ethic
Raised in the small South African town of Vryburg, Janice got her entrepreneurship spirit from her father who owned a car dealership and a panel beating business.
“My late father was a town councilor who had stood as an independent. I recall him working to improve our community. During our school holidays, we were expected to spend some time working in my father’s business where I learned to complete banking deposits, handle a small switchboard, and accept customer payments through,” recalls Janice.
She vividly remembers her father’s strong work ethic – a trait she believes she inherited from him.
“I have started numerous businesses. The first one was a Brand Marketing Agency that I started at the age of 29 and ran for 21 years. I had no idea that starting a business meant one should identify an opportunity. I simply wanted to work for myself and get out of corporate.
“My company Indigo Marketing was a success for most of its trading years, reaching a turnover in one year of R21 million. I launched Levi Strauss in South Africa, was part of the ANC manifesto launch in 1994 and acquired Cisco as a client, a relationship that lasted for 14 years.
“Today I am a social entrepreneur with two online platform businesses, A Better Africa (ABA), an African educator network and more recently, KasiKonnect,” she explains.
Overcoming Challenges
As an entrepreneur, Janice admits she has faced numerous challenges. Throughout all obstacles, however, she has remained resolute and unwavering in her quest to achieve her goals. Janice has also drawn several important lessons along the way.
“Entrepreneurship really is like jumping out of an aeroplane without a parachute. I have made a lot of money and I have lost a lot of money. One’s motivation in each circumstance should not change. I have hired good people and bad people, as well as mediocre people.
“I have learned that not everyone will share your value. The biggest challenge was a bad partnership and the biggest lesson is to trust one’s gut. It is never wrong,” Janice says.
Embracing Successes
Janice has learned a lot since starting her brand marketing business many years ago – lessons that she has used to climb up the entrepreneurship ladder through her other businesses.
“The brand marketing business is my biggest financial success to date. My start-up, KasiKonnect is undoubtedly my most successful development, although it has not yet made a lot of money.
“I believe that everything in my life to date has led me to this point. My early awareness of inequity in South Africa, long before my time at Rhodes University, my father’s civic-minded intentions, my unconscious years branding businesses.
“KasiKonnect, when it starts to show impact, will tally the individual kasipreneurs who move from the narrow channel of informal trading to the mainstream economy and even to export and the platform itself will translate to many other countries both on the African continent and in other countries such as India and maybe Brazil,” says Janice.
Along her entrepreneurship path, Janice has also made it a point to give back by empowering other women businesspeople.
“I co-founded an NGO in 2017, African Women in Agriculture, empowering women in agribusiness. I stepped down as chair in 2023 and resigned to focus on KasiKonnect. While running Indigo Marketing I studied wine which has always been a passion and opened a wine school as a side hustle.”
Adapting to Artificial Intelligence
Janice’s ability to embrace global technological developments has enhanced her capabilities as an entrepreneur. And as Artificial Intelligence (AI) takes over in most industries, Janice explains how she is already ahead of the curve.
“I am already in platform technology and have been for the past 14 years. Now it is really about AI. It is changing so much of what we do and how we do it. I am already using AI in both design and in content development.
“While I do not have a standout event coming out, I am working on Kasi and Rural Health with an AI component that my partner and I believe will ramp you community-located clinics and probably take some of their care regimes past what public health care can offer,” says Janice.
Looking Ahead
As she reflects on her journey as an entrepreneur while looking ahead toward achieving more, Janice refers to humility as one of the most significant lessons she has learned.
“One day you can be on the top of the mountain and the next, well let us just say many meters below the peak. I am painfully honest that I am an older start-up that has yet to make money on this new venture.
“I probably spoke a lot about myself in my 30s and 40s and now it is all about the vision. That is the lesson for me. In social entrepreneurship business and leadership, it is about a vision. It is about the possible impact, and it is about the people whose lives will change,” Janice concludes.
