HOW I STARTED AN ONLINE BUSINESS WITH R400

I started my company with the mission to keep things as simple and easy as possible

Starting my company was actually way easier than I ever thought it would be, a few visits to FNB and Shelf Company Warehouse. I believe at the time the total cost for everything was around R400.00 max.

I never consulted anyone or had any written business plan. People have various reasons for wanting to start their own businesses I guess, I was always wanting more freedom to do the things I liked like travelling when and how I wanted along with being responsible for my own finances more than anything else. I then set about Identifying a business model I was comfortable with and could apply to start an internet-based company. That is how African Travel Desk was born 11 years ago. I was tired of having to apply for leave and the measly R5000 a month salary with a cut from the commission I brought in, I figured out quickly that I could do the same job online and keep all of the commission without having to split it with anyone or use it to pay for any salaries or office rent if I moved things online I won’t go into the details but once I got my first customer, I had all of the confidence in the world that I was pursuing the right path in my life, side note, I still have that same client 11 years later. With my 1st client I learned the following: “It’s harder to fail when you have a client depending on you” I also learned to always undercharge but over deliver, undercharging doesn’t mean starving yourself or overworking yourself, it just means not being greedy when sending your quotes. As an online business that I run alone, I do not have the same overheads that my competitors might have so sometimes I can come in 30% cheaper than them. Yes I will make less but It does more than cover my needs I started my company with the mission to keep things as simple and easy as possible, forget business cards and websites. Depending on the nature of your business and cashflow these are all extra costs you do not need, there are things like social media and LinkedIn to take care of your online presence. The only thing you have to figure out is how to sell yourself and start charging for something, anything, that is how you start a business. A business is only a business when it has money coming into your account. Might I add that I did not pay my 1st web designer, instead I made him a partner on all online business we received.

One of the best methods of selling myself was acting like my business had existed for years this then gave my early clients the confidence to try me out. Also, I had multiple email addresses all linked to the business and run by just me,  Athini@, bookings@, Accounts@, Support@ this then also gave my clients the idea that I was a much larger organisation than I really was. What I have learned about myself is that making things simple in my life by default makes them less of a chore for me to do. If something is really easy, then it’s pretty hard not to give it a go and that’s what I wanted for my company. I could never understand business owners who had sleepless nights because of work etc, Because of how simple my setup is it allows me tons of freedom to do the things that matter the most to me. Even with this coronavirus business I have shut down business for the rest of the year and will ride things out until early next year pretty much stress free. My SIMPLE business model is as follows ·      NO stock on hand ·      NO confirmation of services/product until full prepayment ·      NO unnecessary costs and expenses ·      Outsource any extra services I might need. ·      Have a great accountant!! ·      Not to chase business but let it come organically Adding my business into casual conversations I had with everybody was how I landed my biggest client to date. You do not have to always go into great details about the company but make sure people know that you have a service you can provide should they require it. Giving up your primary income source is the worst thing you can do unless you have a great stash in the bank. You never know if your business will work or whether you’ll like it. Plus 90% of businesses fail in the first five years (This is something I learned after 5 years of minding my own business) I started my business as a side hustle this let me find my niche and learn what my business could become. By making my business a side hustle, to begin with, I removed the fear, gave myself room to explore and allowed myself to fail (even the fails were wins at that stage). I finally left my job after a year of running my company as a side hustle after I landed a contract that paid me almost 40 times over my then monthly salary for a week of work. Some years are good, some are bad (eg 2020) but that is life and as long as you make provisions and plan all should be good.

Athini Msongelwa

AFRICAN TRAVEL DESK

E: athini@africantraveldesk.com

W: www.africantraveldesk.com