Three more South African entrepreneurs join growth programme

The Endeavor South Africa's programme is now eighteen strong, with the addition of Drifts Brands, Michael Mikiala Men and ForGood, selected from five shortlisted candidates out of 120 entries.

The selection panel consisted of Carlo Gonzaga - Taste Holdings (Scooters, NWJ, Maxis)/Endeavor entrepreneur, Tony Smith - Quintica, Jasper van Heesch - Deloitte, Brian Muzaretwetu - Ernst & Young, Natalie Killassy - Stitchwise/Endeavor entrepreneur and Sanjeev Orie, FNB.

The aim of the program is to revolutionise the way early stage South African entrepreneurs are developed by leveraging the global skill that reportedly makes this one of the premier entrepreneurship support networks in the world.

These early-stage entrepreneurs will have access to training, mentorship, consulting services and strategic introductions. They will be hooked into its local and global network of business leaders and role models, who volunteer their time to help selected entrepreneurs to develop and grow their businesses. So far, two Excelerator Entrepreneurs have qualified and been sent to Endeavor International Selection Panels, which evaluates their business against peers globally.

Meet the entrepreneurs

• Drift Brands - Mohlakoana set out to formulate Drift Cockroach Killer, a unique and natural insecticide using the founder's high school science knowledge and boric acid as the basis of the formula to dehydrate and kill the cockroaches. It is the first and remains the only black owned insecticide company registered in the industry.

  Drift Cockroach killer is SABS approved, tested, and registered and Mohlakoana has been able to list the product in Pick 'n Pay, Spar, Shoprite and Massmart as well as having an extensive distribution network in the informal sector. Drift Brands currently has revenues of R3 million and plans to expand this by focusing on the formal market by outsourcing expensive merchandising costs to scale the business nationally.

• Michael Mikiala - is the first range of products specifically formulated for the black male skin type and condition. In the South African cosmetics and toiletries industry, young black male consumers are currently the biggest drivers of growth in the male grooming industry that has already reached over R2 billion in 2010.

  Tsakani Mashaba, 32, has spent over two years of extensive research and development to produce a line of face washes, bump lotions and moisturizers targeted at this specific market. To help educate the market, Mikiala is negotiating with a strong retail partner to create a unique space for men

• ForGood - Garth Japhet, 48, and Buhle Dlamini, 31, started ForGood as an online social media portal to encourage all South Africans to get out and volunteer. They identified that the biggest frustration for people was that they did not know how to start volunteering. The ForGood website currently has 700 causes and over 3000 subscribers that can find causes that are close to either where they live or match up with their interests. There are over 70 thousand non-profit organisations (NPO) in South Africa employing more individuals than the entire mining sector. All these NPOs are potential causes to be listed on ForGood. All causes are pre-approved by ForGood and the volunteer's time is recorded by the causes on the ForGood website.