When Life Gives This Entrepreneur Lemons – He Makes Lemonade!
On the Riversands campus, Ndumiso Mathebula from Asiye Green is known as a determined, resilient business owner who never gives up and always manages to look on the bright side of life.
These characteristics have allowed Ndumiso to leverage off the fact that people are in lockdown to call old contacts and set up virtual sales meetings.
“Lockdown is the best time to call people because now they have no excuse to not answer the phone!” was his take on the situation. “When people are in their offices, they have meetings to attend and they have human interaction. That has been limited now and I’m taking advantage of the situation. I have a number of virtual meetings booked.”
His Riversands business coach Basia Nasiorowska was impressed with his actions when she submitted her delivery report: “Ndumiso has shown creativity by making future appointments online via Skype and Zoom. He was busy during the month following up to the lockdown finalising deals, re-igniting prospects and making new appointments as well as arranging the new way of doing business during lockdown.”
Asiye Green also managed to complete its importers/exporters license application before lockdown in order to apply to the DTI for exhibiting in Rwanda later this year.
Asiye Green develops and finances energy efficiency projects for industrial and commercial clients. Project proposals have a fairly long lead time which also works in this entrepreneur’s favour at the moment.
He is also in the process of establishing an e-commerce platform to serve the residential market for LED lights.
“The strange thing is that I can now conduct three meetings in the time it used to take for one! I’m more productive and look forward to the future,” concluded Mathebula.