Training boosts Mbombela business

Written by Silusapho Nyanda

Youth training has assisted an entrepreneur to grow his business using online marketing and other channels.

A technology devices repairman is putting the training he received from the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (Nemisa) to good use by exploring new growth avenues for his small shop.

Nick Ndlovu (35), the owner of iRepair Technologies in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, recently benefited from the training and is now passing on his new acquired skills to others.

“I was trained in opening and replacing the hardware components of cellphones, tablets and laptops. I am now teaching my employees so that I can offer a full service to my clients,” he says. Nick Ndlovu plans to expand his business thanks to the skills he gained from a training course by the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa.

Nemisa, an entity of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, also trains young people in business management.

During the training course, Ndlovu learnt how to improve his business prospects through marketing and the use of the internet, websites, cloud storage, social media, blogging, email and messaging.

“The course aims to develop informed and skilled participants, who can apply the acquired skills in any industry,” he says.

While Ndlovu’s business is no stranger to those who live in the area, he now has dreams of expanding.

“My business is quite well-known among the residents of Mbombela, but the training taught me how to attract a bigger clientele. I have already started implementing these marketing strategies in my business and I can see the difference,” he adds.

The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) helped Ndlovu to get into the training course.

This is not the first time that Seda has helped him grow the shop’s services. When he opened the store in 2017, Seda helped him to brand and market the business to local clients.

Nemisa is running several training courses for young people, including digital literacy, graphic design, interactive media, radio production, animation and film and television. It is also running a hackathon programme that helps to develop the trainees’ software and development skills.

For more information about Nemisa raining, visit www.nemisa.co.za.

For more information on Seda, call 012 441 1000.

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