Meet Gugulethu Siso, the entrepreneur who built Thumeza, an award-winning logistics company in Zimbabwe after selling her first venture. Discover how she navigates business challenges in a volatile economy, leverages Google's Start-ups Accelerator Program, and why she believes Zimbabwe's tough business environment has taught her invaluable skills that would help her succeed anywhere in the world.
At a tender age of 22, Gugulethu Siso embarked on an entrepreneurial journey by co-founding a Namibian-based trolley management company called 99 Investments. Now, Guguletu is the founder of Thumeza, an award-winning Zimbabwean-based Logistics Company which also is part of Google for Start-ups Accelerator Program. Her success has not been without any hurdles. She has been exposed to struggles of a typical young black woman in business and she reveals that the prevailing business environment has taught her to think on her toes.
Gugulethu was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe where she did primary education up to sixth grade before she left for Namibia. Soon after high school, she joined the University of Namibia where she studied and attained a degree in Business Administration. She was fortunate to join Global Business Labs, a Swedish-based business accelerator, serving as a business development intern. This exposure nurtured her interest in Entrepreneurship as it brought her closer to young entrepreneurs and the challenges they face in running businesses. "I got to understand the challenges entrepreneurs face in market development and tax issues. In business one plus one is not equal to two, you subtract tax as well," she said.
The Birth of 99 Investments
After completion of internship, Gugulethu co-founded 99. The company offers trolley guards and repair services to major retailers in Namibia including Shoprite, Checkers, Woolworths and Food Lovers' Market. It seeks to curtail trolley theft and extend a trolley's useful life span from an average of 4 months to over 9 months. Each trolley costs around R2 800 to replace thus the services enabled retailers to cut down on capital expenditures. Under her guidance as the Chief Executive Officer, 99 Investments secured 8 Million Rands in venture capital funding. Gugulethu reveals that they were not prepared for the consequences of the involvement of Venture capitalists in their business. She faced tremendous pressure trying to balance the needs of the organisation and those of the shareholders who needed a return on their investment. "We were naïve when we approached them, we thought money would solve all our challenges but it resulted in a lot of frustrations as a lot of processes in our businesses were not ironed out from the start," she stated. After disagreements over the direction the organisation was to take, Gugulethu sold off her shares and left the company to start a new organisation, Thumeza, in 2018.
Thumeza: A New Beginning with Purpose
The name Thumeza was derived from ukuThumeza, a Ndebele word which means 'to ask someone to carry something along for you'. It is a logistics platform that enables coordination of cargo transportation for enterprises in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry. The company matches businesses with transporters and currently offers 2 services namely the In-transit service and the Last Mile service. The In-transit service is for loads from 1 tonne to 3 tonnes whilst the last mile service assists businesses to deliver products to their end users for cargo ranging from 1kg to 500kgs. Thumeza has a Partner Driver Program where small scale transporters are registered and create a network to enable them to service large enterprises under the Thumeza brand. "Most small-scale transporters do not have minimum requirements to service larger companies such as tax-clearance and in-transit insurance. The Partner Driver program enables them to operate under the Thumeza umbrella as we meet the minimum requirements and handle all the invoices for accountability," she stated.
To date, Thumeza has done over 800 trips and has managed to register a fleet of over 320 trucks on its Partner Driver Program. The company is driven towards being a logistics data provider in the Southern African region where the company would have details for a random truck on the road. "Thumeza should have the concise details, for example who the owner of a random truck on the road is, what it is carrying and where it is headed," she said. As an organisation they have managed to become the second Zimbabwean company to be accepted into the Google for Start-ups Accelerator Program after Phenomenon Technologies founded by Nkosana Masuku. Gugulethu reveals that the experience has given her team access to mentorship and exposure that they did not have before. "When you are in your country, in your own little space you tend to think small. You forget that there is a world out there. The program opened my eyes to opportunities beyond Zimbabwe," she revealed.
The Zimbabwean economy teaches you to think on your toes and to think outside the box
Making an Impact: Success Through Service
What has been most satisfying about her business journey is the impact it has had on other businesses and the economy as well. "It is satisfying to know that our solutions are appreciated even by large players in the economy. I am grateful to TM PicknPay for taking a chance on us and giving us credibility," she revealed. As a young business made up of young people without much experience she admits that they have made some errors along the way but taking responsibility has kept them going. She urges other entrepreneurs to own up to their mistakes than to make excuses and cover up.
With all the success she has scored, Gugulethu reveals that she still has moments of self-doubt where she feels like giving up but because of good social support she has, chooses to soldier on. Her gratitude is extended to the strong support structure she receives from other entrepreneurs such as Nkosana Masuku and Kudakwashe Dhliwayo. In her perspective she is inspired to keep going by other young people who continue to succeed despite the volatile economy. She is certain that Zimbabwe has more opportunities because it has more challenges comparing to her previous experience of running a business in Namibia. She also takes the uncertainty and unpredictable economic factors as continual lessons. "The Zimbabwean economy teaches you to think on your toes and to think outside the box. I believe if I can succeed in this economy I am better set to make it anywhere else in the world," she stated.
