Many people look at entrepreneurship as a means to generate their own wealth without realising the impact they can make on the community through their business and their skills.
This was never the case for entrepreneur Khethi Ngwenya when he started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 19.
He always wanted to uplift his community.
Now at age 31, the Soweto-born entrepreneur and businessman is the founder and managing director of SchoolMedia, one of South Africa's largest media and community upliftment companies within schools across South Africa.
SchoolMedia is a platform that has opened up schools as an avenue for advertising for brands seeking to engage with the learner target audience.
This stemmed from an idea Ngwenya had, to keep learners in schools informed and engaged about brands that spoke to them.
He quickly realised that there was a gap in the market and that there was no organisation bridging that gap.
Ngwenya’s company connects communities one school at a time through mediums such as display systems, outdoor signage, school activations, and other media products making information and advertising available to students, their families, and educators.
“What SchoolMedia offers is a win-win-win proposition – brands get the opportunity to share their message with the right audience and to run impactful corporate social investment (CSI) and environmental initiatives, schools get much-needed resources, and students are given access to information on important issues,” the businessman told Business Report.
Before joining the Soweto Business Chamber’s Young Businessmen of Soweto organization at the age of 16, and becoming a CEO, Ngwenya sold firecrackers, and hair products at his aunt's salon to earn extra money.
A few years later, he started the youth marketing agency, SchoolMedia.
He was a born hustler who wanted to go into business to make a positive impact on his community and uplift the residents of Soweto.
Through the years, Ngwenya has managed to get advertising rights in more than 9 000 schools.
SchoolMedia rents space from the schools to use their walls or bathrooms for brands to post information about their campaigns such as health and hygiene, bursaries, sports, or as per the client’s brief; then the advertising revenue goes back to uplifting the schools.
Ngwenya hopes that in five years’ time, his company will be a mainstream marketing service dominating the space, being digital, and operating across the African continent.
BUSINESS REPORT
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