UMK Helps Kuruman Businesses Turn Vision into Viability

Being an entrepreneur and running a small enterprise is not easy. It’s a challenging life-choice that can be as rewarding as it is with serving up pressure and challenges along the way. Just like any journey, it is a path of continuous learning.

In Kuruman small businesses have received support through an Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) programme supported by United Manganese of Kalahari (UMK). The initiative is helping local entrepreneurs strengthen their foundations, sharpen their skills, and gain the confidence to grow their enterprises in one of the country’s toughest business environments.

Running a small business is not easy

Ditsholofetso Barnett, owner of a water purification and training company, said that the timing of the programme could not have been better. Her business, now two years old, had reached a point where guidance was essential. She attended the programme and described the experience as transformational, particularly in the areas of financial management and marketing. Finances, she said, are the air a business breathes, and the ability to market effectively determines how far it will go.

The ESD incubation programme, facilitated by Mind Colours in the Northern Cape focuses on practical business fundamentals. Participants are equipped with financial literacy, marketing know-how, and interpersonal skills to manage teams, customers, and partnerships more effectively. The approach goes beyond theory, grounding entrepreneurs in day-to-day realities and sustainable growth strategies.

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Barnett shared that interpersonal skills taught during the course had been one of the most valuable aspects of the programme. Knowing how to handle yourself and build relationships with customers and stakeholders, she said, is what separates businesses that survive from those that thrive. “You cannot work in isolation. You need people.”

It’s what separates those that survive and that thrive

Barnett added that she realised that business success begins internally. “We often look outside when things go wrong,” she said. “We blame the government or other factors, but in fact, everything starts with you. It is about how you handle yourself, because everything flows from that.”

Terence Mamabolo, UMK’s Socio-Economic Development Manager, said that he company views entrepreneurship development as a cornerstone of its community investment strategy and Social and Labour Plan building blocks. “Building local capacity and creating opportunities that last longer than any single project,” he said, is key. “By investing in people and projects that create tangible and sustainable benefit, UMK is helping create a culture of self-reliance, resilience and innovation.”

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Category: Press