She never pursued entrepreneurship, but it caught up with Babongile Bidla. Now, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) postgraduate student is encouraging others to start their own businesses.
A close family member inspired her, having owned and operated several businesses. Bidla watched from the sidelines and initially found the prospect of entrepreneurship daunting. However, she soon began helping friends with logos and digital renderings for their companies. Her graphic design skills and digital expertise eventually led her to establish her own business, Cross Horizon Ventures, last year.
“I’ve been doing graphic design work for fun, learning how to build websites and those types of things. I’ve been doing it since my undergraduate studies. I often did people favours until I started getting paid for it and thought, this is a great side hustle,” she said.
Her business is steadily growing, and Bidla has expanded into customising Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to help clients improve their business operations. While building her company and creating digital assets for clients, she is also pursuing a Master’s degree in Political Studies and is looking forward to joining the EMS Small Business Clinic team.
The clinic is based at the Innovation Hub on Voortrekker Road and forms part of ZoneLearning@UWC, an experiential learning and incubation space for UWC students.
Bidla will be at the forefront of engaging with business owners and gaining exposure to mentors from industry and government agencies. Through the Small Business Clinic, she will help create a supportive environment where owners of small and micro enterprises can build productive networks and develop practical business ideas.
“I think it’s a much-needed resource for students and small business owners. Being an entrepreneur can be quite lonely, and finding the help you need is sometimes difficult,” she said.
Bidla is excited to share her skills, develop new ones and contribute to the clinic’s growth.
“I’d like to see a lot of students coming through here, not just as consultants but also as entrepreneurs. There are many businesses on campus, and there are so many
