AMAZI Connect is helping health and beauty entrepreneurs tackle operational barriers, strengthen skills, improve business systems and create new income opportunities through collaboration and practical support.
Launching through events in Cape Town and Johannesburg, the new platform is designed around a simple challenge facing many small businesses: starting a business and successfully scaling one require very different capabilities.
AMAZI Connect will bring health and beauty entrepreneurs together through a Connect, Learn and Unlock approach, combining industry knowledge, practical business tools and opportunities for collaboration.
The initiative builds on AMAZI’s broader social impact focus of using skills development as a pathway towards greater financial independence for women.
The initiative builds on AMAZI’s broader social impact focus of using skills development as a pathway towards greater financial independence for women.
For entrepreneurs operating in service-based sectors such as beauty and wellness, business growth can often be constrained by challenges that have little to do with ambition.
Stock procurement, staffing, bookings, customer management, payment systems and administrative requirements can consume significant amounts of time while limiting an entrepreneur’s ability to focus on customers, expansion and new revenue opportunities.
AMAZI believes addressing those everyday operational barriers can help create stronger and more sustainable small businesses.The focus is particularly relevant for women entrepreneurs.
According to figures referenced by AMAZI from Statistics South Africa, women accounted for 42.3% of people operating informal businesses in South Africa, increasing from 40.4% in 2017.
Among women operating informal businesses in 2023, 58.9% cited unemployment as their main reason for entering informal business.
Among women operating informal businesses in 2023, 58.9% cited unemployment as their main reason for entering informal business.
This means entrepreneurship is frequently not simply a lifestyle choice or commercial ambition. For many women, it represents an important route towards generating income and creating their own economic opportunities.
AMAZI co-founders Divya Vasant and Sekela Lisa Mgcotyelwa have drawn on lessons from building the organisation over the past decade to shape the new platform.
More than 3,000 women have graduated through AMAZI, with the organisation saying its graduates account for a significant portion of nail technicians currently employed in South Africa.
“When the everyday barriers to running a business become easier to manage, entrepreneurs have more capacity to focus on growth,” Vasant said.
“For an industry that provides a route to income, entrepreneurship and ownership for thousands of women, that growth has the potential to extend beyond individual businesses.”
One of the areas being addressed through AMAZI Connect is procurement.
More than 3,000 women have graduated through AMAZI, with the organisation saying its graduates account for a significant portion of nail technicians currently employed in South Africa.
“When the everyday barriers to running a business become easier to manage, entrepreneurs have more capacity to focus on growth,” Vasant said.
“For an industry that provides a route to income, entrepreneurship and ownership for thousands of women, that growth has the potential to extend beyond individual businesses.”
One of the areas being addressed through AMAZI Connect is procurement.
Small beauty businesses often need to source multiple professional products and treatment essentials from different suppliers, creating additional transport, fuel, administrative and time costs.
AMAZI Connect is introducing customised Professional Treatment Kits designed to bring key treatment requirements together into ready-to-use solutions.
AMAZI Connect is introducing customised Professional Treatment Kits designed to bring key treatment requirements together into ready-to-use solutions.
The objective is to reduce the operational burden associated with repeatedly sourcing products while helping businesses maintain greater consistency across the services they provide.
Another major focus is access to skilled employees.
In service industries, business growth is closely connected to the availability of staff who can deliver services at the standard customers expect.
Another major focus is access to skilled employees.
In service industries, business growth is closely connected to the availability of staff who can deliver services at the standard customers expect.
AMAZI Connect will give participating entrepreneurs access to skilled talent while also providing opportunities to upskill existing employees.
This could enable businesses to increase their service capacity, respond to peak trading periods and strengthen existing teams instead of relying exclusively on new recruitment.
Technology forms another part of the growth model.
Many smaller businesses continue using separate systems for bookings, stock management, payments, customer information, staff management and commissions.
This fragmentation can make it difficult for owners to understand business performance and can create additional administrative work.
Technology forms another part of the growth model.
Many smaller businesses continue using separate systems for bookings, stock management, payments, customer information, staff management and commissions.
This fragmentation can make it difficult for owners to understand business performance and can create additional administrative work.
Through AMAZI Connect, entrepreneurs will receive early access to Shiio, a business management platform designed for operators in the sector.
The system brings bookings, customer information, inventory, staffing, commissions, payments and business information into one connected platform.
The intention is to give entrepreneurs clearer oversight of their businesses while reducing the amount of time spent moving between disconnected systems.
The system brings bookings, customer information, inventory, staffing, commissions, payments and business information into one connected platform.
The intention is to give entrepreneurs clearer oversight of their businesses while reducing the amount of time spent moving between disconnected systems.
Creating additional sources of income is also central to the initiative.
Through AMAZI Beauty products, participating businesses will be able to incorporate locally produced products into treatments or sell them directly to customers.
Through AMAZI Beauty products, participating businesses will be able to incorporate locally produced products into treatments or sell them directly to customers.
This allows entrepreneurs to potentially generate revenue beyond their core services while giving locally manufactured beauty products another route into the market.
Although the initial programme focuses on health and beauty entrepreneurs, the underlying challenges are common across many small-business sectors.
Restaurants, creative agencies, retailers and professional service businesses can face similar difficulties involving procurement, talent, administration, technology and revenue diversification.
The broader opportunity therefore lies in demonstrating how stronger support systems can help entrepreneurs move from operating businesses that depend heavily on their founders towards enterprises capable of growing sustainably.
Although the initial programme focuses on health and beauty entrepreneurs, the underlying challenges are common across many small-business sectors.
Restaurants, creative agencies, retailers and professional service businesses can face similar difficulties involving procurement, talent, administration, technology and revenue diversification.
The broader opportunity therefore lies in demonstrating how stronger support systems can help entrepreneurs move from operating businesses that depend heavily on their founders towards enterprises capable of growing sustainably.
AMAZI Connect also challenges the idea that businesses operating within the same industry must choose between competition and collaboration.
Entrepreneurs may compete for customers while still working together to solve shared challenges around skills, systems, procurement and market development.
That approach could be particularly important in industries dominated by smaller operators, where shared infrastructure and knowledge can help strengthen the wider ecosystem.
For AMAZI, the initiative represents a continuation of its focus on connecting skills development with economic participation.
Entrepreneurs may compete for customers while still working together to solve shared challenges around skills, systems, procurement and market development.
That approach could be particularly important in industries dominated by smaller operators, where shared infrastructure and knowledge can help strengthen the wider ecosystem.
For AMAZI, the initiative represents a continuation of its focus on connecting skills development with economic participation.
By combining training, entrepreneurship support, technology and additional income opportunities, the platform aims to create conditions in which more women-led businesses can move beyond survival and build greater capacity for sustainable growth.
The potential impact extends beyond individual entrepreneurs.
Stronger small businesses can create employment, develop new skills, support local suppliers and circulate income within communities.
The potential impact extends beyond individual entrepreneurs.
Stronger small businesses can create employment, develop new skills, support local suppliers and circulate income within communities.
In an economy where entrepreneurship is increasingly providing a route into work for women, building systems that help businesses survive and scale can become an important part of creating broader economic opportunity.
