Exciting news for LightSpeed, we were announced winners of the 2009 Velociti Enterprise Development Programme at the prize giving function held at the Bandwidth Barn last night.
How it began
First there was LaunchPad, in 2006. A business development programme which was moderately successful, but lessons learnt.
Then came Velociti in 2007, with active mentorship in addition to business skills training. VeloCITI was aimed at ICT entrepreneurs who are prepared to re-assess their business model in order to position themselves for growth. Participants received a clear understanding of the current flaws in their business model and got hands-on assistance in reworking those models, or fixing the flaws. VeloCITI is targeted at young entrepreneurs running a business with potential for growth. Not a lifestyle business but the next Western Cape Success Story. The outcome of VeloCITI: A sustainable business model, measured by achievement against targets such as sales, salaries, headcount etc. 12 companies graduated, 4 winners:
- Redbutton
- Silulo Ilutho Technologies
- Freelancecentral
- MLT Tech
In 2008, 21 companies started, 15 were selected for Velociti and 12 companies graduated. The combined turnover grew from R275k to R1.62 million! Winners from 2008 were:
- Nclose
- Breadbin Interactive
This year
In 2009, 19 companies started, 14 were selected for Velociti and 10 companies graduated:
- Encyclomedia
- Just PC’S
- Lancoza
- Lightspeed
- Personera
- Simply Colossal
- Southern Star Computers
- The Miracle Book
- WhereIsMyTransport
- Zazu Internet
During this programme we covered a lot of content. We handled with subjects as: Value Proposition, Business model, Market and customer segmentation, Marketing, Sales, Pricing, Operations and People Management, Negotiation, Analysis of financial statements, Budgets, forecasts and performance measurement, Growth, working capital, cash flow management, Valuations and exits.
With the 10 Velociti graduates we achieved an amazing growth in the last 6 months. The combined monthly turnover has grown from R 279K to R489K – 75% growth and the combined staff has increased from 20 to 36 – 80% growth.
At the end of the stage we were able to win the 2009 Velociti Enterprise Development Programme. All graduates received a copy of Pastel’s “My Business” Package and because we were on top of the list we also won a new Dell laptop! We are very proud after hard working to win this competition and receive this award.
Prize Giving Pictures
Organizations involved in making VeloCITI possible:
Thanks goes to everyone involved who made this amazing experience possible!
CITI
The Cape IT Initiative (CITI) is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 to stimulate and support the growth, promotion and transformation of the ICT cluster in the Western Cape. CITI is committed to bringing all ICT industry bodies, government, academia, industry and other stakeholders together to develop a combined strategy for the ICT sector in the Western Cape.
Bandwidth Barn 
The Cape Town-based Bandwidth Barn has been in operation since 2000 and is today regarded as one of the leading ICT business incubators in the world. The goal of the Bandwidth Barn is to fast track the pace of business growth in the ICT sector in the Western Cape by helping businesses to establish themselves, commercialise new products and services, create jobs and wealth and add economic diversity to the community
Peer power 
PEERPOWER™ is working in partnership with a number of entrepreneurial support agencies such as The Bandwidth Barn ICT Business Accelerator, the Cape IT Initiative and Nokia’s Mobile Leaders Society. In addition, we also work directly with business owners who want to grow their businesses, increase their turnover and have a trusted and experienced support forum.
CVP 
Cape Venture Partners provides specialist advisory & management services to established technology companies and high growth, early stage entrepreneurs and businesses.We look for businesses that are innovative, technology driven, and have strong growth potential. Our approach is highly collaborative and we develop long-term business partnerships with our clients, typically as shareholders.
Provincial Government 
The Provincial Government of the Western Cape works in co-operation with the National Government to create laws for and provide services to the people of the Western Cape.
