Having grown up in rural South Africa, parentless and living among relatives where she faced emotional and sexual abuse, Amanda Dambuza could have allowed the circumstances of her childhood to shape a tragic narrative. Instead, she became living proof of how, by taking control of her story, a person can become the author of an incredible destiny.
“I felt that getting an education was step one that I needed to change my life, so that I could be an adult and be in control of my own life. I never had someone to hold my hand, I always had to hussle,” she says.
And hussle she did. She arrived at Wits with R5 in her pocket and through sheer determination managed to see a guidance counsellor who helped her to obtain a student loan to study Social Sciences.
“It was the beginning of my life as I know it now. It never made sense that I was born to amount to nothing. I had this drive to be in control of my life.”
From there her story took a Cinderella twist, as she climbed the ladder to an impressive corporate career. But it was only when she threw that all in to start Uyandiswa, a flourishing project management services company, that she became the mistress of her true destiny, that of business changemaker.
Here are Dambuza’s five tips for business success:
1. Go out and hussle
Hard work pays off. Unemployment is growing because the economy isn’t, says Dambuza. “To change and really grow, you have to turn a negative script into something positive.
“I had my first business at 23 selling flowers. I felt like I was settling if I didn’t have something on the side. I woke up at 4am to deliver flowers by 8am before work. I also sold shoes and handbags. The difference is I wasn’t sitting at home saying there are no opportunities.”
2. Stay humble, but think big
“Some people are a little too important for their own dreams,” says Dambuza. “I had no problem scrubbing toilets, the day I become too important for my own dreams, I will make nothing of my life.
“I know what vision is. I was willing to take multiple steps to achieve it, everything I’ve done was quite considered. There can be multiple points in different directions but you need to keep sight of the [goal].”
3. People matter
How you work with other people is part and parcel of success. “You have to deliver [work] through people, which means you have to rally people around you to [believe in] a common goal, which involves respecting people. Leading with humility, being able to negotiate and pressure people to see why something needs to change. It’s about being tough when you need to be tough, but also about backing off when you need to.”
4. Work smarter
As an entrepreneur and business owner, Dambuza has achieved what most people only dream of: a four-day work week. Week days from Tuesday to Thursday are for Uyandiswa, weekends are for family, but Mondays are for Amanda.
She started Uyandiswa because, “I wanted to own my own time, when you own your time you do what you want to do…
“I always believe you should be the hardest working person in the room, but you should also work smarter. You should work through other people to remove the risk from yourself. You can’t have a business held to ransom by one person.”
5. Exercise financial constraint
“Don’t use your business to fund a lifestyle because if you are looking to sell that business at some point the value will be eroded. You need the right financial discipline if you want to build all the things you want in a business,” says Dambuza.
