Meet the woman who is disrupting South Africa’s male-dominated security sector
18 January 2017: Glynn Mashonga, entrepreneur and owner of GlobeScope Security Solutions, is no stranger to overcoming adversity and credits her parents for instilling the values which have helped her become a successful entrepreneur and overcoming adversity.
“I take nothing for granted and worked hard to make a success of what I have. I have been running my own business for the past nine years and will continue to do so for the next 50,” she says, tongue-in-cheek.
Her company, GlobeScope, installs sophisticated electronic security systems at tertiary education institutions, corporate businesses and private homes in the Western Cape.
Working in this industry means that Mashonga, a wife and mother of two children, has had to break a few proverbial ‘glass ceilings’ along her entrepreneurial journey.
“Running a female-owned technology company in a male dominated industry is difficult and it is important that I display strong leadership traits,” she says, “I am a qualified technician, mentoring and guiding all my technical staff, both male and female.
Mashonga notes that this has assisted her in expanding her business and hopes that being a successful businesswoman in a male-dominated industry will pave the way for future female business leaders.
“This has also exposed my daughter to what it means to become a good leader, allowing her to be more confident as a female at school and in group activities she participates in,” she says.
However, it hasn’t always been plain sailing for Mashonga. In 2015, she faced every entrepreneur’s nightmare – her business was struggling. “I received a recommendation to contact the Innovator Trust for assistance, which I did,” says Mashonga, “That saved my business.”
The Innovator Trust is an enterprise development organisation which focuses on accelerating black female owned ICT SMMEs through training, skills sharing and infrastructure support.
When she launched GlobeScope, the company employed just two people and owned one vehicle. She now services over 45 clients a month. “My turnover has increased by almost 45% since joining the Innovator Trust’s Enterprise Development Programme. This is a testament to the excellent work being done by dedicated people at the Innovator Trust who are just as passionate about my business as I am.”
Tashline Jooste, Chief Executive Officer of the Innovator Trust, says the positive impact of small businesses on the economy is just one reason the Innovator Trust is proud to support black-owned SMMEs in the ICT sector like GlobeScope.
“We believe we can help our beneficiaries grow their businesses through support and collaboration, which can help create the right opportunities and benefit the economy as a whole,” Jooste concludes.
About the Innovator Trust
The Innovator Trust was formed to grow small black-owned businesses in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector and to help develop competent SMME’s through training, skills sharing and infrastructure support. As such, the company has partnered with other incubators who have experience and knowledge in this field, to help grow SMME entrepreneurship and make a real impact in the ICT SMME sector over the next 5 years.
The Innovator Trust’s mission is to provide a tailored development programme for selected, established small businesses in the ICT sector. Through training, mentorship, networking and infrastructure support the Innovator Trust is helping to create ICT leaders of the future.
For more information please visit http://www.innovatortrust.co.za/ , or find the Innovator Trust on Twitter and LinkedIn.
