Karidas Tshintsholo shines bright on #EntrepreneurTuesday. A university undergraduate, he has founded two thriving businesses -at twenty- and continues to aspire unto greater heights. Karidas believes that failure is one of the ingredients needed to produce a grounded entrepreneur.
Born in Pretoria South Africa, Karidas Tshintsholo is a student at the University of Cape Town South Africa where he is studying Economics and Finance. He is also a Candidate Fellow of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation.
Karidas co-founded Moneytree Group Pty(Ltd): a company that specializes in Media, Publishing, Recruitment and Financial Education for young people. He currently sits on the MTG board as an executive director.
He has also co-founded Push Ismokol Pty (Ltd) in 2011 which designs, manufactures, markets and sells trendy sweat shirts, tee shirts and other clothing items and he did all this in his 3rd year at the age of twenty [20].
Karidas was not born with the proverbial silver spoon, as a matter of fact, the reverse was the case. His mother was the sole care-giver and they relied on the charity of the South African government to house them. However the circumstances of one’s birth does not dictate their future.
A natural leader with an eye for business, Karidas organized his friends into a production machine , made and started selling wire cars to kids in wealthier neighbourhoods.
In an interview with StartUpCultureSA, Karidas shared his reasons for venturing into business at what some might call an ‘early age.’ His answer was apt:
“Because “someday” exists only in the calendar of procrastination, and there is nothing such as “when I am old enough”. There is nothing to lose in entrepreneurship – you get to experience things that most will die before experiencing. Being young is an advantage that you have for a limited time only – I want to make the best use of it! But mainly: I enjoy it (this is important!).”
The Push Ismokol brand is gaining traction and has been worn by actors on local television shows and by local celebrities. The company has six [6] employees who are trained in the manufacturing process on site in his hometown of Ekangala and Karidas’ hopes to increase their capacity in order to create more jobs within the community. They manufacture their garments locally which Karidas insists is more sustainable in the long run than buying from China and selling. African solutions to African problems.
Karidas says, “I believe in making a way for myself and the youth in my community to earn a living. Push Ismokol stands for everyone’s ability to push themselves out of their context and into a better life if they are driven to do so – it is about the hustle for economic advancement.”
Karidas was one of the twelve [12] Anzisha prize finalists in 2015 and was awarded Top Entrepreneur at the University of Cape Town in 2014. He was in the third position at the AGOF National Entrepreneurship Event 2014.
Karidas’ future plans include founding a pan-African bank so that the African countries no longer have to borrow money from elsewhere in the world and remain ensnared in debt.
His advice for young entrepreneurs? “Failure is overrated, in fact: the more times you fail the better you actually become as an entrepreneur.”
