To help usher in an exciting New Year, a number of startup founders, accelerator heads and ecosystem stakeholders will be sharing with us their plans for the new year and their biggest wish for the local entrepreneurship ecosystem in 2019.
On-demand home cleaning startup, Domestly, which launched in 2015 in the first six months of going live created 600 sustainable jobs, and have continued to grow from strength to strength. The platform connects domestic workers directly with homeowners looking for cleaning services on-demand through its app.
In 2016 the startup was crowned the overall winner in the 2016 MTN Business App Of The Year, and also took home the title of Best Consumer App. The following year Domestly founders announced that they had secured their first round of institutional funding from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
The founders are CEO, Berno Potgieter and COO, Thatoyaona Marumo. Domestly have since the company’s inception expressed passion for creating work opportunities for unemployed South Africans.
To find out what’s next for the startup, we speak to Marumo about their 2019 focus on scaling business processes and hopes for fellow entrepreneurs.
Within our pursuit to hit quarterly and annual targets, reach break-even point, to ‘win’ etc, that we never lose sight of those we serve i.e. having trusting teams and clients that can rely on us
How do you see the tech startup sector developing in the coming year?
In volume, in the velocity at which companies go to market, and in the quality of great companies growing from the ecosystem.
What are your plans for Domestly in this regard?
Focus becomes mostly about understanding growth KPI’s, improving on implementation methods, creating processes for scaling business operations and improving financials.
What are some of the developments (within the local ecosystem) you are hoping for in the
coming year?
A surge in connected activities. One of the core missions and ongoing main targets for any ecosystem should be to continuously cater comprehensive, dynamic and ad rem services and support programs.
Domestly has a number of impressive highlights over the years – what can we look forward to from you in 2019?
A notable and aggressive focus on growth like never before and numbers to match.
And finally, what is your wish for SA entrepreneurs for 2019?
That within our pursuit to hit quarterly and annual targets, reach break-even point, to ‘win’ etc, that we never lose sight of those we serve i.e. having trusting teams and clients that can rely on us.
