From finding skilled staff to managing bookings and creating new revenue streams, AMAZI Connect is helping South Africa’s beauty entrepreneurs tackle the business challenges that can hold them back.
Running a beauty business is about more than perfect nails, happy clients and a fully booked diary. There are suppliers to chase, stock to manage, staff to train and payments to track. Somewhere between all of that, finding time to actually grow the business can become a job of its own.
That is the challenge AMAZI Connect hopes to address.
Launching through events in Cape Town and Johannesburg, the new platform aims to help small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the health and beauty sector overcome everyday operational barriers and build businesses that can grow sustainably.
Founded on the experience of AMAZI co-founders Divya Vasant and Sekela Lisa Mgcotyelwa, the initiative draws on a decade of building their own business. More than 3,000 women have graduated through AMAZI’s skills development programmes, creating opportunities for women to pursue financial independence through beauty.
Now, the founders want to help entrepreneurs take the next step.
Four ways to make business easier
AMAZI Connect focuses on four practical areas that can make a difference to a growing business.
First, simplifying supplies. Professional Treatment Kits bring essential products together, helping beauty entrepreneurs spend less time sourcing supplies and more time looking after clients.
Second, building stronger teams. Access to skilled talent and opportunities to upskill existing employees can help businesses serve more customers without compromising on service.
Third, getting organised. Entrepreneurs will receive early access to Shiio, a business management platform designed to bring bookings, customer information, inventory, staff commissions, payments and business insights together in one place. Less juggling between spreadsheets means more visibility into how the business is performing.
Finally, finding new ways to earn. Through AMAZI Beauty products, merchants can incorporate locally made products into treatments or sell them directly to customers. This creates an opportunity to earn beyond the service itself.
Together, these solutions address a familiar problem for small businesses: growth becomes difficult when the everyday running of the business consumes all the available time.
Collaboration over competition
For Divya Vasant, making the daily demands of entrepreneurship easier to manage gives business owners more room to focus on growth. In an industry that provides income and ownership opportunities for thousands of women, that growth can have an impact beyond individual businesses.
And that is where AMAZI Connect’s bigger idea comes in.
Businesses may compete for customers, but they often face the same challenges behind the scenes. Sharing resources, developing skills and finding practical solutions do not have to come at the expense of competition.
Although the platform focuses on health and beauty, its approach could also resonate with entrepreneurs in hospitality, retail and creative industries.
Because building a business takes ambition. Building one that can keep growing takes the right support, the right people and systems that work.
For South Africa’s beauty entrepreneurs, AMAZI Connect is looking to make that next step a little more achievable.
