20/10/2020
Seasoned veteran in the startup and entrepreneur space, Marilyn Radebe moved to work for herself more than a decade ago: “One of my clients required data analysis and told me he thought I was just the person for it. The only stipulation was that I would need to register a company in order for them to pay for my services. And so, Soma Solutions came into being.”
11 years and 18 employees later, Soma Solutions, which initially offered SAP consulting as Radebe’s main strength, now casts a broader net to include multiple digital solutions, including custom applications development, Oracle, IT managed services, server, data recovery, database and back-up support.
Radebe does admit that she is an impassioned and devoted South African, who is passionate about tech, and dedicated to the advancement of women and youth. In fact, she goes on to say that “One of the prominent reasons I wanted to start my own company was to create a woman-owned ICT business, because those are few and far between.”
“I wanted to start my own company to create a woman-owned ICT business, because those are few and far between.”
More recently, Radebe and Soma Solutions have joined the Accenture ESD programme, in which she has been working alongside the Accenture, Henley Business School Africa and Lesedi Strategic Services coaching teams on her online platform, SmartSaver a goal-based savings platform that allows customers to leverage savings from the collective buying power of the platform. This means consumers (including those who lack the discipline) can save for items such as stationery, uniform, bulk groceries and household refurbishments.
“Our allocated mentor fully supports and understands what we are trying to achieve.”
“Accenture has been providing us with the support to develop our online platform. Our allocated mentor fully supports and understands what we are trying to achieve with SmartSaver, and has been great at removing stumbling blocks and providing assistance when engaging the bigger Accenture community” she concludes.
