#WIB-Q&A With Shamima Ahmed Co-founder Of nichemarket
1. Can you please tell us more about your business?
A. nichemarket.co.za is a social marketplace for small businesses to promote their products and services to the South African market. Our platform is geared towards helping businesses increase their online visibility and thousands of Mzanzi’s consumers searching for products in over 20 niches.
On sign up, businesses can complete their profile and get a free dedicated one-page web listing on our site and will be able to place 3 ads in nichemarket classifieds. All 100% FREE.
Launched in Early 2019, we now have over 3000 small businesses are enjoying the benefits of nichemarket.
2. When, how and why did you start your business?
A. I’ve always been hungry for knowledge and learning new skills. Over the span of a decade, I worked at digital advertising agencies and startups on big and small, developing and testing strategies, while soaking up as much knowledge and skills as I could in the digital realm. I always knew I wanted to go on my own one day, but never had a clear direction.
I met my now business partner, Che Kohler, in 2014 at Kalahari.com, and we founded our company in late 2015 as a digital agency. Seeing several businesses struggle with the same issues over and over, and only those with significant budgets could afford to take steps to fix said issues, we wanted to give something back to the little guy.
We developed nichemarket so the local entrepreneur could market their services in an ever-ready environment that was affordable to them. Now we get to play matchmaker between thousands of service providers and South African consumers each day and help small businesses get a slice of their online visibility pie.
3. What is your role in the business?
A. I’m a Co-founder by title, but as it goes in the Startup and the small business world, I’m a bit of a Jane of all trades. I go from visionary to a consultant to completing mindless tasks all in one day. The hustle is real. And the way I see it if you want your hustle to be successful there is no job too big or too small.
4. Where did you study and what did you study?
A. I completed my undergrad at UCT. A Humanities degree actually B.A. in Psychology and Media & Writing (minoring in Film and religion). So I guess I’m proving the old myth wrong about B.A. degrees amounting to nothing! I then completed my Psychology honours via Unisa. Back then I thought I’d do masters, But things have changed. I will always be a scholar in human behavior, but I guess I’m helping people differently now 🙂
5. How did you finance your business?
A. We bootstrapped the company with a combined capital injection of 10 grand from our 2 co-founders and good old fashioned hard work. The company has been entirely self-funded. nichemarket is also part digital agency specialising in SEO, UX and content marketing; this is the arm that keeps us afloat. We chose to fund the business ourselves as opposed to seeking investments. This way, we always call the shots and have full control of our product.
6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.
A. LOL, average does not exist in digital. Every day is different, the landscape is continuously changing, and there is always something new and exciting, sometimes frustrating, to grab your attention. I start with my cup of coffee, power through my mailbox, and go forth to fight for my rightful place on Google. Hard work and constant hustle are the themes of the day and a good soundtrack is key to getting through it all.
7. How do you balance your home life and your work life?
A. Since the inception of nichemarket, I have been working from home, so this is not new to me. Throw a little kid in the mix and new mommy vibes, and I can’t lie, keeping balance is a challenge. But I’ve learnt being present in what I’m engaging in is vital. I switch from mommy mode, businesswomen, wife, daughter, sister and friend in seconds, but I’m giving my all in whichever archetype I’m fulfilling. Life’s too short to be constantly worrying about what you still have to do; I figure I gotta enjoy the blessings I got and make some time for me between it all!
8. What drives you and inspires you?
A. Innovation, humour, logic and creativity, results and making some marketing magic. I’ve always been hungry for knowledge and learning and anything that fills my cups, I will grab with both hands and drink wholeheartedly. It’s incredible to see a strategy all come together and reaping the rewards. Inspiration can hit you in the strangest places and situations. I guess it’s finding that groove and chemistry with your subject matter that motivates one to keep going.
Breaking boundaries and benchmarks, just make me want to see how far I can push it. Also, telling me I can’t do it, just wants to make me prove you wrong! There’s always a way; you just gotta look at the problem from all angles.
9. Where and when do you have your best ideas?
A. Funnily enough in the shower. I do my best problem-solving in the shower. It could possibly be the healing power of the water, the steam going to my head, who knows. But there is nothing a good shower can’t fix for me.
10. Where and how do you market/advertise your business for sales leads?
A. Mostly digital channels. Naturally, SEO is our strongest driver, and we invest a lot of time in optimising for Organic Search. We also dabble with paid search, social (organic and paid) and good old fashioned word-of-mouth has done wonders for us.
11. What is next for your business?
A. Building nichemarket day by day and getting it to a point where we have a great product both South African business and consumers love using. We have loads of new features in the pipeline, so watch us closely, we got some fun new features planned.
12. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs hoping to start their own business?
A. A successful business is not about a blind leap of faith; it’s a calculated decision and lots of hard work. Get your game plan together, assess what you need in order to achieve your goal and start actioning small tasks on the list. Get to a place where you are ready to leap and do it. Keep going, even during those dark days and when you need to fill your cup. Never lose your hustle because ultimately we reap what we sow.
We have not nearly reached half of my goals for nichemarket, and as we evolve, so do our ideas. It took us 3 site builds (one of which got burnt out on a laptop in a car accident) to get where we are. But we just keep going, deploy, reiterate, optimise and repeat. It’s all part of the hustle.
Short Bio:
Shamima, the co-founder of nichemarket, was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. She’s has been in the digital marketing space since 2008 when MSN was still selling site takeover ads, Eyebalster was innovative tech, Web Fonts planned the murder of WordArt, and Chuck Norris jokes were still a thing.
Follow nichemarket on social:
Website: https://www.nichemarket.co.za/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nichemarket.co.za/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nichemarketcoza/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nichemarket/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nichemarketcoza/
Pinterest: https://za.pinterest.com/nichemarketcoza/
Connect with Shamima:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shamima-ahmed-b269032a/
Email: Shamima@nichemarket.co.za