Born in Port Elizabeth, currently known as Gqeberha and moved back to Port Elizabeth in 2016 after she left for greener pastures. Andiswa Madikane studied at the University of Fort Hare in East London, where she acquired her law degree. She worked extensively in the legal field for many years until she decided to make a career change and started working at BMF as a provincial coordinator for the Eastern Cape, where her role as a coordinator is to manage branches of BMF around the province, wherein she ensures that events, workshops, expos and any matters relating to BMF are well coordinated.

Her work in BMF has also seen her coordinating one of the biggest events in the Eastern Cape, inviting prominent and influential stakeholders.

Back to you and your company, please share when did you start with Dikane Consulting, and what inspired you to start the company? “Dikane Consulting and Events is a company that I started recently, the main reason for starting Dikane Consulting and Events is to empower township entrepreneurs by providing small businesses in the township with legal advisory services, business consultancy service, mentorship and life coaching – and lastly by creating corporate events in eKasi”.

“What inspired me to start Dikane Consulting and events was the lack of information township entrepreneurs have, when it comes to running a business successfully. I also realized that some of these entrepreneurs were not exposed to the culture of networking and building stakeholder relationship; hence we came up with the concept of hosting corporate events in the township”.

What makes your company stand out from those doing what you do already and what services do you offer? “What makes my company standout is firstly our mandate. The fact that we work with township entrepreneurs by empowering them with the necessary information for them to have sustainable and run healthy businesses. We also provide a combination of services that all link together. Every business needs legal service, they also need constant consultation and mentorship in the area of business they are in. Their compliance of their business also needs to be in check and these entrepreneurs also need to be provided a platform wherein they can network with other entrepreneurs and stakeholders, and that we do through the events we host”.

According to you, what does it mean to be a young woman in business in South Africa and how do you make sure you keep your head high? “Being a young woman in business in SA to me means that one needs to have self-belief and be fierce in chasing their dreams and believing that every goal is attainable. What has helped me thrive in this industry has been those two things. I also believe that women should not limit themselves in the areas of business they can venture into, I think the world has already proven that there is a huge gap to be filled by women in the business industry”.

Also, Dikane Consulting the business, how important is it for businesses to be compliant to national business laws, and as a lawyer yourself how important is for business owners to have law advise about every contract they sign? “It is very imperative that we have compliant businesses that abide by the laws of South Africa. This also helps when it comes to keeping clear records of our businesses. Having binding contractual agreements is something that businesses should always enforce to be able to hold business partners or service providers accountable for any agreement made between the two parties. Compliance in a business also helps a great deal when applying for funding and/or financial assistance”.

What are your highlights as a business since inception? “Our first highlight was hosting the very first corporate Women in Business event in the township. We hosted an extremely successful event that birthed so many successful businesses that are run by women in the township. Our second biggest highlight was being a finalist at the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Events Awards under the category of best newcomer. Receiving that recognition proved that we are on the right track.

Lastly, when you are not directly working on the business - what do you do to unwind? “I restaurant hop”, she giggled. Or travel when I can. I spend most of my days working so being away really helps me recoup”.