Catherine Wijnberg is a passionate advocate for entrepreneurship and a driving force behind Africa’s business landscape. As the founder and CEO of Fetola, South Africa’s leading business growth agency, Catherine has dedicated her career to helping entrepreneurs thrive. A proud member of Africa’s Forbes 50 Over 50 women leaders, she’s deeply committed to creating innovative solutions that tackle unemployment, inequality, and poverty. Through Fetola’s unique approach, Catherine empowers entrepreneurs to build lasting, impactful businesses that contribute to a brighter future for Africa. Her work continues to inspire and uplift, showing that entrepreneurship isn’t just about business – it’s about making the world better for everyone.
In this interview with the CXO Outlook Magazine, Catherine discusses the key principles behind long-term business success, the role of SMEs in driving economic development, and the strategies that empower entrepreneurs to thrive in tough environments. She also highlights the importance of financial readiness, the value of cross-sector learning, and how circular economy practices can accelerate SME growth. Additionally, Catherine shares an inspiring success story from Fetola’s programs and offers advice on building impactful businesses that contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable future.
Your book, The Art of Acceleration, outlines strategies for helping small businesses thrive. Could you share what inspired you to write this book and how it reflects your journey with Fetola?
I am passionate about generating thriving SME ecosystems. We do this by helping entrepreneurs to build businesses that last and enable their growth. This book is my contribution to the impact investors, accelerator managers, mentors and policymakers who share this vision of empowered entrepreneurs contributing to a better, more inclusive and sustainable world. I have used parts of my own journey as an entrepreneur in a multitude of sectors and in the journey of building an award-winning accelerator to bring the message to life.
Fetola has been recognized for its phenomenal ability to start, grow, and scale businesses. What do you believe are the three most critical factors that contribute to building businesses that last?
The starting point for success is to find entrepreneurs with the passion and drive to grow their businesses to the next level. This is both a science and an art as a good startup entrepreneur may not have the interest or ability to switch from startup to building a scalable business
The next step is to work with the entrepreneur to identify gaps in the business model and co-create solutions to refine this. Critical to this stage is access to the market which requires an understanding of their market niche and ensuring a good product: market fit. The Fetola Success Wheel illustrates how business success is a continual process of assessing needs and priorities, solving them and moving to the next need that has arisen from this change. For example, if you solve sales and have a rush of new customers, this causes problems in operations, production, and distribution. When you solve those it causes a problem in cash flow and the need for bridging finance. Business is a wheel in motion, constantly turning to solve one problem and move to the next.
Getting those two points right will enable a business to grow organically, but to scale rapidly, a business needs access to growth finance. The difficult problem of Access to finance can be resolved through improved financial readiness (record-keeping, cash flow, management accounts etc) and a greater understanding of how to present the business case to investors (proposal writing, financial projections and pitching)
Your work often addresses challenges like unemployment, inequality, and poverty. What unique insights or approaches from your book do you think will be most impactful for tackling these pressing issues?
The root cause of these problems is a lack of growth in the economy, and SME success is much easier where the economy is thriving. In many parts of the developing world, this is not the case and entrepreneurs struggle in really hostile environments. The book shows that by using proven methods, being clear about what works, applying the right strategies and supporting SMEs, it is possible to foster consistent success even in the toughest environments. What the book also shares is how building thriving SMEs adds money to the national GDP, generates jobs and spreads wealth across thousands of individuals. The generational impact is better education in families and a legacy of hope for communities.
You’ve worked across multiple sectors and countries. How has this diverse experience shaped your approach to creating ecosystems for entrepreneurial success?
Yes, I am a great believer in diversity as the catalyst for innovation. Cross-sector exposure is an excellent way to identify and leapfrog thinking from one environment to another. A bakery in rural Bangladesh may gain systems ideas from a farmer in Kenya, and a tech geek may learn ways to get the maximum productivity from his developers from exposure to a call centre operator. More than that, when we are exposed to people from other sectors we lift our thinking higher and recognize that there is always something to learn, and others with more challenges than us.
Can you share one memorable success story from your time at Fetola that embodies the principles outlined in your book?
A great example of success is that of Trudy Mkansi, the owner of Ambesha Africa, who faced a tough challenge when her furniture business was hit hard by Covid-19 restrictions. With declining sales and the pressure of maintaining a large workforce, she joined the CEA Boost programme for post-Covid support. Through circular economy training, Trudy discovered a new approach to her business. She found an opportunity in the disrupted international supply chain, where local importers needed help to fill gaps in their stock of imported Chinese cane furniture.
Trudy quickly adapted by introducing a repair service, bringing in immediate cash flow through contracts to fix lower-quality imported furniture. This pivot proved successful, showcasing the stark difference in quality between her products and cheaper imports. More importantly, Trudy realised that her products were overengineered and priced too high compared to imports. This insight inspired her to develop a luxury range of high-quality, locally made furniture, offering lifetime guarantees and superior craftsmanship.
Through the programme, Trudy not only saw steady revenue growth but also achieved a remarkable 23.08% increase in job creation. This growth demonstrates the impact of the CEA Boost programme, not only on Trudy’s business but also on her community. Trudy’s newfound confidence, coupled with her strategic pivot, has transformed Ambesha Africa, positioning it for a successful future.
As an advocate for green solutions, how do you integrate sustainability into entrepreneurial support programs, and why is this a non-negotiable in today’s business landscape?
This question is dear to my heart. Fetola’s results prove that is it possible to build profitable, people-friendly and planet-positive businesses across every sector using our sustainable small business methods. As a business owner myself, I recognize that profitability is essential and in a country where unemployment is rife, the creation of job opportunities is critical. But the magical lesson is that it is possible to build environmentally positive businesses that achieve all of this. In fact, our results have shown that the growth rate of SMEs can be doubled with the introduction of Fetola’s circular economy methods for small business. This knowledge and the growing imperative to care for our environment compels us to include this training in every accelerator we run.
You’ve had an incredible career as an entrepreneur, adventurer, and advocate. What is one piece of advice or a mantra that has guided you through challenges and kept you motivated to inspire others?
Success is the art of turning dreams into jobs done. Dream big, build partnerships and work together to do what needs to be done to achieve your goals