Founded in 2001,The Hope Factory began with the dream of finding a way to help the unemployed
develop the means to support their families through their own skills and effort.The exceptionally high
levels of unemployment in South Africa range from 26% to 36%, depending on how it is measured.
This means approximately 7 million SouthAfricans are unemployed consisting of 4.6 million who are
actively still searching, and 2.3 million who have given up looking for work (Goldman Sachs report,
2013).
Ultimately,the best way to address the high unemployment levels in SouthAfrica is to grow and foster
entrepreneurship and increase the skills needed for employment. Enterprise and Supplier
Development as well as other pillars of the Department of Trade and Industry's Broad Based Black
Economic codes provide an excellent vehicle to do this, while achieving the intended aim for the
transformation of the country.
Today The Hope Factory has become a well-known and established Enterprise Development Non
Profit Company effectively governed by the SouthAfrican Institute of CharteredAccountants.
Driven to develop and increase the success of Black business owners,The Hope Factory offers a
variety of key programmes designed to grow entrepreneurial skills.We provide both informal and
formal business development programmes in order to support the growth of financial sustainability,
economic empowerment and entrepreneurship.
The growth and establishment of better entrepreneurial skills in the country are urgently needed, as
according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2013), South Africa's total entrepreneurial
activity (at 10.6%) and established business ownership rates (at 2.9%) still remain well below the
norms found in the other Sub SaharanAfrican countries of16% and 13% respectively.
We believe that a key factor in growing entrepreneurship is mentorship. In our experience,
individuals and entrepreneurs benefit most from a flexible and holistic approach to developing skills
that may or may not include funding,but must include strategic mentoring.
Our mentorship is centered around the person – helping them achieve their goals, vision and
purpose to grow themselves, their business, and ultimately to give back to their community.Not only
are we helping to create successful entrepreneurial role models in communities, but we also
encourage the participants of all our programmes to 'pay it forward' and find ways to give back.
From the investor point of view, The Hope Factory provides an easy, hassle-free way to earn
Enterprise Development and Socio-Economic Development points for their B-BBEE scorecard.
Through further investment with us, SouthAfrican organisations can secure assistance with Supplier
Development points as well as Skills Development points,as part of the amended B-BBEE Codes.
We exist to grow people, to develop businesses,
to impact communities, through our unique
mentorship model while adding value to our investors.
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