Darlene Menzies, CEO of Finfind and a pioneer in the South African tech space spoke at the Durban Entrepreneur Club meeting in September.
Stacy Wade, Darlene Menzies, Brandon Partridge and Grant Gavin.
GUEST speaker at the September Durban Entrepreneurs Club (DEC) event was award-winning serial entrepreneur, Darlene Menzies, CEO of Finfind and a pioneer in the South African tech space.
Introducing Darlene, Grant Gavin, Founder of the DEC said that it was because of the calibre of speakers at these monthly events that had seen the club’s considerable growth.
“We are extremely fortunate to be able to have quality speakers like Darlene to address members. The DEC has become the perfect platform for members to network, share ideas and build relationships, with the added benefit of having high powered speakers, all with a different message on how to help budding and well established entrepreneurs to grow their business,” he said.
Errol Coetzee, Sean Wessels, Bruce Baxter and Peter Meyer.
Darlene is considered to be one of Africa’s top tech entrepreneurs and she is also the brains behind SMEasy, an award-winning accounting and business management platform that she launched in 2014. Since launching Finfind in 2015, the company has attracted thousands of users and has facilitated hundreds of thousands of small business loan leads.
Darlene told her audience that as entrepreneurs, they had to know the importance of taking risks.
“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. “I love the thrill of risk! For me, it’s not so much about the money, although money is wonderful, it’s more about the adrenaline rush that risking big as an entrepreneur gives me,” she said.
Mel Logan, Gillian Scott, Ethan Van der Linde and Karen Brokensha.
Looking for the real opportunities was also something that was extremely important for entrepreneurs to take note of.
She also encouraged fellow entrepreneurs not to be disheartened by failure: “Failure is key part of the journey to success, it’s where you get your best learning. Entrepreneurs shouldn’t be ashamed of failing but rather notch it up to experience gained and be proud that they had the courage to try again. Every failure brought me closer to my success. Frankly I’d far rather invest in an entrepreneur who has failed a few times than risk my money on a first timer,” said Darlene.
Gareth Cliff, from the popular radio station Cliff Central, will be guest speaker at the next DEC function on 13 October at 5.30pm for 6pm at the Durban Country Club.
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