By Ronard Kachaje

Every journey has got its final destination and every race has got its final point. Our Jamlab Accelerator journey has reached its final destination. Now we sit back and reflect on our time in the programme for the past 6 months.

It all started in October 2020 when we attended a boot camp where we were told about how the programme was structured. I was excited after I learned about the content and at the same time, I was so nervous to hear that we will be making presentations and we will be having assignments on a weekly basis.

As I now reflect back on the journey, I am grateful for the content that we learnt and the connections that we made. We have managed to learn more about the business side of our publication. We have managed to register our business and plan our cost structure and project our finances. We are now in a better position to know what we want and when.

My most memorable moments were our interactions with other fellows in the programme to learn more about their startups, fears and problems they were solving. It was amazing to hear how these teams were penetrating the market with their innovative ways.

Coming this far, we are expecting to find funders and sponsors. We believe that we are one step closer to acquiring funds either through direct Jamlab support or using the skills and knowledge we acquired.

After Jamlab we plan to extend the brand and increase our revenue. We would like to print more hard copies and distribute them for free to public libraries, university libraries, secondary school libraries, organisations that work with the youth and marginalised individuals.

In conclusion, am very grateful to the Jamlab Accelerator Programme for the opportunity I was given to learn more about entrepreneurship and media studies. The knowledge acquired and connections made were priceless and will be used even in our next startup. I am encouraging others to apply for the next cohort to be part of this beautiful family.

*Ronard Kachaje is founder of Success Magazine

The JamLab Accelerator is a six-month hothouse programme for journalism and media innovators. It is based at Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct in the heart of Johannesburg.

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