Journey into Financial Freedom

The 24 ladies were used to helping pre-schoolers take early steps into their educational futures. Now, at a workshop held at the Umbilo-based Grow ECD, they were being challenged to take critical steps of their own on their journey into financial freedom. Many of them had started off offering their communities child-minding and daycare services which have developed into viable early childhood development centres. All the attendees are in a 3-year partnership with The Domino Foundation intended to ensure the centres’ sustainability as functioning and profitable small enterprises.

The workshop was run by Taking Care of Business (TCB), a nonprofit social enterprise that works to eradicate poverty in South African families through small business development. TCB equips aspiring entrepreneurs with skills training, resources and practical work experience needed to unlock their potential and access the economy. TCB was a finalist in the 2026 CSI Legacy Awards for Best Social Enterprise and Simphiwe Mtetwa, their Durban-based trainer, facilitated the workshop. “We started by addressing fundamental issues on the participants’ attitudes towards money, asking questions like ‘What are my money habits?’ and ‘How does money make me feel?’” The day then moved on to more practical issues such as budgeting, understanding credit and interest and the emotional cost credit can incur. The topics of borrowing money, getting out of debt, setting realistic savings goals and the tools to achieve them were discussed as well as the owners’ rights as consumers, and much more.

Owner of Lions Crèche, Nontobeko Jali, commented that she had been hugely impacted by what she had heard about handling her money: “It changed my mindset and I will certainly implement my new knowledge to grow my business.”

Domino’s education co-ordinator, Nicky Walton, described the excellent relationship her NPO has with both TBC and Grow ECD, saying that she has no hesitation in recommending others to find out about the training offered. “In the ECD space, training provides small business owners with invaluable skills to develop their preschools into sustainable business all the while providing a good early learning experience for young children.”

TCB can be reached at www.tcb.org.za or info @ tcb.org.za and Grow ECD at www.growecd.org.za.