KwaZulu-Natal-born entrepreneur Shivad Singh, 28, the founder of Head Start Education, an online education platform, a company that he started at 19 years old, is not frightened to dream big,
Head Start Education provides digital educational material for teachers and learners. Singh launched his company, formerly known as Presto, after graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Cape Town.
Since then, both Singh and the company have grown.
His business goal is to equip learners and teachers with essential digital skills, which would lead to an improvement in their overall skills development and employability.
Head Start Education now serves as a gateway to Africa for educators to promote the advancement of education across the continent. The company is a reputable ed-tech provider which now holds exclusive licences for more than 20 educational products world-wide. They supply these products to schools and large corporations that are then able to provide these services to their teachers, learners or customers.
The 28-year-old entrepreneur says the firm is currently launching in new schools, partnering with re-sellers across South Africa and Africa, working with banks, retailers, telcos and other corporates via corporate spending innovations and corporate social responsibility.
‘’We are the first education company that will launch our education platform with one of the leading telecommunication companies in South Africa. We will also be launching our education platform DigiClass with one of the largest banks in South Africa. Our team is also rapidly expanding, and we are growing our sales force,’’ Singh said.
Singh said they had launched a platform, MobiClass with MTN, which was zero-rated, meaning that learners don’t need mobile data to access the thousands of educational content. This comes as the country struggles with load shedding.
Head Start Education is also developing an online coding school called Code A2Z that teaches coding to children aged 2-18 years and above.
Singh said, ‘’We are developing a mental health and wellness platform that provides exercises, meditation, yoga, tai chi and brain training to kids. We are developing a WhatsApp chatbot that teaches numeracy, literacy, and coding for kids.
“We are also developing a WhatsApp chatbot that acts as an assistant for teachers and teaches them how to teach learners.’’
Asked how the prevailing economic environment was impacting Head Start Education’s business operations and how he was dealing with that, Singh said while the company had seen a slight decrease in the average revenue per user, it was continually expanding with new customers and markets in South Africa and Africa.
He was continually finding ways to decrease the price for customers in order to make world-class education accessible and affordable.
‘’Thankfully, especially in Africa, education is so critical that customers come back for more. We continually are building world-class products that educate and entertain the next generation,’’ Singh said.
The entrepreneur said he attributes his success to all his friends and family along the way, who have always stuck with him through the challenging times.
However, he also gives credit to his mentors that guided him, thereby shortening his learning process and making introductions to key business people that changed his life.
‘’Notably, I have received business skills training, mentorship and access to finance through my entrepreneurial journey with the SAB Foundation, one of the leading South African organisations in the social innovation space. I started this journey when I was selected for the University Seed Fund. I was then announced as a winner at the SAB Foundation Social Innovation Awards and am now receiving support from the SAB Foundation Social Innovation Fund,’’ he said.
‘’I believe the number one factor for my success is my undying persistence that I have. I never give up. Never. For example, I recently had a meeting with the chief operating officer of one of the largest education companies in Africa. That meeting took four years to get in person with her,’’ Singh said.
To young people, who were currently struggling in business, Singh advised that while it was great to be excited by your idea, this could be a difficult and challenging journey.
“To solve this, create a powerful vision and mission for your life and business that will energise you and enable you to not give up and keep on going when you may be in a low space,” he said.
Emerging entrepreneurs should also test their idea as quickly as possible and get feedback from prospective customers. Thinking about how you could save as much money as possible when you were starting out was also key, he said.
Over and above that, he said when starting a company, one should move fast and get things done quickly. This allowed one to do in one day what some large companies might only be able to do in a week, month, or even year, he said.
Singh also advised that one should find a mentor. But in the absence of a mentor, find guidance from books or videos on YouTube.
“Google, YouTube, books, and courses are your best friends when it comes to learning new skills to do with your field of interest,” he said, adding, ‘’Always do your best in any project, and whatever happens thereafter is beyond your control-be unattached to the outcome.
“If you are disappointed in your current situation, never blame yourself. However, it is up to you to make opportunities for yourself. You can contact and reach out to people, and call and send your sales presentation to 100s of customers, for example.’’
Looking ahead, in the next three to five years, Singh said he hopes to be running one of the leading and biggest education companies in Africa and globally, which would impact tens of millions of learners.
‘’I see myself as a serial entrepreneur, so I am sure that I will start and build many other businesses that may not be education related. I see myself travelling between our offices in Cape Town, Durban, India, Netherlands, London, LA, India, Sydney, and more countries,’’ he said.
Singh, with his team, wants to launch educational shows that are targeted at inspiring and fuelling young people to act on their dreams and give their best selves to the world.
He has big ambitions.
‘’I hope to invest in some leading start-ups in Africa and globally. I hope to publish a few books that are on the New York Times Best-seller list. I hope to be happier, healthier and get to live life more in the present moment,’’ Singh said.
BUSINESS REPORT