Digitise SA is a free entrepreneur support platform for South African small business owners, built and operated by Hodisa SA NPC a registered non-profit company committed to growing the South African economy from the ground up.
We exist because talent and ambition are evenly distributed across South Africa, but access to the right knowledge, mentorship, and networks is not. Too many capable entrepreneurs fail not because their idea was wrong, but because they lacked the guidance, tools, or community to carry it through. We are here to change that.
Mission
To equip every South African entrepreneur with the knowledge, tools, connections, and support they need to start, run, and grow a sustainable business completely free of charge, at every stage of their journey.
Vision
A South Africa where entrepreneurial potential is never wasted because of a lack of access to guidance, networks, or knowledge. We envision a thriving ecosystem of informed, connected, and resilient small business owners who are creating jobs, building wealth, and transforming their communities.
Digitise SA is a comprehensive, non-financial support platform built around the real challenges South African entrepreneurs face. We bring together everything a small business owner needs in one free, accessible place:
Knowledge and learning: We provide structured learning paths covering the full arc of business ownership: from validating your idea and writing a business plan, to understanding your legal and compliance obligations, managing your finances, marketing your business digitally, and preparing to scale. Our skills academy, compliance guides, and funding navigator are built specifically for the South African context covering CIPC registration, SARS tax obligations, UIF and PAYE, BBBEE, and the full landscape of SA funding opportunities including SEDA, SEFA, NYDA, NEF, and the IDC.
Practical tools and templates: We maintain a growing library of over 30 free, downloadable business templates spanning business planning, finance, human resources, legal documentation, operations, and marketing. These are practical, ready-to-use tools designed to save entrepreneurs time and remove the need for expensive consultants in the early stages.
Events and expert sessions: We host regular webinars, workshops, and networking events featuring experienced South African entrepreneurs, industry specialists, and subject matter experts. These sessions are practical, accessible, and free covering topics that matter directly to business owners at every stage.
Community and peer support: We are building a peer community where South African entrepreneurs can ask questions, share experiences, find accountability partners, and learn from one another. Because isolation is one of the most underestimated barriers to business success, and because the best answers often come from someone who has already walked the same road.
Mentorship: We connect emerging entrepreneurs with experienced business mentors who volunteer their time and expertise. Through structured, stage-matched mentorship, we help entrepreneurs avoid costly mistakes, access networks they wouldn’t otherwise reach, and make better decisions at every critical moment.
South Africa has more than two million small and medium enterprises yet two thirds of them fail within five years. Most of those failures are not inevitable. They are the result of preventable gaps: a business plan that was never written, a compliance requirement that wasn’t understood, a cash flow crisis that wasn’t anticipated, a decision made in isolation that a mentor could have redirected in minutes.
At the same time, the support that exists is fragmented, often expensive, or difficult to find. Formal business education is out of reach for many. Professional advisors cost money that early-stage entrepreneurs don’t have. Government support programmes are real but hard to navigate. And with 70% of entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector, the people who most need support are often the furthest from it.
We believe that access to knowledge, mentorship, and community should not be a privilege. It should be a foundation freely available to every person with the courage and determination to build something.
That belief is what drives everything we do at Digitise SA. We are not here to profit from entrepreneurs. We are here to serve them.
Digitise SA operates as a structured, multi-pillar support platform that grows in depth and reach over time. Our approach is built on four principles:
Free and accessible by design: Every resource, tool, course, community space, and mentorship opportunity on Digitise SA is free to access for entrepreneurs. We are funded and operated as a non-profit initiative under Hodisa SA NPC, which means our incentives are aligned entirely with the people we serve. There are no paid tiers for entrepreneurs, no premium content locked behind a paywall, and no advertising that compromises our independence.
Practical and South Africa-specific: Generic business advice is not enough. South African entrepreneurs operate in a specific regulatory, economic, and social context that demands specific guidance. Our content, tools, and resources are built for this context, covering SA-specific compliance requirements, local funding programmes, BBBEE considerations, and the realities of operating a business in an environment that includes load-shedding, uneven infrastructure, and a concentrated formal economy that can be hard for smaller players to enter.
Community-powered and peer-driven: We know that the most powerful learning often comes from peers from someone who registered their first company last year, survived a cash flow crisis last quarter, or just successfully applied for an NYDA grant. We invest in building a genuine community of South African entrepreneurs who learn from, support, and connect with one another. Mentors are recruited from the community itself, creating a virtuous cycle where those who have been helped eventually help others.
Continuously expanding: We are building Digitise SA in deliberate phases. We start with what matters most, plugging the most critical knowledge gaps, restoring our events programme, and building the infrastructure for community and mentorship. Over twelve months, we expand into interactive tools, a structured skills academy, an SA funding navigator, and a full community platform. Each phase is designed to deliver immediate value to entrepreneurs while laying the groundwork for what comes next.
Powered by Hodisa SA NPC
Digitise SA is an initiative of Hodisa SA NPC, a South African non-profit company. Hodisa SA NPC was established to contribute to economic development and transformation in South Africa, with a specific focus on supporting entrepreneurs and small business owners. Our operations are guided by the principles of inclusivity, practical impact, and community accountability.
We are proud to work alongside our partners including Mind Interactive and Elite Career Solutions who share our belief that South Africa’s economic future depends on the success of its entrepreneurs.
Digitise SA empowering South African entrepreneurs, one business at a time.