Demand-led Education is the Foundation for SME Success

The evergrowing demand for skills development in South Africa seems to never stop. Thankfully, some innovative founders have made it their mission to tackle this persistent problem. One such example is BluLever Education, a demand-led and connected, vocational education start-up aiming to transform the artisan training landscape in Africa.

“When we started BluLever, we knew we wanted to build an impactful organisation that transforms the ecosystem of vocational education. This means answering the needs of industry and providing a model that works,” says Jess Roussos, co-founder and co-CEO. The education provider was founded in 2019 alongside her co-founder and co-CEO Adam Collier.

Roussos elaborates on what the model that works means. “It means bringing best practices from other education spaces into the vocational space and contextualising them. We start by thinking of the industry as our core client. This means embedding ourselves in industry and deeply understanding their needs and context to ensure we build products for those.”

The Journey to Demand-led Education and Vocational Training

Roussos and Collier had a vision to prepare Africa for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, emphasising future-focused education and training that aligns with a global standard.

“We took on South Africa’s outdated vocational training system, where trade schools failed to produce the artisans needed to drive economic growth. Against systemic barriers, they built an innovative, demand-led model that is closing the country’s skills gap and transforming the artisan sector.”

BluLever has attracted investment from leading global impact investors like Autodesk Foundation, Elea Foundation, Oppenheimer Generations, and A to Z Ventures.

Over the past five years, the business has grown to operate across South Africa and Rwanda, with headquarters in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. The team consists of over 45 employees that help make the vision a reality.

However, this journey had both its ups and downs. “One of the highlights was getting to meet interesting and passionate people from around the world who are invested in changing the status quo. It was also fantastic that they are people who are used to thinking critically about how to solve big problems.

“Some of the low lights were when people didn’t understand or see the potential of our business. The main reason was that they were looking through their own narrow lens. We also realised that fundraising can be extremely “trend” or “excitement” driven; People are either eager to jump on the bandwagon or tar all businesses under the same brush and are reluctant to fund anything.”

The biggest advice Roussos believes she and Collier can give other entrepreneurs seeking funding is to over-prepare when it comes to data and the structure of the business. “Then, you really need to connect with investors as people, especially for a seed round,” she shares smiling. “You can also expect to have the same conversation and answer the same questions at least ten times with each investor – it takes people a few conversations to really internalise what you’re saying.” She explains that these investors will then do due diligence on their part and need to understand the business idea more deeply through additional conversations. “It’s not fun or glamourous, and it’s often a frustrating process, but be picky about who you take money from, and don’t rush into things.”

Encouraging Women in Trades

Roussos is a passionate advocate for gender inclusion in the trades. According to her, women are severely underrepresented in the trades. She uses the example of the plumbing industry in South Africa. “Just 3% of qualified plumbers are women. Part of the challenge here is that this is a male-dominated industry and it’s not a well-known career for women. Furthermore, employers are not used to hiring women, so there can be less opportunity for women.

“This means industry is missing out on a huge talent pool that adds huge value to their businesses.”

From BluLever’s vantage point, they are seeing interesting statistics. “We find that the majority of the time, female apprentices outperform male apprentices. They demonstrate stronger people skills, customer care and attention to detail. This means that if we want to deliver the best quality talent to our customers, we need to ensure women are part of the mix.”

Through its Women On Tools platform, BluLever is tackling the underrepresentation of women in artisan careers. “Over 30% of BluLever’s apprentices are female, a major leap in an industry where the norm is less than 10%.”

Demand-led Education and Training for SMEs

Roussos’ passion for human capital development and building high-impact learning cultures spills over into the approach that BluLever is taking to trade training. She has been integral in the milestones this educational start-up has achieved.

“Some of our achievements include igniting over a hundred artisan SMEs for growth and more than five hundred candidates that are ready to self-lead. Among our programmes, we also have the Artisan Academy Business Incubation Programme which supports artisan entrepreneurs who turn their trade into a business venture.

Want to know more about funding for your start-up or artisan business? Grab your ticket for the SME South Africa Funding Summit before it’s sold out!