Young and aspiring South Africa woman, Nelisiwe Masango plans to change the world by making Africans rich. The young business woman is making a success of her passion for the investment world.
At 23, Nelisiwe Masango already has three operational businesses and is so passionate about business and investment.
The young boss lady has a deep love for helping others, which is one of the reasons she started her first company, Bear Run Investments, in September, 2013.
Miss Masango, who is unafraid to say her mind, says she hates telling people where she is from, as it is embarrassing to say she’s from a little suburb in the east of Johannesburg called Boksburg.
Nelisiwe Masango started Bear Run Investments after witnessing numerous people fall for web deceitful pyramid scheme owners and ‘get rich quick’ companies. She saw the need to help educate these people on the proper channels of investing and also introduce them to fully regulated investment companies.
She also got inspiration from watching the movie ‘Pursuit of Happyness.’ The movie portrays Will Smith as a poor man who went on to make millions as a broker. She saw the possibility of making wealth after watching the movie over and over again.
Nelisiwe Masango
Nelisiwe Masango wanted to be a brain surgeon and her high school results reflected her capabilities of becoming one, but her love for the investments took over that childhood desire.
“I felt I could help more people with their financial situations through investments than I would as a brain surgeon.
“I would be limited as a doctor because I only have two hands to assist one person at a time. Money might not solve all problems but it does assist, so I think I’m more helpful now,” Masango says.
In 2011, she started a B.Com degree in Entrepreneurial Management, after which she got into investing and financing where she learnt how the investment world generally operated.
“After I left varsity I started trading stock, teaching myself how to trade on the JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange). I must admit, the one major influence I got came from the movie ‘Pursuit of Happiness’.
“I watched that movie millions of times and the fact that it’s a true story motivated me more to start my own business and make a success of it.
“In 2013, I started Bear Run Investments and I gave myself time to learn and grow the business. It was tough in the beginning as the business had no money but it has grown now and it is making sufficient profit” says Masango.
“Starting my company with no money has taught me a lot. It has taught me how to network with the right people and it has taught me the value of money and how to manage it.”
Masango established two more businesses; Gentle Hands Agency, a recruitment agency, and FeFine which stands for ‘Females with Finances’.
FeFine is aimed at promoting financial literacy as well as financial independence to women of all ages. Her vision is to create opportunities for Africans to make wealth.
Booysen, winner of the 2013 Peoples’ Choice Awards at the Business Day-Intellidex SA Top Stockbroker review, says he is impressed about Masango’s achievements.
“She is very ambitious, bright and definitely a self-starter/entrepreneur. There is no question business is in her mind. She is young and still very keen to learn,” he said.
Nelisiwe Masango also plans on opening her own charity organisation. According to her, wealthy people aren’t usually charitable and charitable people aren’t usually wealthy. She wants to be able to do both. She is indeed a pace setter that Nigerian youths should emulate.
