There’s no denying entrepreneurship in South Africa is an intense experience. Take agency INJOZI, for example. They’re setting an impressive example with their six Loeries wins this year, but haven’t had any backing - the entire experience has been built on what they dub ‘sweat equity’.
Executive producer and co-owner Nick Argyros further cautions that banks won’t help you in the slightest as it’s just too risky for them and help from government is basically impossible.
So how do you launch your creative ideas with limited access to funds?
You can follow INJOZI’s example: Argyros says they really wanted to show the level of skill a South African company could achieve through the pure drive and the passion of a couple of extremely talented individuals. Ultimately, that’s what created INJOZI.
While many think their work, websites and games are made by international businesses, they’re not – this is homegrown talent!
He adds that getting your name out there is tough, especially when you’re a 26-year-old with a head full of dreams and no money. So, you entrench yourself in understanding what you do better than anyone else and then get out there and show people what you‘re capable of. Agyros reflects: “Thinking back, I don't know if I was delusional, brave or just outright crazy, walking into massive agencies and just showing them what we do. All I know is that people reacted to the passion and belief we had in our product. We believed we could do anything. I remember the first time someone asked us if we could build a game. We just said yes and then figured it out. Now we have built more than 18 games for the likes of Appletizer, Tracker, ABSA, Chicken Licken, Renault, and eBucks.”
So, Agyros says it’s not what you do but how you do it and now employ over 30 people, adding: “It still blows our minds that we are responsible for these people and their families.” They’ve effectively set themselves apart in the digital sphere, breaking boundaries and continuously being on top of new innovation and ideas.
Executive creative director and co-owner Gregory Russell adds that the agency’s journey has been really amazing and quite faceted, which has kept it interesting. They started about 10 years ago, designing album artwork for their bands and realised early that they really loved being able to control everything they wanted to do creatively, from recording to photography to design. That then evolved into music production with sister company Audio Militia, and INJOZI evolved to be digitally focussed as a full-service digital agency.
Over the past four years they’ve steadily grown the INJOZI team with developers, animators, designers and an amazing production team. The name originated from warning signs they noticed on electrical boxes near their first offices that read “DANGER. GEVAAR. INGOZI!” They simply changed the ‘g’ to a ‘j’ and took it from there as they liked what the warning implied. It made them sound formidable, so they’ve stuck with it, regardless of the geographical restrictions, and think opening an INJOZI in Cape Town, for instance, would not only be disruptive, it would be hilarious!
That’s the disruptive, entrepreneurial spirit I’m talking about.
Visit the INJOZI website for more, follow them on Twitter and click here to view Loerie-winning Chicken Licken Soul Rocker and here for Coronation Because It’s Your Money.
