Kuban Archary is the founder and CEO of Ukuthemba IT, an app-dev startup. Thanks to some help from Accenture’s Enterprise and Supplier Development programme, he is about to launch its debut app, created for and by doctors to help them store and retrieve patient data whenever, wherever. In his own words, Kuban relays his story of lack of opportunity and finding himself:
“Ukuthemba was established in 2008 in Johannesburg after the shock of my third retrenchment pushed me to take the bull by the horns and go it alone.
I had a business background and had worked as a SAP consultant, so I decided to go into IT consulting for myself, teaming up on bigger projects with bigger clients. Really, I owe the fact that I survived as an entrepreneur to my family’s belief in me. That survival instinct to provide for them is what pulled me through many a low. When I finally stopped taking the retrenchment personally, I could see the opportunity ahead.
It wasn’t easy going at first. Mostly I’d be called on to help source IT resources, so the recruitment side of the business started to grow faster than the rest. I took up the opportunity—but to my detriment—as it split my focus and I neglected my skills on the IT side.
But in 2016, I began working on an app with a group of doctors, and Accenture caught wind of it. They offered to help me through the ESD Programme. We’ve now completed Phase 1 of the Doctors Rooms app and are all set to go to market with a solid product that serves a real need, that of doctors and patients.