If you have the drive and the good sense to open a business, you should have the opportunity to become an empowered entrepreneur. Whilst you’re growing a small business, you must dedicate time towards focusing on how to make the most of the digital economy. If that sounds like a daunting task, you’ve come to the right place.
Because it doesn’t have to be.
Making money should be easy. We’re firm believers in that statement – it’s what drives all our ideas and products. In this article we’re talking about iKash, iKhokha’s digital currency that will give your business the extra boost that it needs. We’re also going to show how to go about earning more iKash through your sales, directly from your business.
iK Vend, iKash and your iK Wallet all work together to help developing (and establish) businesses grab financial technology with both hands. If you’re ready to start bringing more cash flow into your establishment, let’s get cracking.
Embracing Digital Currency with iKash
Now, if we play our cards right, the internet is our greatest business ally. South Africans have warmly welcomed the boom in financial technology. This is only the start. We are always encouraged by the entrepreneurial spirit of our community and their embrace of financial technology.
iKhokha is an independent South African Fintech business that provides support to a high volume of SME’s in the country. Our offerings are geared towards financial inclusivity and giving every small business owner the chance to access the digital economy.
Traditional, banking institutes were the go-to support structure for SME’s. However, nowadays these institutions are either not adequately serving SMEs or denying them access altogether. We know that small businesses are often under-supported and overlooked.
That’s where our products bridge the gap.
What is iKash?
iKash is our very own digital currency here at iKhokha. And it isn’t just for us – it can be yours, too.
An important thing to note is that iKash is on par with the Rand, even when it tends to act a little crazy. That means one 1iK is equivalent to R1 and can be used within the iKhokha App for its exact value.
iKash is reserved for the iK Tribe (the industrious people who have taken their business to the next level) and is earned easily as a reward when selling iK Vend products.
When you make a prepaid sale, you get an iKash commission that is sent to your iK Wallet to be used within the iKhokha App for future transactions. For example, if you sell a certain amount of airtime, you will get a 2% commission if the customer used a card and 3% if they used cash. This happens for every prepaid service you sell – and there are no charges from our side.
So, if somebody comes into your store and purchases R500 in airtime, you receive R10iK (R10) in commission. All commissions are stored in your iK Wallet.
You can also settle bills with iK Vend. These include:
- Municipal bills
- Account payments (clothing accounts etc.)
- Policy payments (funeral policies etc.)
- DStv and Box Office accounts
- Traffic fines
And you earn commission on each sale! All these small commission amounts add up quickly (people always need to make sure their bills are paid and that their phones are connected). Before you know it, you could be paying off your bills using your iKash commissions.
READ THIS: You can find out more about iK Vend commission rates here.
Growing Your Business with iK Vend
Making a fair living should be simple. As simple as the card machine in your store and the cell phone in your back pocket.
iK Vend is one of iKhokha’s latest projects. It is our in-app vending service that’s designed to help uplift South African entrepreneurs. It allows anyone to start a side hustle by selling selected prepaid products and giving your customers an easier way to settle their bills. Two (or more) streams of income are the norm for diligent business owners, and we make it significantly easier for you to get there.
Here’s how it works:
You can sell prepaid services or settle your customers’ bills from your iKhokha card machine and mobile device all from the comfort of your own business. You need two things to get the ball rolling:
1) A Mover Pro card machine
2) The (free) iKhokha App features!
Once you own an iKhokha card machine, you can start selling prepaid services to your customers as well as process bill payments – positioning your brand as the convenient and tech-savvy place that it is!
The products you see on the list are what we would call grudge purchases: we don’t particularly enjoy paying for them, but we do it out of necessity. With iK Vend, you are selling services that people cannot do without on top of your unique business offering, turning it into a win-win for everybody!
READ THIS: Take a look at how to start a business for less than R500.
Using iKash for iK Vend Transactions
These are typically cash services. That’s why we decided to make transactions mutually beneficial for you and your clients using iKash.
Say somebody comes into your store wanting to pay their electricity bill, but they only have cash on hand. You can use the iKash in your iK Wallet to pay for the iK Vend product. Your customer will hand you the cash, you pay for the product with your iKash and the cash belongs to you.
Because you can’t draw iKash from an ATM, it’s is the best way to turn your iKash into real cash.
READ THIS: If you’re an entrepreneur looking for more ways to expand your streams of income, read our article on 8 tools to start and grow your side-hustle.
What is an iK Wallet?
Although you can’t draw cash from your iK Wallet, you absolutely can top it up via ATM, EFT or card transfer. iKash is stored securely in your iK Wallet. Plus, it doesn’t expire!
Every time you make a commission on your sales from prepaid products or by customers settling their bills, it transfers straight into your iK Wallet. The good news is that you can store your iKash for as long as you want – it’s never going to expire, and you can exchange it for cash when the time is right.
How Does It All Come Together?
Let’s Paint a Picture.
You are the proud owner (not renter) of an iKhokha card machine, and you are connected to our mobile app. Your customers love coming into your store for their favourite fruits and vegetables. They also love that they can pay for their annoying bills and prepaid services directly from their local grocer (you!)
You can sell them prepaid service or allow them to settle their bills because you are an iKhokha merchant using iK Vend. Additionally, every time you sell something like data, airtime, or electricity. Or help your customers settle their bills, you’ll receive an iKash commission that goes directly into your iK Wallet.
You can turn this digital currency into rands in no time.
The next time a customer comes into your store to buy a prepaid product with cash, you can use your iKash within the app to pay for their purchase and put their cash into your register. You just need to make sure your iKash balance in your iK Wallet is above R0.00.
You then get to pocket the cash with no incurring costs. Essentially you are paying for the product with money earned off commissions. And it’s coming straight back to you in full. That’s a sweet deal.
Making Money is for Everybody
We’ve mentioned it before, and we’ll mention it again: small businesses are the backbone of our economy. That’s why, we do the best we can to help them thrive.
We understand that informal businesses should have access to tools that will take them to the next level. Alongside helping merchants make more iKash, iKhokha also helps businesses gain access to real cash flow.
When you start selling with iKhokha, you become eligible for an iK Cash Advance to inject into your business however you see fit. The iKhokha App keeps detailed records of all your transactions. So, once you have been selling with us for a minimum of 3 months and dependent on your transactional volume, we can make you an offer for a Cash Advance.
Finally, no growing interest fees and no hidden costs – but we’ll save that for another time.
