Solutions for everything are everywhere around us. From solutions for finding a cleaner (SweepSouth) or making payments faster and safer. It’s the brilliant minds that are able to spot these opportunities and turn them into reality. This is where Payfast comes in. Digital payments have been a game-changer for so many entrepreneurs and a pioneer in the industry, Payfast, continues to lead the charge when it comes to digital payments in South Africa.
In the fourth episode of SME Founder Focus, we speak to the founder of the digital payments company Payfast, Jonathan Smit. Payfast provides secure payment processing solutions for individuals and businesses of all sizes.
Before Payfast
Before he started Payfast, Smit studied engineering but always knew that he wanted to go into business. After spending some time in a more technical role and eventually becoming a consultant at Accenture, he decided it was time to pursue his business venture.
“I left my job to start my business, but I didn’t have an idea of what the business was. I started having conversations with some people and long story short, I ended up going into the payments industry,” says Smit.
Smit realised that there is a lot that needs to be addressed within the payments industry. And in order to provide the right solution, he got into coding and began his long business journey. Jonathan realised he didn’t need to reinvent the wheel but rather find a solution that exists, and custom-make it to fit within the context of South Africa.
“I noticed that in the States they have PayPal, but we don’t have anything like that in South Africa. That was the gap I noticed, and you know many people wanted to start businesses but there was no payment platform that they could use. To me, it was like an infrastructure thing, and I wanted to provide that ‘infrastructure’,” Smit explains.
Payfast Journey and Smit’s Exit
In 2007, Payfast was born and less than a year later the company had its first instant EFT transaction. By 2010, Payfast was the first South African payment platform to integrate with platforms PrestaShop and WooCommerce.
As the company continued to grow, Smit started the exit process in 2019 and eventually he left the company in 2021. In 2021, Payfast was acquired by Network International and soon after that, the company was merged with Paygate and SiD under Network International.
“Although many exits are dependent on market factors and sometimes personal journeys, mine was a bit different. I was going through personal issues at the time, and I wanted to minimise financial risks and sort of bring in people who could take the business to the next level,” he says.
By 2022, Payfast was part of a large, unified brand at Network International and just earlier this year, the company rebranded to Network International with Payfast staying as Network International’s e-commerce solution for businesses in South Africa.
“It was amazing to build my team at Payfast. We had an amazing culture and an amazing team. The team had nothing to do with the exit process, it was more of a personal journey I was on, and I was just really exhausted from the hard work,” Smit said.
Building His Investments
Regarding his current and future plans, Smit says he is focused on investing in different businesses. In the last year, Smit has been investing in technology, robotics, edtech, alcohol and various other businesses.
“In the past year and a half, I’ve focused more on investing, and it’s been fun. Fun mostly because my investments are in random industries that all specialise in different things, so I am really enjoying that space,” he says.
Advice to Fellow Entrepreneurs
With all his experiences in starting and investing in businesses, he says that entrepreneurs need to remember that there is no business if they don’t start. He emphasises that entrepreneurs need to let go of the idea that their businesses are unique and instead focus on the execution.
Smit believes that as an entrepreneur, once you have identified a problem, forget about being unique, just start so you can solve the problem.
“The clearest advice I can give to entrepreneurs is to just start. Whether you start it as a side hustle, but you have to put in the time although it’s not easy. If you are building something you need to be prepared to do it. The effort is really what separates the entrepreneurs to those with just an idea,” Smit concludes.
Solutions for everything are everywhere around us. From solutions for finding a cleaner (SweepSouth) or making payments faster and safer. It’s the brilliant minds that are able to spot these Read More
