In a landscape where many small businesses struggle to
take root, one boutique consultancy is providing the
essential nourishment for growth. We meet the founder
whose own journey from Soweto to the C-suite informs
a deeply personal mission to cultivate the next
generation of business owners.
A Tale of Two Worlds
To understand Pula Management, you must first understand its founder, Rita Lesenyeho. Her story begins in the crucible of 1980s South Africa, a childhood spent navigating the nation’s stark contrasts. Weekdays were filled with the structured environment of a prominent Catholic school in Johannesburg; weekends meant returning to the vibrant community of Soweto. This constant movement between different realities, from affluence to aspiration and from opportunity to its absence, forged in her a profound understanding of the economic chasms that define our country.
It was this lived experience that became the soul of Pula Management. Rita saw firsthand the transformative power of a single opportunity. She also saw how the entrepreneurial journey for many, particularly black women, the youth, and persons with disabilities, was fraught with unseen barriers. It was not just about a good idea; it was about defending that idea in boardrooms where the language of power could feel foreign and exclusionary.
“For me, this work is spiritual,” Rita shares, her conviction palpable. “It forces you to see beyond the balance sheet. We are helping to build businesses that will create jobs, sustain families, and uplift communities, all while ensuring the founder’s original vision remains intact.”
The Architect: From Packing Shelves to Corporate Strategy
Long before she was guiding other businesses, Rita was learning the fundamentals of commerce on the front lines. Her first forays into the working world, from the age of fifteen, were as a coffee shop waitress and a grocery packer at Pick n Pay. These roles instilled in her an invaluable lesson in customer service and human connection, a principle that remains central to her firm’s ethos today.
That foundation supported a remarkable 25-year corporate career. Rita ascended to executive positions within multinational giants across the energy, pharmaceutical, FMCG, and financial services sectors. At Absa, her roles were both varied and vital: Group Finance Lead for strategic programmes across the African continent, Chief of Staff in the CEO’s office, and CFO for Retail Transactions and Deposits. She was not just occupying a seat; she was architecting strategy at the highest level.
This unparalleled journey is what distinguishes Pula Management. Rita and her team do not just understand business theory; they have lived its practice in boardrooms from Sandton to the wider African continent. They know how corporates think, and they use that insight to build a credible bridge for growing SMEs.
The Pula Method: Bespoke Nourishment for Growth
The company’s name, ‘Pula’, means ‘rain’ in Setswana. It is a powerful metaphor for its mission: to provide the essential, life-giving sustenance that budding enterprises need to flourish. The firm operates as a boutique consultancy, deliberately avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach in favour of deeply personalised, one-on-one interventions.
This methodology is echoed by their clients. Lucia, the founder of LucMo Wines, attests to its effectiveness. “To date, we have benefited greatly from the strategic advice provided, much of which we have already begun implementing,” she says. “What sets Pula Management apart is their holistic approach and their realistic and tailored guidance, far from generic. It has been specific to our context, which is something we greatly value given the competitive and complex nature of our industry.”
This client centric focus extends to their corporate partnerships. Pula recently delivered a mentorship programme for the African Bank 2024 Cohort at 22 on Sloane.
“Throughout the bootcamp, Pula Management, led by Rita Lesenyeho, demonstrated exceptional commitment to entrepreneurial development,” says Bongani Ntombela, Executive Programme at 22 on Sloane. “They provided strategic guidance and mentorship that empowered SMMEs to navigate challenges and seize growth opportunities.”
This unique approach resonates strongly with corporate partners. Thandeka Raboshakga, Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility, observes, “Pula Management is well-aligned with our objective to provide market access to small businesses, which is core to our heritage. Rita’s team walks the talk when it comes to entrepreneurial support and advancement. They have out-of-the-box thinking that goes beyond the initial scope, because they truly understand entrepreneurs—their struggles—while also having a keen understanding of what corporate partners are seeking.”
This client-centric focus is felt most deeply by the entrepreneurs themselves. Onneile, founder of Moritelo Cosmetics, shares a powerful testimony of her growth. “Rita mentored me when I was on the African Bank programme that was hosted at 22 on Sloane. She is strict, but that’s because she sees value beyond what I was offering in the market. She challenged me to think strategically and, even when I was frustrated, she helped me navigate business compliance and really pushed me as a person to stretch beyond my own limitations. The programme was for 12 months, and she greatly helped me as a leader as well as my business.”
Onneile’s experience was so transformative that she has chosen to continue the relationship independently. “I would like to independently keep Rita and the Pula Management team as my business advisors and coaches beyond the programme because of the value I received from her. She cares about black entrepreneurs and helps us navigate a usually uncharted territory of business.”
The commitment extends to every detail, as noted by Mike Mashaba, a DJ who worked with Rita on a corporate event. “I met Rita at a corporate event that I was scheduled for. The sound and the technical issues were not to my standard and expectations, and Rita went over and above her scope to not only smooth things out for me, but overall, the event was a success. Rita sees beyond just business, and she knows how to make things happen.”
The Harvest: Building Businesses that Endure
For Rita, the ultimate success metric is not merely a business’s revenue growth, but its longevity and authenticity. The investment, she stresses, is as much in the founder as it is in the enterprise. The goal is to help them build an ‘oak’, a business that is resilient, sustainable, and capable of outliving its creator.
Over the past five years, Pula Management has firmly rooted itself as a vital force within South Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The company understands that there are countless seeds of potential across the country, each needing the right conditions to thrive.
Pula provides the soil: a supportive network, market access, and strategic direction honed from decades of real-world experience. And they provide the rain: the timely, bespoke interventions that allow these businesses to grow stronger.
This is not the end of the story, but merely the beginning of a new chapter. Built on a founder’s lived experience and driven by a spiritual commitment to empowerment, Pula Management stands as a testament to what is possible when we choose to cultivate potential. The seeds have been sown, the rain is falling, and a forest of strong, indigenous enterprises is beginning to rise.
