Thamsanqa Ndlovu, known as “Thami,” is the founder of Datadvise, a research and consulting firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. Asked to define Thamsanqa Ndlovu he says, "My family unit is what defines who l am. I am an Entrepreneur, Speaker and at this present moment, l am also a business consultant. All those hats l wear function based on my upbringing and experiences. There are different robust versions of myself that l show up in different contexts. I wear different types of hats between roles trying to make a meaningful impact either on the business side or on my more personal side". Thami was born and raised in the beautiful city of Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, to a Zambian mother and a Zimbabwean father. "My family is from a teaching background, my mom was a teacher and my dad was a teacher as well. They always emphasized the importance of education which has been a key tenet in how l maneuver". He completed his "A" Level High School education at Anderson High School.
After being outstanding in his secondary schooling, he moved to South Africa to pursue a Bachelor of Arts and Law Degree at Wits University. After completing his Law Degree, he practiced as an attorney in M&A diligence with a South African firm. His transition to the business world began when he moved to Boston to study for his Master's in Business. "I was in a classroom with 45 different nationalities and had to navigate a complex cultural mix while solving practical and simulated business challenges for brands such as Ferrari and AirBnB". He later founded Datadvise, a firm that has serviced many companies across the world from pre-seed start-ups to fortune 500 entities.
Before establishing his own firm, Thami worked with some of the world’s leading management consulting firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, and Investor Group Services. In these positions, he worked directly with C-Suite leaders on projects and provided sound market research insights to support investment decisions. "During the Covid-19 pandemic when things were at a bit of a standstill, I said to myself that l have a lot of skills including a legal background, business background, and market research experience. My goal was to provide value to clients with these skills, that is how it began. A lot of people did not believe me because the skills are almost like 'overpromising' you know. People just did not believe I had the background and the skill set. It was difficult to get trust because I was a young person saying we can do all these things yet companies had not seen the track record. When l started building my profile and l had a few clients and things started picking up" disclosed Thami the inception of his firm.
In business you are as good as your word, if you say you are going to meet a deadline at such and such a time, clients trust that you deliver. Making sure you are always beyond reproach is always a thing that l have always carried with me. People especially in this digital era want to make sure they trust you.
Datadvise is a market research firm that consists of a global team of regional and local subject-matter experts serving corporate clients internationally and domestically. Determined to help more businesses with decision-making through market research, Thami made the decision to move to Atlanta, Georgia, after living, working, and studying on three continents, Europe (London) North America (Boston, Dallas, New York, and Atlanta) and Africa (Bulawayo and Johannesburg) for the past decade. Mr. Ndlovu is best known for providing top-notch market research, competitive intelligence, market insights, and M&A diligence. Thamsanqa wants businesses to understand the importance of adopting a Data-Driven Decision-Making (DDDM) approach for all investment and business decisions. Datadvise has research teams in North America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and most recently Australia.
Datadvise has a keen interest in understanding the problem, we obsess over the problem. When people work with us it's like hiring people for 8 hours but really you're hiring them for 24 hours. We ask the questions and focus on the problem most of the time. You will also get that personal service from Thami, the lead consultant. You will also realize that we have a curious, hardworking, and efficient team that provides results timeously. We work within budget and on time. That is the Datadvise experience whether we are working with a small entrepreneur or large enterprise. It is a nice white-glove service that will yield impactful results from the time we reach engagement
Asked about some of the businessmen that influence his decision-making, "Mteto Nyati, has worked himself through MTN remarkably. I think he is a great leader and visionary, he made a lot of serious turn-around strategies from the 1990s to the 2000s. That is one person l always look out for to see what they are up to and emerging trends."
Mr. Ndlovu hopes to start a foundation that will sponsor early primary education for top-performing underprivileged children. Asked about why he needs to give back he cemented that, "I am hoping to spark a positive change, a way to move the needle forward. I think it's time for individuals in my generation to contribute more actively. It's very close to my heart". Further discussing the subject of giving back he disclosed, "Looking back at my primary school learning, there were some students who were sharp but did not necessarily have the resources equipped to take care of their educational needs hence the idea of starting the foundation. It's a project that has generational impacts because there are younger kids who are different from all of us".
One thing that helped me to move from South Africa to the United States was understanding that there is a bigger world than just Africa. That desire propelled me to want to benchmark myself against the best of the best. I moved forward by being open-minded and reading more about areas that are not in my industry or purview. Every week l meet 2 people outside my industry. I talk to them to understand what is going on in their world.
Quizzed on the heights he intends to reach in his career and legacy he revealed, "Just looking at the difference between the start-up scene in America and Zimbabwe, I just thought there was an opportunity to bridge the gap and provide similar resources. I want to provide business mentorship and incubators to create that environment for entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe. These resources will include free business plans, resources to conduct market research, and resources for questions to think about when starting a business. There will be opportunities for workshops to engage entrepreneurs and ask their questions to businesses directly. We will also provide consultation to a business once a week and adopt those businesses with time and lead them to answer some of their key challenges".
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