We Are Colab

Platō Coffee. One container in Centurion. December 2019.
Five years later: 130+ locations across Southern Africa. And now, London.

So how did they do it? Swipe for the 4-lesson blueprint.
Because this isn't just a feel-good success story. It's a masterclass in building something worth scaling, and there's something in it for every business owner, no matter what stage you're at.

Congrats Platō Coffee - we're watching this one closely. ☕

Christmas in July, it's not just a vibe. There's actually a story behind it.

As a Southern Hemisphere country, July is the closest we'll ever get to that "snowy Christmas" feeling. Mix in some smart retail strategy and a 1930s summer camp tradition, and here we are: mince pies in July.

But here's the real takeaway for business owners: If retailers are already planning their next big push, you probably should be too.

Quiet quitting has a PR problem.

Everyone's calling it laziness, but Gallup's data tells us that 59% of the global workforce is doing it - Not because they don't care, but because their environment stopped caring first.

Disengagement isn't a character flaw, it's a response and the fix isn't a pep talk. It's a better environment that signals: this is where good work happens.

Swipe to see if your setup might be working against you.

The question most businesses never stop to ask, and the reason some brands make you feel something while others are just forgotten. What is your "why"?

📚 Colab Book Club: Start With Why. Simon Sinek
⭐ 4.10 on Goodreads · 274K+ ratings

Swipe through and tell us, do you know your why?

Winter in South Africa doesn’t just mean colder mornings. It changes how teams show up.

People arrive later because it’s dark. Energy dips earlier in the afternoon. Sick days increase. Motivation can take a knock.
Most businesses ignore this and expect performance to stay constant.

The smarter ones adjust.
They rethink meeting times.
They prioritise high-focus work earlier in the day.
They check in more intentionally with teams.
They create warmer, more comfortable environments,physically and culturally.

Seasonality isn’t just for retail. If you’re running a business, it’s worth asking:
- Are you planning around winter productivity dips?
- Are you creating an environment people want to come into?
- Are you adjusting expectations, or ignoring reality?
- Small operational shifts can protect performance over the colder months.

Winter doesn’t have to slow your business down, but it does require awareness.

Running a fintech company in Nigeria meant building in an environment where online payments weren’t always trusted, infrastructure wasn’t seamless, and regulation required constant navigation.

Instead of waiting for perfect systems, Paystack built around the constraints. They focused on making payments simpler for local businesses, worked closely with regulators, and designed products that suited how African businesses actually operate, not how Silicon Valley assumes they do.

In 2020, Paystack was acquired by Stripe for over $200 million.

It's not that conditions are hard. It’s that constraints can shape stronger businesses.
Building here teaches you to:
- Design for real customer behaviour, not ideal scenarios
- Keep operating costs tight from day one
- Prioritise cash flow over vanity growth
- Build solutions that work despite infrastructure gaps
- Think regionally, not just locally

If your business works in a market that demands resilience, price sensitivity, and operational discipline, it’s already built on solid ground.

When Checkers Sixty60 first launched in late 2019, same-day grocery delivery within a one-hour window was unusual in South Africa. It wasn’t just about speed, it was about reliability and convenience, delivered at a scale most competitors weren’t prepared for.

Fast forward to 2025, and the numbers show just how much the service has grown. In the year ended June 2025, Sixty60’s online sales jumped by nearly 48% year-on-year, generating approximately R18.9 billion in revenue, a figure that now accounts for almost one-tenth of Shoprite’s South African supermarket sales.

That level of growth moved the whole market. Woolworths, Pick n Pay and others had to accelerate their own delivery options, not because they wanted to, but because customers now expect fast, dependable service.

Here’s why this matters:
• Customer expectations adapt fast: Once people experience convenience without compromise, they assume it as standard.
• Operational excellence becomes a competitive edge: This isn’t just about having an app, it’s about fulfilment, stock accuracy, and delivery reliability.
• Integrating digital and physical channels pays off: Sixty60 grew because it was built on a real store network and strong logistics backbone.
• Speed won’t save a bad product: Fast delivery only sticks when the core offer (quality, price, service) is already sound.

We Are Colab