What We Do

The purpose of this article is to give an overview of what we are busy building towards at 5-2-50, how we plan on doing that, and how you could get involved. I hope this can give you a better idea of who we are, what we believe, what we are trying to accomplish, and why we think this all matters.

It is a bit longer than usual. If you don't feel like getting into the detail, the summary is in this mission statement:

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We equip, support, and resource

Christian small business leaders

to overcome the challenges they face

and live out their full potential and calling

in God's Kingdom.

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That's the overview

If you want to know more, then read on. This is probably going to take a few minutes to get through, but I believe that the vision God has given us is super exciting, so let's get straight into it:

The 15 Year Vision

25 000 Businesses Grown
50 000 Entrepreneurs Freed
1 000 000 Good Jobs Created
ZAR 10 000 000 per year NPAT per year per business Generated
ZAR 1 000 000 000 per year Invested

Stephen Covey says we should start with the end in mind:

Please take a moment to step with me into the future:

It is 2039, and we are in the DHL Stadium in Seapoint, Cape Town. The stadium is filled with about 50 000 people, led by an amazing praise and worship band – all raising their voices in unison, praising God for what He has done in creating and building this movement.

But these are not just a random collection of excited Christians. These 50 000 people are all founders, entrepreneurs and small business leaders with a passion for Jesus Christ, representing at least 25 000 small businesses that have each grown to over 50 people over the last 15 years -- collectively creating more than a million new good jobs. Each of these businesses is generating at least R 10 million per year NPAT, and together reinvesting more than R 100 billion into the growth of businesses around us every year. Each of these founders have built their businesses to the point where they do not need to spend all their time doing the day to day running of these businesses -- freeing them up to now focus on whatever they feel God is leading them to, next. We are celebrating 15 years of working together to help each other grow our businesses, create good jobs and generate wealth that we are using to eradicate poverty at scale.

Over the next few days, following the above event, several thousands of us will get together in small groups, at hundreds of venues all over Cape Town, where we will workshop strategies of how we can use this platform of vast resources that we have built, in the best possible way to further grow and accelerate the positive impact we are already having, seeing God's Kingdom come and His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

The Mission Statement Expanded

You can step back into the present now. With that as our 15 year vision from 2024 to 2039, let's look at what we are doing now, and what 5-2-50 actually is.

5-2-50 Exists to:

• Create high quality content,
• facilitate curated community,
• and coordinate investment and trade activities

… in order to

• teach,
• equip,
• inspire,
• encourage,
• and resource

… Christian small business leaders, so that they are able to

• overcome the challenges they face
• and live out their full potential and calling in God's Kingdom,
• run successful businesses
• and mentor younger entrepreneurs

… thereby

• providing for their families,
• creating good jobs,
• generating resources for the Kingdom,
• creating positive socio economic ecosystems,
• and generating capital for reinvestment.

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Here it all is in a diagram if you prefer things a bit more visual:

The 5-2-50 Community

It all revolves around the idea of a community of people who participate in various ways in this movement. This is not something that one person or one business can do – This is a vision that we believe God is going to use to bring all of us together for each of us to do our part.

The 5-2-50 community model is built around a True Core with five concentric layers:

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Level 1: Followers

Followers are people who are interested in what we are doing, following what we post on various social media channels. Standing on the sidelines, cheering us all on, and hopefully getting some value out of the process themselves -- followers are a valuable part of our success, as they often are the ones that drive a lot of awareness out there of what we are building.

Level 2: Subscribers

If you are reading this today, you are probably here. You have subscribed to our newsletter, and we are very happy to have you on board.

At this layer, you will receive a weekly newsletter with content to inspire and equip you to take your business to the next level. Here we have a mixture of people who are here to grow their businesses and people who are just interested in this market space. Some are investors who are excited about small business growth, some are thinking of starting their own businesses or are in the process of starting up. Anyone is welcome.

There is never any pressure for you to move any further than this. We will continue to create and publish content that we believe will help you grow yourself and your business, so that you can live an increasingly meaningful and fulfilling life, whether you are an entrepreneur, investor, or maybe just someone working an ordinary job, but with a passion for seeing God's Kingdom come in the workplace.

Level 3: Engaging Online

If you decide to respond to an invite to one of the webinars we host, or if you purchase some of the packaged content that we are constantly creating, then you are here. Level 3 is designed to be as affordable as we can possibly make it, for small business owners to take a few steps further on their growth journey.

Level 4: Actively Engaging in the Community

If you decide to move on to Level 4, then this is where we begin to engage with you more actively to help solve some of your more complex problems. You might attend some of our conferences, where you will meet other members of the community, and you will join a Growth Group.

The Growth Groups are groups of 7 to 12 people. Every growth group has a leader who often is about 2 years ahead of the other members of the group, and who has been trained in being a mentor and Growth Group facilitator. Growth Groups meet at least once a month, and are opportunities for you to learn from your peers, and also to receive some input and guidance from someone who is a little bit ahead of you on the growth journey.

Some of our members are part of C12 groups, and some are members of Convene. We love what these organisations do, and fully support this. If you are already part of something like this, then there is no need to join a 5-2-50 specific group. However, to make sure no-one is left behind, we also have the 5-2-5- Growth Groups. The key for us is that you become part of an ecosystem of likeminded, faith-centered business leaders.

Level 5: Alumni Mentors & Growth Catalysts

Here we get to the heart of how we do what we do, and without this group of businesses, 5-2-50 could never scale. This is a network of businesses we call "Growth Catalysts". These are a combination of Alumni Mentors and businesses that we have built relationships with, whose products and services we endorse, and who are actively supporting the growth of the entrepreneurs and their businesses in the 5-2-50 community. They share our vision.

Alumni Mentors are entrepreneurs who have already successfully built businesses to 50 people or more, that are making at least ZAR 10 million per year NPAT consistently, and they have freed themselves from their businesses sufficiently to now be able to start mentoring other members of the network. Many of them serve as Growth Group Leaders.

The Growth Catalysts are a range of businesses providing services such as recruitment, financial services, information technology, logistics, marketing and advertising, design services, strategy, leadership development etc. Everything that you need to build and accelerate your growth, you can find here.

The "True Core"

At the very core of 5-2-50 is a very small group of fellow founders who have helped to get 5-2-50 started, who share and steward the 5-2-50 vision, and who are constantly helping us to activate, enable, and scale the network. These are the people without whom 5-2-50 would not exist.

March 2025: Still just a vision and a dream

Stepping right back into the present: Depending on when you are reading this, there is a possibility that this still does not exist. I am updating this now on the 2nd of March 2025. 5-2-50 is still a dream, a vision I believe God has given me, with this blueprint of how we can create a million jobs, grow 25 000 businesses and set 50 000 founders free from the day to day grind of their businesses -- Radically altering the economic landscape of South Africa -- and from here, Africa and the world.

However, if you happen to be reading this in 2026, or 2027, or 2035, and 5-2-50 is thriving and forging ahead, building out this vision -- then take a moment to glorify God for his faithfulness in bringing this vision to life.

Getting Involved: A journey, A Space, or a Jump

There are various ways you can engage with the 5-2-50 community at these layers.

For many entrepreneurs this takes the form of a journey. You might start with the free content as a struggling founder with a struggling business, and as you apply some of the lessons and content from there, you build confidence to begin to engage in some of the webinars and possibly purchase some of the more structured packaged content.

This can help stabilise your business, and get some growth going – which frees up some of your time and money to take the next step, and engage more actively with the community, join a group and attend some of the conferences. This is typically where the real growth begins to happen, and as you gain more freedom both in terms of time and profits, you might begin to reinvest time to lead 5-2-50 growth groups.

You might move on to the core and become one of the growth catalysts in the network.

For others, it's just a space. Maybe you come in at the free newsletter level, and that works for you, and you choose to stay there.

For yet others, it might be a jump. You love what you see, you want to get actively involved, you already have a business that is successful, and you go straight to the core, where you become available as a growth catalyst for the community.

We do not expect everyone to move through all the layers, and that is also why we have not given it some naming that implies some kind of increased status, such as silver, gold, platinum and diamond or roses, tulips and kakiebos – Because every member of the community is valuable, and we are here to serve your needs according to where and how you want to and are able to be served. If you simply want to read the free newsletter, or even only every tenth newsletter and listen to our podcast (still to come) then that is perfectly fine, and we hope and pray that you will find enough value there to grow yourself and your business into your full potential.

Feel free to simply reply to this email (or any of the ones you will receive in the future) if you have any questions.

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Welcome to the community.

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Blessings to you

Ashton

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Grow Your Business

5-2-50 is a community of Christian entrepreneurs and founders who are passionate about building wealth and eradicating poverty by creating good jobs. We focus on businesses of at least 5 people that have been running for at least five years, helping them grow to at least 50 people, reach ZAR 10 million per year NPAT, and free the founders from the day to day grind of their business.

If this sounds interesting, feel free to sign up here. No cost and no catch and you can always unsubscribe anytime.
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​https://5-2-50.kit.com/​