A WhatsApp group created for easy reach engagement between RSAs and students of South Point, New Market Junction has led to a number of business minded students utilizing the opportunity, selling different products to their fellow res-mates.
Lihle Mkhohliwe, a final year film student is among those students. He has established his entrepreneurship as a chef, experimenting with different dishes till he found his signature dish, sauced pork.
Exuding confidence in his business after two years of running, he attributes his entrepreneurial skills to his maternal aunt, who he says generates a great deal of profit on her food business, selling meat. “I am a very business minded person. I don’t think of anything else besides how I am going to make money” said Mkhohliwe.
The young entrepreneur describes his business as not an overnight success nor a spontaneous idea. Numerous financial distresses were encountered in his business and personal journey too. Mkhohlwe lost his father, Simphiwe Maqungo, at the age of 15 after living with him for a year. Maqungo, a taxi owner, was shot dead 18 times by a group of masked men at Ngangelizwe police station in Mtata while in custody waiting to appear in court for the possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition charge in 2018. The circumstances led to him falling under his mother’s financial responsibility once again after raising him as a single parent.
Another financial struggle was learning how to survive his first year in university with a tight budget from home, for the entire year after not securing funding. His budget led to him finally deciding to start a business and promised himself another attempt when that one did not last long. “I was surviving with the R300 for the whole month in university, that is where an idea of a business came about… the year went by only getting the R300 from home, what I did, I took the R300 and started a business whereby I was selling pork head meat, but the res I was staying at did not have many students”, he said.
Tapping into his entrepreneurial mindset after securing funding in his second year, Mkhohliwe scaled through a few business ideas before sticking to his last failed business idea, but with a new dish after a successful free tasting. “I know the value of money, I know why I am selling, so I thought to myself many students here are lazy to cook or you would find that some are studying while working so they don’t have time to cook, I then decided to introduce something to eat”, he added.
A lot of thought goes into the operation of the business sparing himself time to socialize, “I wake up around 8am, I take a Golden Arrow bus to Phillipi, where I stock, from Phillipi I come back around 12pm to 1pm, I then head to the gym and when I come back from the gym, I start selling around 6pm” he said.
His hustle has managed to build him a connection with his customers, particularly those loyal to his business. Architecture Technology first-year student Lebakeng Tsepang, one of his customers, says the business is of convenience to him. “Whenever I’m from school and pressed by academic due dates, I just need to go to Lihle and buy and continue with my schoolwork without wasting time by cooking,” he said. Adding that the institution is unaware of students’ financial struggles, the restriction on students conducting businesses should be revisited, as that’s how some survive.
New Market Junction’s RSAs says students advertising on their WhatsApp group is “good practice” calling it a “positive demonstration of entrepreneurship and community support”.
The young entrepreneur’s medium goal is to open his own butchery or a braai place in long street, but for now he aims to let those on campus have a taste too.
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