A GLENWOOD academy that teaches young entrepreneurs how to run lucrative businesses held its first open day in two years. Their learners (small-business owners) showcased their skills and businesses at their stalls.
Young Entrepreneurs Hosting Academy (YEHA), founded in 2020 by Toby Rochat, enrols small-business owners in a free 12-month-long programme where they are taught valuable skills on how to run businesses and also how to make their business ideas profitable.
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The open day ran for two days on January 16 and 17 and sought to create a database of young entrepreneurs who have the potential to make it in the business world.
The programme is open to young entrepreneurs and offers courses on subjects, such as marketing, financial literacy, how to write business proposals, how to register a business and how to budget. Once the learners at the academy graduate from their course, they are then offered mentorship.
Aspiring business owners
Among the learners showcasing at the open day was Mandisa Biyela, a 23-year-old self-taught hair and makeup artist who hopes to one day own her own beauty empire. Biyela says she chose the beauty industry because she has known how to do people’s hair since high school, and after matric, she watched videos on how to do makeup, and she hasn’t looked back since.
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“I chose the beauty industry because it just came naturally to me, and I have always loved enhancing people’s beauty with my hands. This was a hobby I started in high school, but it has really become what I see myself doing for the rest of my life,” said Biyela.
Among the many stalls set up on the grounds of YEHA campus was a clothing stall run by a young man called Lunga Khumalo who runs a printing business that prints and sells mostly Anime clothing or custom-made clothing.
“I have always loved fashion and clothes, and I love that it is versatile and allows me to showcase my creativity. I hope that one day I can be as big as the late Virgil Abloh,” added Khumalo.
The academy is privately owned and funded by companies but is open to the public and the youth who want to make something out of their businesses.
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