Watch: Ambitious entrepreneur’s dream of success is booming
Sedumo is the founder of Grove Audio, a unique brand of homemade boomboxes designed to deliver quality crisp sound anytime and anywhere.
Young entrepreneur Tshepo Sedumo (26) is already making moves in business circles.
The Advertiser visited Sedumo at his Atlasville home to learn more about his hobby which officially turned into a business of its own in 2016.
At first, he may come across as shy but when he begins to talk about his business, he brightens up and becomes more animated.
Some of the components Sedumo uses to create his boomboxes are genuine wood, speakers, batteries, wiring, amplifiers and LED lights.
The boomboxes, which are available in different colours and features, are categorised into three different ranges – the G-Series, the R-Series and the S-Series.
“I’ve always been a DIY kind of guy at heart and because of that, I’m mostly self-taught when it comes to my craft.
“I studied finance at the University of Johannesburg but unfortunately I didn’t finish my degree because it wasn’t something I was passionate about.”
Sedumo said after he dropped out of school he pursued his passion of creating handmade boomboxes.
“I remember back in 2011 I bought an iPod touch and naturally my next thought was to get myself a set of really good speakers or an iPod dock.
“The problem with that was, like all things related to Apple products, accessories were super expensive. That’s when I first decided to try building my own sound system from what I had on hand at the time.
“I grabbed an old pair of computer speakers, a wooden wine rack, a couple of tools and got to work, the rest was history.
“I took a lot of inspiration for my earlier designs from YouTube videos and various websites but after some time I began to develop my own style and unique look.
“I honed my skills over the years and every time I built something unique that was better than the one before, it felt more and more like my purpose instead of just a simple pass-time activity,” he said.
Sedumo, who operates his business from the comfort of his own home, matriculated in 2010 from Benoni High School.
The creative young man said his family was sceptical at first but have since become his biggest supporters.
“When I dropped out of varsity to pursue this crazy dream of mine, my parents were not too thrilled with the decision. It took a lot of hard work and dedication to prove to everyone I could turn this into a success.
“I’ve never wanted to work for someone else because I believe building my own future is more rewarding, especially when you start to see the results of all that hard work.
“Business has its ups and downs but then again, if it was easy everyone would be doing it.”
Sedumo said he has learnt a lot from his business mentor, Precious Zeinzinger-Tuitz, who has thought him the importance of business.
To date, he has been featured on various TV shows, magazines, newspapers and websites, including 100 Percent Youth, Hectic Nine-99, China Global TV Network, Forbes Africa magazine, Destiny Man, Tech magazine, The Times newspaper and many more.
Sedumo’s custom-made boomboxes are available online and occasionally at pop-up stores throughout Johannesburg and Pretoria.
His future plans include opening a specialised store where people will be able to order custom-tailored boomboxes along with other accessories only sold at his shop.
The young entrepreneur has advised young and upcoming entrepreneurs to never give up on their dream.
“When you open your own business challenges are bound to come from every single direction.
“There will be dark days but you must remember why you started, endure the hardships,” Sedumo said.
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