While poverty and unemployment become rife in local townships such as Khutsong, three young entrepreneurs have decided to make a difference by starting their own fast-food business. Lerato Ngwana (23), Katlego Mochoari (22) and Paballo Ngwana took charge of their destiny as they have never had the opportunity to be employed.
“We were inspired to pursue entrepreneurship because of the lack of employment,” they expressed.
They grew up in the Khutsong South Township and came to the realisation that they had to start something positive in order to escape poverty and substance abuse, which is a norm in their community.
Their journey as entrepreneurs began last year when they started their own brand ‘Sidlikotini Kingtariana’. They are fashion lovers and have been promoting their brand locally in order to find a way to empower their community.
They mentioned that at some point they sold perfumes and also ventured into grass cutting in order to raise funds for their businesses.
”We are hustlers. We don’t believe in sitting at home doing nothing, we would rather think and come up with a plan,” they further expressed.
A local designer contributed to their brand by sponsoring them with a logo, which assisted them to begin selling their t-shirts. They took money from their own pockets to start their fast-food business.
So far, the young men have managed to hire a few young people in their area at Ext4.
They are seeing progress, as they have been pushing towards their dream to own a franchise company.
One of their biggest challenges are the lack of resources. They are currently in need of sponsorship as their aim is to grow their business and be in a position to employ more young people.
“We are trying to change the mindset of local youth to start their own businesses and do away with false pride. We are encouraging the youth to follow a good direction,” they added.
The young entrepreneurs would like to motivate the youth by sending a message that they should not depend on the government while they are still young, but they should actually try out their ideas.
In conclusion they mentioned that they will be launching their business around September with an event that will be titled ‘Kota Festival’.
It will be hosted where their business is based at Khutsong Ext4 known as Maplankeng.
These young entrepreneurs can be contacted via their Facebook Page: Maplankeng King Kotas or on 073 687 0401.
