SMALL BUSINESS: Living the dream everyday
Two years ago Walter Makhithi from Venda, now 31 years and residing in the Limpopo capital, decided to tackle the bull by the horns and start working on a childhood dream.
POLOKWANE – Two years ago Walter Makhithi from Venda, now 31 years and residing in the Limpopo capital, decided to tackle the bull by the horns and start working on a childhood dream.
When he was a kid he and his siblings along with friends used to made funky wire cars. Many children know and play with these miniature wire cars that grasped their imagination.
Walter, a married man and father of two children, had no form of income to support his family two years ago after he quit his job as a security guard. His wife, Rabelani, was also unemployed. But Walter is not a man who was prepared to give up and was determined to get some form of income to support his family. That was when he gave his dream about the wire cars some thought and decided to give it a shot.
According to him, his wife did not think it would be such a great idea when he first shared his dream with her. By now, Makhithi laughs, she still does not quite approve of his newly found income, but she is very happy when he makes a profit with his wire cars.
“It is a gift that I am able to make these cars. It makes money for us to live on. It takes me about a day to build two cars. I would really like to improve and expand my business by building even better cars. The wire which I acquire from a hardware store is relatively affordable, but it would help if I can be able to afford a welding machine and spray paint equipment, because my cars would then be even of better quality than it is now”, explains Makhithi.
He adds children are especially crazy about his creations, and proudly shows his latest model, a bakkie. Instead of selling his creative wire cars from a shop, he currently walks the city so that people can notice him.
