SME entrepreneur sees gap in market and doesn’t look back

Tuck shop owner overcomes challenges such as Covid-19 with patience and planning.

ABSA has embarked on a campaign to support and empower SMEs across South Africa.

We sat with Frans Mkhulu Tuckshop to get a better understanding of their business.

When did you start your business?

The business was started around July in 2014.

What led you to pursue entrepreneurship?

I saw a gap in the market because a lot of people in my community often complained about having to travel distances to buy groceries, so I decided to open my tuckshop to make it convenient for my community to buy essentials they needed such as food and toiletries.

What are the challenges you experience when you were starting your business and how did you overcome them?

The main challenge I had was that people would often buy once and expect me to give them things on credit and some would give me a run around when it was time for them to settle their debts. And that made it difficult for me to buy stock and sustaining the business.

What impact did the Covid-19 pandemic have on your business?

A lot of people lost jobs in my community and that meant there were very few people who had money to buy stuff in my shop, and that led to sales dropping significantly but we managed to survive with the little we had and kept the business running.

Your business is one of the businesses that are part of the ABSA SME programme. What does this mean to you and how do such initiatives from corporates like Absa help SMEs?

A programme such as ABSA SME Friday is something great to be a part of because it is going to help my business in terms of exposure.