Do you know the muffin man?

A nine-year-old business vision has now grown into 19 franchises just a year after it materialised.

Morero Moloi founded McMore Muffins in July 2020 when lockdown took its toll on him and his family members. He said for nine years he had the vision to start a franchising company but never pursued it; that was until the pandemic hit and his businesses collapsed as a result.

“I decided to venture into this baby I had been nurturing for nine years but never implemented. We had done a lot of homework already. I already knew the suppliers I would go to for branding etc.“

Soon enough, Moloi and his cousins started baking in his great-grandmother’s backroom in Soweto with just one oven. The business started growing almost immediately for the Ruimsig resident – just a few months later they moved into their factory premises in Stormill in Roodepoort. “We managed to sell the first 10 franchises while we were in that backroom. When we started it was one employee and I, and we were doing the trials. We were going to all the taxi ranks and office parks and my employee at the time, who was stationed in Orlando West, was walking around with a branded trolley and uniform doing all the selling.”

Morero shared that he decided on baking muffins because of his love of cake, “You can bribe me with cake. Give me any cake and I am happy; I am a big cake critique. If it’s bad, it’s bad.” His grandmother, who was a teacher and street vendor, lit the entrepreneurial flame. Throughout his schooling years, he sold biscuits and scones to make extra money. “To this day, when I travel, I want to try cake wherever I go. That’s what made muffins stand out.”

Starting a new business at the height of a pandemic has not been without its growing pains. The 33-year-old described McMore’s growth as ‘painful’. “We have moments now and then when we just want to shut down everything. Financing everything internally can take a toll on you. We have had to prioritise the staff getting paid, making sure the rent is paid, our CRM systems etc. We’ve been focused on building a brand,” he said. The business model has had to be adapted time and time again with the continuing uncertainty of the pandemic. “We have a lot of agility and we are very hybrid as a business. What started as a corporate plan had to change to ‘there are a lot of funerals right now, so we need a funeral package’. It has really pushed us. We are now approaching vaccine sites and the elections are coming as well, so we are trying to get into that market. The pandemic has really made us get uncomfortable.”

The muffins can be found at different franchises across the province, including Stormill, and all eight flavours can be found on Uber eats. He said they intend to replicate their current factory in every province and set their sights abroad. “We want to empower as many people as possible. Job creation should be in the hands of entrepreneurs, and that’s another thing I am trying to prove – that we can even go to the government and say ‘we are going to commit to creating so many jobs that we will give as franchises. Those franchises will also employ people as it grows.’ We are fine-tuning our logistics and distribution,” he enthused.