Eagle Canyon resident, Sonto Pooe has always been an entrepreneur at heart. For as long as she can remember, she would make clothes for her dolls. Soon enough she was making clothes for herself and her friends.
By the time she was around 15 years old, she was plaiting hair for people in her area to earn money, so it comes as no surprise that she now owns and operates her own hair care business, specifically aimed at women of colour and the care of natural hair.
Native Child quite literally was born in Sonto’s kitchen, where she would mix the oils, shampoos and conditioners before sending them out to customers. She said the name was inspired by the continent. “Being born African is not always easy and often we are seen as second best, so I wanted to create something that we can be proud of and call our own. We manufacture our products locally using mainly raw materials from Africa that are ethically sourced. It’s about creating products where every native child feels proud of their heritage.”
The wife, entrepreneur and philanthropist was born in KwaZulu-Natal and raised by a single mother, who worked as a teacher. With that she admitted that education has always been important in her household. Sonto is the oldest of three girls and like any first in many families, she took on a leadership role when a parent was not around. She learnt to be resourceful quite early because money was also limited at home. “I couldn’t go to Ma to ask her to buy me this and that,” she added.
At university, she studied Quantity Surveying, a profession that came naturally to her because so many of her family members are builders or work in construction, and the industry was familiar to her. However, she admitted that she soon realised that her qualification would not be her destiny or even her end game. That’s when her business was born.
The beauty industry is very saturated, especially for women, as near-impossible beauty standards change constantly and become harder to attain. Sonto said she learned to not beg for good customer service but to keep moving and go to people who held her in equal value. “The next step was convincing retailers that we are as good as we say we are and just getting a foot in the door. Retail buyers are the gatekeepers and sometimes you don’t even get to the buyer because you get sent from pillar to post,” she explained
The entrepreneur, whose factory is based in Roodepoort and strictly employs people from within the community, shared her key principles that every entrepreneur should arm themselves with:
1. Be ready to work. The number of hours you will have to put in, will far exceed your expectations.
2. Surround yourself with supporting people. Not everyone may see your vision but emotional support is very important and will get you through tough days. Everything is energy. This more positive energy you receive, the better for you.
3. Being an entrepreneur, you’re the visionary, the engine of the company. You need to know everything (or as much as you can) there is to know about running your business. You can’t rely on others to move the vehicle for you. Learn all there is to know.
4. Avoid debt where possible. It’s okay to start small and grow organically. I started off by selling just one product – hair-growth castor oil – and grew from there. Don’t run faster than you have strength.
These principles definitely seem to have worked for her. In 2019 the hair and body products won the Pick n Pay Small Business Supplier of the Year award.
