Skinny Sbu Socks get much-needed boost from SEDA
Skinny Sbu partners with SEDA to take an the African comtinent
Tsakani – Skinny Sbu received customised financial and non-financial support from Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) for business growth and sustainability.
“Over the past seven years, I have taken a simple sock idea and turned it into a national brand loved by many.
“As a young person in South Africa, my vision of creating Africa?s number-one sock brand is to create jobs for thousands of youth while building a sustainable business.
“Skinny Sbu has reached a point where it is now bigger than me and my pocket,” said Skinny Sbu Socks founder Sibusiso Ngwenya.
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SEDA is an agency of the Department of Small Business Development which is on a mission to be the centre of excellence for small enterprise development in South Africa.
When asked about the partnership, SEDA Gauteng provincial manager Colin Leshou says: “The tenacity and will to make a success of his business is what has made us partner with Sibusiso.
“It is stories such as these that make us proud to be an agency of the Department of Small Business Development, under the leadership of minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.
“Creating sustainable jobs is extremely important and high on the agenda of the sixth administration.
“He has made Skinny Sbu Socks a world-class brand, one of which South Africa can be proud of.
“In so doing, he has provided employment and made a meaningfully contribution to the economy.
“Small businesses are what we are looking at for sustainable job creation, as we have a mammoth task of creating 11 million jobs by 2030.
“Passion and drive equally assisted this formidable brand in becoming an instant hit and first choice in many South African homes.”
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According to Sandile Mbelekwane, Skinny Sbu Socks financial director, the brand has been experiencing financial turbulence the past two years. ?Our former main distributor closing down had some impact.
“To be honest, over the past five I cared less about profitably and my mandate was more about will the consumer still have the same desire to buy just about any product with our brand name 10 years from now.
“We enter this new partnership with a strategy that is focused on keeping our costs low, growing our footprint and the willingness to spend more on deserving talent that will take us to the next level.”
Ngwenya, who is also an ambassador of the government’s NDP 2030, says the partnership with SEDA came at the right time and will form part of Skinny Sbu Socks’ 10-year plan.
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