“There is money in anything you put your heart into. Everything is hard; poverty is hard, and entrepreneurship is hard. Try and choose your hard.”
That’s the advice from Silondiwe Nxumalo, a 31-year-old university graduate who teamed up with her friend Ntwenhle Linda in 2018 to farm chickens on an old sugarcane farm in Mangethe on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast. Ntwenhle previously worked in retail marketing.
The two women started a poultry business producing 500 eggs a day. With focus and consistency, Silondiwe and Ntwenhle accessed funding and support to scale up their enterprise. They participated in the iLembe Chamber of Commerce’s Entrepreneur Programme, a small business accelerator intervention, for a year.
Today, their business, Lunginhlahla Projects, produces 9,500 eggs a day from 10,000 hens and holds the health certifications required to supply high-end retailers. The entrepreneurial journey has been enormously rewarding.
“I run around like a headless chicken — pun intended. We’re not a small business anymore, but we’re not big either, so one day I’m doing logistics, the next day finances and the next day electrics. You don’t stop to think about whether you are successful; you just focus on what you have to do. It is an inspiring journey. If I positively impact one person every day, I’m glad.”
Ntwenhle and Silondiwe have found a niche market for their eggs, including supply to local gated estates. They are one of only three egg producers in their area and have plans to triple output.
“We provide good-quality eggs at a low price daily in an area without much competition.”
For iLembe Chamber CEO Cobus Oelofse, entrepreneurs like Silondiwe and Ntwenhle exemplify how chambers can play a critical role in economic regeneration.
In 14 years, the Entrepreneur Programme has mentored 338 businesses in iLembe and recently expanded to Mangaung and George through Airports Company South Africa’s support and partnerships with chambers in those areas.
Participants have seen their businesses grow revenue by 50%, and the programme has helped create 261 jobs. Finalists have benefited from 13,500 hours of mentoring and tuition.
“Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, and entrepreneurship alone is not the answer to economic growth,” says Cobus. “You also need to industrialise the country and attract significant manufacturing investment that creates thousands of jobs. But entrepreneurs are vital.”
The Entrepreneur Programme is not an incubator, and the chamber differentiates between survivalist start-ups and businesses with real potential to scale.
“We take on businesses that have been around for at least a year. We ensure they understand their business model, their market and the channels to reach that market.
“Everything chambers do should be about creating more jobs and less hopelessness. We are involved in a range of efforts. We try to ensure local schools are getting closer to industry so that their outcomes are geared towards local business.
“As custodians of business, chambers are well placed to run programmes that help introduce new businesses to the wider community.”
