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ISSUE 59 – 31 October 2022 Email: olifants@papashamedia.co.za Tel: 010 023 1845 www.theolifants.co.za Find us on
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Turning a side hustle into a thriving business By Dumisani Hlatswayo
E
ven with a steady job, you can still pursue your passion as a side hustle and succeed. Nompumelelo Mkhumbene’s decor business bears witness to this. She was born in Thokoza in the East Rand but currently resides in Thembisa. A few years later, she did her matric at Tembisa High School and obtained her Bcom Accounting from Unisa. “The name of my business is Lelo’s Events and Decor. We offer event planning services, equipment hire, and catering,” she explains. The business is based in Thembisa, but they do travel. At Lelo’s Events and Decor, they mostly do decor for baby showers, bridal showers, weddings, and unveilings. Mkhumbene started her business in 2018 while still working for a telecommunications company. She started it as a side hustle to generate more income for the family. Unfortunately, she got retrenched in 2020 due to Covid.
She was now only left with the business and had to focus on it fulltime, which significantly grew from then on. She always wanted to turn her hobby into something that would generate income for her as she is a creative person and enjoys coming up with new ideas and ways to do things. As she started, she would follow events companies on social media to see all the equipment, cookery, and glasses they used and to find out which decor styles were trending. After comparing prices, she was ready to purchase her first items in small quantities. Her business gets clients mostly from referrals from previous clients they serviced before and others from social media. The standard price for birthday party decorations is R3500; terms and conditions apply. Her prices are tailored according to the client’s specific needs. She has a catalogue potential clients can use to select decors. As her business thrives, the mompreneur has so far employed three people on a full-time and two others on a part-time basis. Mkhumbene would like to see
the business maintain sustainable growth as the unemployment rate is too high, and small businesses like Lelo’s Events and Decor create employment for the youth. She advises up-and-coming entrepreneurs to start with what they have, where they are, and with the people around them.”Don’t wait for funders, business loans or investors. There’s so much red tape with getting funding.” she shares. According to Mkhumbene, there is a significant demand for decor services as people celebrate milestones in their lives each day, and that is where the need for decor services comes in. In June 2018, Mkhumbene fell pregnant with her daughter at the time. She and her partner were preparing for her baby shower. “So I told him that he must not hire someone for decor; I’ll do my decor at my baby shower,” she tells The Olifants. She giggles as she recalls that the baby shower came out perfectly but had to act surprised when the guests arrived, as baby showers usually are a surprise.