The road to business success is not always plain sailing – in fact, it may be an uphill battle. But tenacity and perseverance, even when it appears that success is elusive, can eventually pay off.
This is certainly true of the two inspiring entrepreneurial stories shared at a recent Entrepreneurs’ Network (EN) event, How to Thrive in 2025. Founded in 2022 by successful business leader, Dawn Nathan-Jones, EN is a collaborative initiative of the Cape SAJBD, Over the Rainbow, Silulo Foundation, Inospace and ORT Jet Cape Town. Held at the Isivivana Centre in Khayelitsha, the event saw close on 100 enthusiastic entrepreneurs listen to the stories of Luvuyo Rani, CEO & Co-Founder of Silulo Ulutho Technologies, and Sheldon Tatchell, Founder & CEO, Legends Barbershops. Both grew up in impoverished communities in South Africa. In both instances, their drive to escape poverty and to achieve success as businesspeople has led to huge achievements as entrepreneurs and leaders.
As Dawn explained in her introduction to the speakers, “An entrepreneurial venture starts with an idea. Then it turns into a hustle. Then it starts to scale. And then you have a flourishing business.” The support provided by an organisation like EN is crucial in helping move from the idea stage to a successful enterprise, especially in an environment such as South Africa where getting a business off the ground can come with all sorts of challenges.
Both entrepreneurs showcased at the event had a strong idea: the need to supply computer and computing services to young people in the townships; and the need for trendy haircuts among communities. Turning these ideas into sustainable, growing enterprises took some time, but both have more than achieved their goals and gone beyond what they initially dreamed of.
“Africa’s population will double in size by 2050,” says Luvuyo. Clearly, this means that there are enormous opportunities for businesses on the African continent.
For both, adult life started with humble beginnings. Luvuyo was a teacher, while Sheldon worked as a bank clerk. But both retained their dreams of owning their own businesses – and managed to do so, despite numerous challenges, including threats to their lives from criminals, the loss of money because of theft, and the closure of stores during Covid.
A few important messages that came out of the event are:
- Networking is core to bringing in business and to identifying new opportunities for your enterprise
Know your customers and offer a personalised service
The Power of Resilience, and never giving up
Staying true to your purpose and vision.
Luvuyo’s personal experience highlights the value of networking. He explained that, when he was trying to expand his business and needed funding, he knew that there was little opportunity to secure money through the usual channels. As he said, “If you come from a privileged background and have established assets like a home and savings, you’ll be more attractive to lenders. But if, like me, you’re from a township and don’t have an existing network of people to appeal to, you have to create that network. It’s social capital, and it’s something I know lots about. I overcame the hurdle of not having the capital that more privileged people have through being very driven to network as much as possible.”
Luvuyo sees great opportunities for South African entrepreneurs this year because of South Africa’s leadership of the G20. Read more about his views: https://tinyurl.com/ca7ha3k5
Where Sheldon is concerned, he researched the customer approach of other township and urban barbers to see if there was something he could do differently to make his offering more appealing to customers. “I saw that the barbershops basically had a conveyor belt sort of approach – where a customer comes in, gets his haircut, and leaves, all within about 15 minutes, but with little engagement between the barber and the customer,” he explains. “I realised that I could stand out if I showed more care for the customer, so I started keeping customer cards, and I wrote down what we had chatted about during the haircut, so that I could pick up on the conversation when the person came back. I think it’s important for customers to know that a business cares about them as individuals.”
The care that Sheldon focuses on was also evident in something else he tried out in his early days: going to people in their own homes to cut their hair. “I bought a scooter,” he says, “so that I could offer mobile barber services, and that worked really well.”
Today, Sheldon’s business, Legends Barbershop, has 75 stores in five countries. In addition to barber services, they have developed their own range of grooming products and have established a developmental academy to train township youth. To achieve growth without relying on significant funding, Sheldon opted for a franchise model, and this has allowed him to scale.
Luvuyo also used a franchise concept to grow his business, Silulo Ulutho Technologies, offering staff members the opportunity to buy into the business, which offers computer products and internet cafes, and establish their own branches in townships. There are currently close to 50 branches in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. ●
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