Poultry the key to Singh’s success
POULTRY farmer Suren Singh had humble beginnings.
Today, he has a thriving business buying and selling chickens at the Millennium Market in Phoenix.
Coming from a poor background, he said he was thrilled when he landed a job at the Department of Education as an administrator.
It provided him with a steady income of slightly under R100 000 a year.
But as the years progressed and the cost of living increased, the Verulam father of three said the salary was no longer sufficient to take care of his family and his children’s future.
“I was just making it each month and I did not want to continue living this way.
“I wanted to get into business and I researched poultry farming and found it was lucrative.
“I resigned from my job in 1995 and invested some of the money I collected in the business.”
For Singh, this leap of faith changed his life.
“At first, I grew my own chickens at my farm in Redcliffe (Verulam), but it cost too much. I then decided to buy and sell chickens, which worked out better for me. I pay a rental of R150 to trade at the Millennium Market in Phoenix.” He said that through the business he had managed to put his children through university and give them a better life.
Although he regards himself as a go-getter, Singh has advised others, who are formally employed but earning a paltry salary, to research their options first before contemplating starting their own businesses.
“What works out for one, may not work out for the other,” he cautioned.