A business that caters to all tastes
BILTONG is a South African experience and a taste people have come to love around the world. With a eye for consumer behaviour, Shirley Letley, 50, chose to focus on a business catering to a broader market by providing halaal biltong that can be consumed by everyone.
Born and raised in Durban, Letley grew up in Chatsworth with parents who were successful restaurant owners and instilled a culture of entrepreneurship into her from a young age.
After completing her matric at Southlands Secondary School, she finished her studies in financial planning at Milpark Business School and began her career as a financial planner for Absa.
This training gave her the fundamentals of financial acumen she could take into her business.
She resigned from Absa in July last year and established The Biltong Box with her husband, Grant.
The Biltong Box claims to be the premier supplier of halaal biltong in KZN, with a flagship store operating from Gateway mall in umhlanga.
From sliced biltong to sticks, chilli to plain and their signature product Fear Factor chilli wors, the Biltong Box offers a variety of biltong that caters to every individual taste, with a retail and wholesale option.
Letley’s passion for business grew after meeting Grant, who worked in retail for over 20 years.
Pooling their expertise and focusing on exceptional customer service helped the brand to become recognised.
She takes pride in her relationship with her customers and strives to enhance products to ensure that they get what they want.
Notwithstanding her theoretical knowledge, the practicality of establishing a business came with many lessons.
“I’ve learnt that nothing in life comes easy. It takes hard work and dedication. You have to put in the time and the long hours. There are no short cuts to success.
“It is also important to be passionate about whatever you do. I learn new lessons daily. It’s what helps me to grow.”
Her advice to emerging entrepreneurs is to believe in themselves, persist against all odds and work hard to bring their dreams into being.
She believes in planning for every eventuality so that her dreams and goals for the business can become a reality.
Her goal now is to expand the business into a franchise.
“We have just launched our new flagship kiosk at the Gateway mall and this will become the cornerstone of our franchise model.
“We plan to spread our brand across South Africa, allowing those want the opportunity to build their own franchised business to succeed.
“In the short term, we plan to increase demand in the market and become the premier halaal biltong supplier in South Africa, then in the long term spread out overseas.”
Letley remains motivated through the collaboration of her husband. The one motivates the other.
Their desire to build a successful brand and provide clients with remarkable service and the tastiest biltong is the main driving force and they are determined to plough through any setbacks.
“Failure is not the issue; it’s about learning and growing from it. Every person and every business fails at some point. The key is to look at it objectively, not emotionally.
“Once I see clearly what caused the failure, only then can I rebuild. I’ve never considered failure to be a negative thing.
“So, when I fail, I don’t give up because that’s when it’s time to step up and become stronger than before.”
• Contact The Biltong Box team at shirleyletley@gmail.com