Small beginnings, big profit

Entrepreneur had a dream – and is now living it through his bakery.

Courageous entrepreneur Njabulo Sithole says it has been “a long journey” from a childhood dream to owning and running a successful bakery in Maphephetheni.

Bakers Creationz provides cakes, muffins and signature coconut-coated snowballs for major retail outlets within the Durban area. They also bake customised wedding and celebration cakes. The spread of outlets now includes Spar stores, and numerous petrol station shops. He recently also concluded a deal to supply Pick n Pay stores countrywide.

Sithole, pictured, recalls the challenges of growing up in a disadvantaged environment, where most people believed “big dreams were not possible”.

After completing his diploma in Business Management and Marketing, Njabulo worked in the United Kingdom.

While in London, he learnt a lot in the food processing industry, but still laughs about having lived on only bread for his first five months there. It was only when he began sharing a house with fellow South Africans and took on cooking duties that he discovered his culinary passion.

“By the end of the first week, I was cooking. By the end of the first month, I was the best cook in the house,” he smiles.

This recognition and appreciation of his new-found passion inspired him to try his hand at baking.

Back in South Africa, he worked for Woolworths for six months before taking up an offer from startup business Mpilende Foods.

“I worked as if it was my own business and many people that I dealt with thought it was! If someone trusts you, you need to do far more than is asked of you.”

He later teamed up with a colleague to create bread brand, Royal Bake, using contract bakers.

He soon began to plan his next venture: he created a business plan for what was to become Bakers Creationz, starting small by baking for schools in the area, using his own family kitchen.

And he has never looked back ...