BUSINESS BUILT ON TRUST
BUILDING a trustworthy and reliable brand starts with how you present your idea to the public, especially to your community.
This is the idea local clothing manufacturer Nogolide Feni of Makhaza in Khayelitsha adhered to when she started her backyard business, Fenionela Manufacturers.
Feni, 59, whose factory manufactures bedding material, T-shirts for savings organisations, school tracksuits, curtains and African wear, says she has employed six women and is hoping to increase the number as she builds clientele.
With help from the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) with marketing, training on how to run the business and promotional material, she has become a household name in the area.
“I am looking forward to having my own brand. I feel we are not getting enough support from the government, especially on the financial side of things, I am starting this business out of my pocket.
“I started making bedding and now it’s growing and I can see where it’s heading. All I need is the support of the community and government.”
Feni believes that the government should put in more money if it wanted black businesses to grow.
“People want to start businesses and fight unemployment and poverty, but it’s difficult if you don’t have enough capital,” she said.
Feni said she was recently approached by local schools in the area to make school uniforms for primary school kids and tracksuits for local soccer clubs.
“I am taking the offer with open arms, because it means someone will be getting a job and there will be food in one family.”
Although she operates in the backyard of her RDP house, Feni is determined to take her company to greater heights and employ more women.
“I am tired of being called a small business: the main aim of this business is to create more jobs, especially for women.
“We need to move away from being called small businesses – my plan is to expand the business so that it makes a profit, and once that is done, it is then easy for the business to expand.”
She said that establishing a factory business in a small space was challenging and demoralising.
“I am starting from a very challenging environment because the space is too small.
“We sometimes miss the deadline because we don’t have enough space and equipment. It’s a struggle, but we need to soldier on until we get to the where we want to be.
“I am excited that I have now been approached by local soccer teams to do tracksuits, and that two schools have come forward asking that we manufacture a uniform for them. Our clientele is developing.
“We are hoping to get enough space where everyone can move freely and do production effectively,” she said.
Seda provincial marketing specialist Sibongile Somdaka said that his office had assisted Feni with business skills, promotional material, a sewing machine, a printer and a laptop.
“We assist with capacity building,” he said.
“We do diagnosis of the business and see where we can assist, we encourage people to seek advice when starting their own businesses.
“In this case we provided training on how to draw up a business plan and provided promotional material. We also provided some equipment,” said Somdaka.