Booi quits job to become his own boss
Even Covid-19 did not stand in the way of entrepreneur
The coronavirus pandemic has shown that human beings are resilient. People have responded in extraordinary ways and some even had the opportunity to start businesses, people like Mxolisi Booi.
Booi went from a 9 to 5 job at the SA National Blood Service to running a fast food restaurant from his home. The business, GrillBae, has been up and running for six months now.
Booi sells ribs, wings and burgers, ranging from R50 for a small wings and chips combo to a R320 meal for four people.
I love business, I’ve gone to business school, I’ve done a course at Wits Business School. I really felt that... especially due to the uncertainty due to the pandemic, as tohow it affects business [ the time was right].
I saw how activity at the blood service had gone down significantly, in terms of people not donating blood, us not knowing where we are going to get business from, so I thought you know what, let me take the risk and jump now and go into business so that when things pick up, I would have found my feet,” Booi says.
Grillbae is open on Tuesdays to Saturdays. In the future Booi aims to open seven days a week when he is able to pay staff. He is currently the cook, admin and delivery person, and his younger brother helps him out. Booi converted his living space into a kitchen and then he went to work. He says making the transition from knowing that he’ll have a pay cheque at the end of the month to not being sure of having an income was nerve wracking.
I’m the entire operations for the business... it’s a difficult thing [to find time to rest]. I think people who have people that work for them find it easier to manage. But if you are going to handle your own social media for example, your own branding etc you get tired which is why I book two days off, which is a Sunday and Monday, the least busiest days, to really rest. You can’t burn yourself out.”
Booi says he feels his business is providing a muchneeded service in the township. His fast food restaurant prides itself on providing excellent customer service and fresh fast food. Randfontein-based Booi says though he doesn’t have a culinary qualification, he has watched a lot of cooking shows, tutorials on YouTube on how to make the best ribs and also gone through various stages of tasting the food using family to gauge how it would be received.
“The business of course is not without it’s challenges, one of them being suppliers.
“Whenyou look at the forces around the food industry in general, suppliers play a very significant role in the success of a startup. The current suppliers that provide top-class quality restaurants product... have a serious markup, because they are JSE-listed companies. Their prices are not stable. Their prices increase and decrease without any prior notification. So, one day you go there and something will be X amount the next day it is Y amount. So, that hits you in the pocket because your customers are very sensitive to prices that increase and decrease all the time.
So, I’d say the suppliers are the biggest challenge for me because if you’re a start-up, you’re trying to differentiate yourself by providing quality in a market that is price-sensitive, you’re basically relying on your suppliers to be more lenient and of course they want someone that orders in bulk in tons and you’re ordering 10kgs here, 2kgs here depending on how the market is responding.
“And with the high level of unemployment I can’t say my food was flying off the shelves all the time. That really was a challenge. So, a supplier is… probably one of the things that kills small businesses, especially in the food industry.”
Booi is working towards becoming a sit-down restaurant.
To help with this he entered Brut’s Elevator Pitch competition, aimed at helping startups with a cash injection to boost their business. First prize received R250,000, second prize R150,000 and third prize R100,000. Booi walked away with the first prize.
Booi’s friend Wandile Mthethwa alerted him to the competition and sent him the link to enter, though Booi was a bit sceptical in the beginning. He even nearly gave up when his entrance video gave him trouble while trying to upload it on Twitter.
“There were a number of amazing entrepreneurs [that I was shortlisted with] but to be selected as a winner, that for me was the most amazing thing, because it meant that I would be able to get this container that I was looking for, convert it into a sit-in and have more customers come in and through that I would have a bigger market.”
Booi expressed his gratitude to the company and also mentioned that he enjoyed talking to DJ Sbu who he sees as a “champion entrepreneur”.
DJ Sbu hosted the competition which aired live on Instagram; he was joined by entrepreneur DJ Tira, creative director and stylist Seth Shezi, and businessman and TV presenter Chris Jaftha.