Mahlaela shares| her SME journey
FORCED into the unemployment pool and determined not to give in to poverty, Lerato Mahlaela defied the odds when she decided to start her small businesses, which have now created additional employment.
Born in 1991 in a rural village, Zebediela, in Limpopo, Mahlaela, after completing her matric, pursued her studies at Unisa where she obtained a Business Informatics degree, a certificate in cybersecurity and is now completing her final Honours in Business Informatics year.
In an interview with the Sunday Independent, Mahlaela shared her journey and how she started two of her two small companies, Da Mlira Technologies and Lepakeng Bakery.
“My journey to venturing into business started after I graduated with my Business Informatics degree that I acquired from Unisa in 2018. After being without a stable job, I had to do odd jobs to survive. I was forced to work as a fixed-term contract worker before I lost that job and fell into the unemployed group. That was when I realised that I needed to take charge of my life and create a job for myself.
“I then started researching on opening a technology company and where a gap in the technology industry was. I dedicated 24 months to doing research, attending networking gatherings, asking questions and joining entrepreneur groups to get advice, guidance and equip myself.”
In 2021 she decided to venture into Educational Technology to bridge the gap between technology and basic education learners by providing them with technology skills.
“When I registered my company in November 2021, I was working as an admin assistant, and I had to self-fund the basic costs of starting the company. So, 2022 was a year of building the company internally and taking it from an idea to the prototype stage, while aligning it with the STEM standards of education in South Africa and across the world,” Mahlaela said.
“I resigned from my admin job in December 2022 to fully focus on Da Mlira Technologies. In 2023, I moved to our MVP (minimum viable product) stage (to test the market). In 2024, we are going into a full pilot where schools across the country and Africa at large are welcome to test these technology tools to better their STEM education.
The purpose is to equip them with essential skills, cultivate a passion for technology and prepare them for a future that increasingly relies on digital literacy and STEM expertise ...”
Asked about the overall services rendered by Da Mlira Technologies, she said it was an educational technology company dedicated to revolutionising education in South Africa.
“We teach learners from Grade R to Grade 12 Virtual Reality, AI and Robotics and Coding, upskilling the teacher’s technology skills and giving parents a basic understanding of technology tools. We have also created three permanent jobs for young people and formulated partnerships and collaboration. The information is available on our website (www.damlira.co.za).”
On her other business, Lepakeng Bakery, she indicated that it was created in December 2023.
“As a bakery in the heart of Tembisa, we make freshly baked bread, rolls, scones, cakes and anything baking and blissful. I am currently embarking on a journey of opening a big bakery in Tembisa township … this is all fuelled by my passion for bringing a delightful culinary experience to the heart of the