Helping build township economy

A NORTH WEST-born entrepreneur aims to contribute towards the township economy through his restaurant, Moja Chicken franchise opportunities.

Lehlogonolo Motseeng, who was raised by a single mother and grandmother in Taung, started his restaurant in Soweto, Molapo, 16 months ago with the hope of bringing change in the township.

“When I started Moja Chicken, I wanted to start something for myself that would contribute towards helping other people in the township better their lives. It was about bringing opportunities to the hood and bringing a service to the people with buying power,” said Motseeng.

The entrepreneur quit his 9-5 job in sales and marketing after eight years of employment to pursue his dream.

The overwhelming support he received in his early stages of the business brought about the idea to offer franchise opportunities to people looking for start-ups.

“When Moja Chicken started, the feedback I received was really good and I got a lot of people approaching me, asking for a franchise,” said Motseeng.

He told The Star he had always been an entrepreneur at heart, having started selling sweets at the age of 11 to help with the finances at home.

“I started selling sweets at the age of 11 doing Grade 5 to help out at home. That led to me running a spaza shop from home.”

Upon leaving school, he moved to Joburg in 2006 to hustle.

Motseeng ran a series of businesses. “Coming to Johannesburg, unlike most people my age that time, I was not here to study but to hustle. I first started selling bunny chows and later I would sell fried chicken feet outside taverns.”

In 2010, he owned a public phone container where people could make calls with as little as R1.

Motseeng’s upbringing contributed a lot to where he is now.

Motseeng said a lot of work went into the planning of the business.

In the 16 months since Motseeng started his business, Moja Chicken has four franchises; in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Kagiso.

One is set to be opened in his hometown Taung in April.

True to his dream of creating employment, his franchise in Kagiso is owned by one of his friends who lost his job during lockdown.

Motseeng urged those wanting to own restaurants to look up franchise opportunities on his website.