Business success for boy (7)
Seven-year-old Omphile Mabitsela turned a school project into a stationery business. Now he wants to employ and empower other youngsters
HE MAY be just seven years old but this little guy knows exactly what he wants to be by the time he’s 18: a self-made millionaire creating jobs for millions of unemployed young South Africans. And Omphile Mabitsela has already started the ball rolling. A little more than four months ago the Grade 2 pupil at Reddford House – a private school in Northcliff, Johannesburg – founded his own stationery company, Quirk Quirk Inc, with the help of his proud mom, Prudence.
It started out as a class project, the pair tell us, and they turned it into a little company when Omphile told his mom he wanted to be a businessperson.
He’s always been a creative kid and for the project he made what he calls his quirk quirks, origami emoji and animal figures that can be used as bookmarks or for decorating desks. “I made the quirk quirks and I gave one to my mom and asked her if I could be a businessman.”
Omphile has now sold hundreds of his creations at R10 each to friends, family and people around Joburg via his website, quirkquirkinc.com
The little boy was motivated to start his company after watching his mother – who’s managing director of learnership training academy Dynamic DNA – when she was hard at work.
When Omphile, aged six at the time, approached her with the idea, Prudence wanted to know if he knew what he was talking about and asked him to introduce himself as a businessman in a recording.
“Hello, everyone, my name is Omphile Mabitsela, the businessperson from Quirk Quirk Inc,” he said.
Prudence (28) was sold. “When he said
that, I said, ‘Wow, there’s definitely something here.’ He’s not thinking like a six-year-old, he’s thinking like someone who wants to build a sustainable business.”
OMPHILE is well aware that unemployment is a problem in South Africa.
“There are people who don’t have jobs and that’s why I’m going to hire them,” he says. “Also, when my mom and I go to the shops and the robot is red, we see people who are always asking for money and food. They don’t have to worry because I’m here, I’m going to hire them.”
With the quirk quirks in demand, he’s already hired two of his friends to help him with the mounting number of orders.
Although his business is still in its fledgling stages, he has a team that believes in his vision. Besides his mom and dad, Ashley (42), he has the support of software developer Koketso Seamedi (24), who created and runs the website, and Phindile Dlamini (22), who takes care of their social media accounts.
Prudence says the company is expanding this year with the addition of pens and diaries to its catalogue, and the business will soon be franchised to children under the age of 15.
“Omphile will train these kids himself,” she adds.
Besides being intent on making millions, the young entrepreneur also sees himself being the president one day. As he puts it, “I believe in my dreams.”