Bev Gumbi - Isivuno Containers

Some people pimp their rides. Bev Gumbi does her fabulous thing to shipping containers and it has fast-tracked her to success. The 32-year-old Tongaat business dynamo can customise an ordinary looking steel box and transform it into anything from a hair salon, gym or cutting-edge bakery to a mobile office or shop.

Isivuno Containers, the only black-owned firm of its kind in KwaZulu Natal, boasts an annual turnover of R1.9-million after only two years in business. She currently employs seven permanent staff and grows the team with casual labour according to the workload.

The former teacher takes her burgeoning success in her stride although she admits that it hasn’t always been an easy ride – particularly working in a field dominated by men.After matric Gumbi did a four year degree in home economics at University of Zululand followed by a higher diploma in education. She taught for a short period before joining a NGO as a business development manager. She then worked in marketing before taking the leap and starting her own company.

She used her initial R60 000 KickStart grant to buy more disused shipping containers.
But KickStart has been far more valuable than simply a business cash injection.

What KickStart meant to her business? “The publicity and exposure have been phenomenal. It’s brought in new business as well as reuniting me with people that I’ve lost contact with since high school! The brand exposure has almost outweighed the monetary grant.”

Tongaat, KwaZulu Natal / 083 563 9793 / bev.isivuno@yahoo.com

Makhosazana Ngobese - Viev Bedding and Linen

You’d be hard pressed to find a 20-year-old more assured and driven than Eshowe’s Makhosazana Ngobese, affectionately known to friends, family and customers as Khosi.
This dynamo with big dreams started her own business Viev Bedding and Linen - which stands for visible, intelligence, effectiveness and vision - providing soft furnishings  - at the tender age of 16. After leaving school she was tempted to study fashion design but opted for home décor instead. She currently studies part-time for a B Com degree.

She has a small shop with an adjoining workshop on a quiet Eshowe road. Most of the orders are custom made so she doesn’t have to hold high stocks. She also has a number of contracts with guest houses around Eshowe.

This past financial year she had a turnover of R400 000 and currently employs seven full time staff and five part-time people. She used her initial KickStart grant of R20 000 on sewing equipment.

So what are the pitfalls of running your own show? “It can be very stressful and it can also be very lonely. Most of the time you have to take money from your own pocket to sustain yourself as you have to go without a salary while the business takes off. You have to be determined and know what you want at the end of the day. It is very important to accumulate funds for a rainy day because you can’t always predict what is going to happen.”

Eshowe, KwaZulu Natal / 074 210 4112 / khosi.ngobese@yahoo.com

Nobuntu Webster - Ayano Communications

Nobuntu Webster says that she’s always been an entrepreneur. The dynamic 26-year-old marketing graduate saw a gap in the market and started her own marketing and public relations company Ayano Communications two years ago.

She’s already got some big name clients on her books including Sapref and Seda. She offers a variety of services including marketing research and strategies, brand promotion, the compilation, layout and design of annual reports as well as the sourcing of new markets for her clients which she says is a relatively new concept in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Nobuntu admits that being the boss isn’t all fun and games.

“It’s difficult not to receive a guaranteed monthly pay cheque. We had to deal with cash flow issues and although we are not a high infrastructure business, you do need funding at times to keep you going.”

Webster received an initial KickStart grant of R40 000 which she spent on computers, printers and a conference table for her offices in Durban’s Victoria Embankment.

So what did KickStart mean to Nobuntu? “I suddenly had the capacity to take on bigger projects. I employ three full-time people and up to 20 on a part-time basis and buying equipment meant that we could all work to full efficiency. It also boosted our confidence as a company.”

Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal / 031 301 0853 / 072 243 0387 / info@ayanocom.co.za