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M U T

S P I R I T

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S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0

Cultivating a future through entrepreneurship

wood and coal-selling business in the Mpumalanga

province where he lives.

“We had wattle wood at our homestead and I told my

siblings I was going to sell that wood for us to get

money to buy bread. Like everybody, we also use

the wood for cooking and to keep ourselves warm,”

said Njabulo. The family has been hard hit by the

coronavirus pandemic, with no source of income.

Njabulo himself lost his internship because of the

virus. The new venture was the step that gave Njabulo

a chance to show his mettle.

“I sold almost six wheelbarrows in a week. That was

my first success,” said Njabulo. Soon the family

needed to make some important adjustments. “We

decided as a family to sell the family bakkie to buy

a truck so we could sell more wattle wood. Soon I

added coal to my stock that I sell in the township.”

Njabulo gets wood from three local farms, and coal

from the coal mines around Ermelo.

Yandisa Mdolo

Njabulo has learnt from his failed business ventures.

He has a plan that will ensure that Compte, his current

company, does not suffer the same fate. “I want to take

advantage of the digital space to grow my business.

I will use Google and social media to promote it. I will

also lease stands around Ermelo where my target

market will reach my products. This will also ease my

delivery costs,” said Njabulo.

A very confident Njabulo said he was planning to

sell the wood to some of the big chain stores in the

area, but was still working on branding his plastic

packaging. He said he would use skills he learnt in

class to build his business. These skills, particularly

door-to-door selling and social media, have given his

customers confidence to purchase his products. “I

have decided to post at least three messages a day

on Facebook using humorous status updates about

my products. This helps to engage my customers, and

bring awareness about what I sell,” said Njabulo.

None of us has control over the economy, the job

market, or anything else in the global sense; however

we are 100 percent in charge of how we respond to

the challenges that come our way. Given the shrinking

job market in South Africa, it is time for our youth

to create their own opportunities and to look where

others are not looking.

Entrepreneurship has been advanced as a solution

for youth unemployment and wealth creation. The

role of entrepreneurship in economic development is

being recognised by MUT marketing graduate Yandisa

Mdolo, 27, who after taking up a few unrelated jobs

for a couple of years, relinquished the security of

employment and created his own opportunity using

the skills he acquired at the University to penetrate the

business market. Mdolo acknowledged that starting a

business is “a bold step that will need sacrifices, taking

risks and having the willpower to overcome obstacles”.

After two years of intensive research and crafting

his ideas, Mdolo was finally funded by the National

Youth Development Agency (NYDA). He recently won

the SmartXChange Best Newcomer of the Year at the

small business incubator’s annual awards ceremony.

Mdolo is now the CEO of Black Cotton Marketing,

a marketing business solution tailored to help small

enterprises to reach new heights. The company

provides digital advertising space via electronic TV

screens installed in minibus taxis on the KwaZulu-

Natal South Coast. Mdolo envisions his company as

a full-service marketing agency in the next five years.

He has a gifted and highly motivated team behind

him that is working on creating innovative marketing

solutions to suit brand personalities.

“My own path to marketing was not planned. I was led

by talk shows and activities that used to be organised

by my residence at MUT. There is more than one way

that leads to success in marketing,” he concluded. In

order for South Africans to compete globally, he said

we need to become trend setters, inventors and global

suppliers. “Yes we can,” he concluded.