A former winner of ENGEN Pitch & Polish’s business has thrived since she participated in the programme.
Khaya Shongwe is a local clothes manufacturer and the winner of the competition in Mpumalanga in 2016.

Her business has since grown so much that she has been able to buy a car, five machines and hire four more people.

“I am working with my sister, Eulanda, and she is a qualified designer. We used to only make school uniforms, but I decided to expand our offering by making office wear and now we are designing a range of other clothes,” she said.

She discovered ENGEN Pitch & Polish a few years ago on social media. When they came to Mbombela, she registered the clothing design business, which is how her journey to discovery began.

When she was young and growing up in Mbombela, her mother could not afford to buy them new school uniforms. This inspired her to manufacture uniforms.

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“When I completed my studies and while I was working for a local radio station, I realised that I could produce school uniforms for the community at a reasonable price.

“I then decided to start my own manufacturing company. I went to local schools, took orders from parents and delivered them.”
School uniforms are an important part of the business, even though their initial focus has changed.

“I realised that uniform sales are at their peak at the beginning and the end of the school year. They cannot provide ongoing sales. In our business, one of our biggest challenges was trying to get our product out there without access to proper platforms. It is hard to participate in fashion shows, because the organisers want well known designers and getting our product into retail stores,” she explained.

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The Pitch & Polish platform is designed to give entrepreneurs the opportunity to have their ideas brainstormed, tested and challenged. Shongwe is grateful for the opportunity she got from ENGEN Petroleum and Nedbank. Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to get on to the internet to check out opportunities outside their comfort zones.

This year’s round of ENGEN Pitch & Polish is around the corner. The nearest location is Burgersfort where they will be on August 24.

If you have an idea to pitch, register online at pitchandpolish.com to enter your business.