Blood, sweat and tears pay off
“This company was started as a black empowerment venture. I believe in the programme, but if a person doesn’t add value it’s not empowerment, it’s fronting,” says Tebogo.
STEELPOORT – A young resident, Ms Tebogo Molapo (28) dreamed of greatness while growing up.
She attended Burgersfort Primary School and Lydenburg High School, and transformed into a sophisticated young businesswoman by making use of each opportunity that came her way.
Today she is the first in town to own a Waltons stationery store, which opened in this area. Wakhanyane Pty Ltd, Tebogo’s company will be trading as Waltons Independent and will be run solely by her.
After school she studied chemical engineering at Tshwane University of Technology and moved on to complete her practical at Samancor. While working at the mine, she started an event management company which partnered with the Department of Education to host several career expos. “My first expo accommodated 800 learners and they have grown in the past four years to see 10 000 learners on an annual basis,” Tebogo says proudly.
Wakhanyane is solely owned by this young woman. “This company was started as a black empowerment venture. I believe in the programme, but if a person doesn’t add value it’s not empowerment, it’s fronting,” says Tebogo.
Waltons has assisted her small business with funding, capacity building and skills transfer in a deal estimated worth R1,8 million, and will see the female-led company benefit from its experience, longevity, scale, efficiencies and networks.
Tebogo’s advice to the youth, who dream of becoming entrepreneurs, is, “Prepare yourself for the opportunities that will come your way. Do things you love and earn money that way. Don’t ever think yourself too important. In order to gain experience you sometimes need to volunteer. Surround yourself with driven people, pick their brains and learn from them.”
She says there is no shortcut to success and that one should work hard and have patience in order to achieve one’s dreams. “A person once told me that a sheep is never recognised in its own village. It takes an outsider to see its potential. Someone will notice your worth one day and give you the opportunity to achieve greatness.”
She had to risk a lot in order to become the person she is today. “I took part-time jobs, I compromised my youth by moving back to a small town and I had to risk not earning money at the end of the day.”
Tebogo feels that she is living proof that hard work pays off.
“If you can dream it, you can do it. Just have patience.”
