The sky is the limit for Shaka’s Head paper entrepreneur Mbali

Mbalenhle “Mbali” Ngcobo is a hardcore entrepreneur who works day and night to keep her fledgling business running, while fulfilling her duties of being both a mother and a wife.

The 26 year old started Ifutho Paper in 2016 when she saw a niche in the market for paper converting on the North Coast.

Over two and a bit years she sourced the machinery, suppliers and funding and was finally able to begin production in January this year.

Her mini factory is at Imbonini Park in Shaka’s Head and produces A3 and A4 paper for numerous clients, including Enterprise Ilembe.

She has been amazed by the huge interested shown in her product.

“We are currently working on penetrating the market in a larger scale so that we can hire more people and do our part in decreasing the rate of unemployment.

When the current operation is fully developed it has the potential to hire and train 10 people,” said Ngcobo.

She works from 8.30am until 4pm, doing the administration, attending meetings with potential clients and sourcing funding.

Then she goes home to spend time with her two daughters and cook for her family in Ballito.

At 6.30pm she is back at the factory where she gets busy cutting and packing the paper, usually clocking off around 10pm.

“If there is a big order, I sometimes go home at 4.30am and the next morning I need to be back at the office by 8.30am.

“It my golden rule to ensure that I have at least 100 boxes ready for delivery at any time. I only get a night off if business is slow and I have enough boxes packed.”

The young woman is full of ambition and passion for her business.

“I was born and brewed in Umlazi Township. I then moved to Ballito in 2016 after I got married,” she said.

At 16 she started working part-time at a store in Pavilion shopping center, while she was doing grade 10 at Vukuzakhe High School.

“I used to do sales and admin. I think it was working there that opened my eyes to running a business because I was working closely with the director.”

She said paper was always in demand but the market was dominated by two companies, Typek and Rotatrim,

“I thought this could be an opportunity for me since there was a gap for a new competitor.

“We outsource the paper reel (big roll of paper), we have a machine that cuts it to size (A4 and A3), we manually wrap it with our branding and then deliver it to our customers.

“The business journey has been long and challenging but at the same time it is very rewarding to reflect on the progress that I have made in such a short time with limited resources.”

She thanked Enterprise iLembe for holding her hand as an entrepreneur and for always supporting her whenever she kneels down for help.

“They organise workshops for entrepreneurs and help us fill forms, to ensure we comply with requirements, furthermore they are my clients.

“We understand there is a long way to go but we are looking forward to the future,” said Ngcobo.”

• Correction: The original article referred to Mabali as a ‘paper producer’ when she is in fact a ‘paper converter’.