Local entrepreneur Patrick Mahlangu encourages the youth of the community to persevere and continue striving to achieve their goals.
Mahlangu, who was bit by the entrepreneurial journey at a very young age, currently runs two businesses, media platform Pat On Brands and marketing agency Lerato Agency – both of which are exclusively youth-owned and run.
“I wanted to create an environment where young people could have the opportunity to be in the room and have a seat at the table with some of the country’s top brands, the captains of the industry,” he said.
In an effort to work towards this goal, Pat On Brands hosts monthly dialogues, a podcast and more recently, the Top 16 Youth-Owned Brands Awards. Lerato Agency on the other hand aims to craft brands that people love – Lerato means love in seSotho.
“We have been fortunate to work with a number of big brands such as Tiger Bands, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation, Brand South Africa and so many more.”
While the recent journey with Pat On Brands and Lerato Agency proved fruitful, Mahlangu notes that it took a long and challenging journey which required a lot of hard work and endless hours of commitment to get to this point.
“Like many entrepreneurs, my journey started back in school where I sold sweets and in university, I sold textbooks just to make ends meet and to make extra money because I was not from a finally well-off family.”
Mahlangu’s first official business ventures came in the form of a personal protective equipment business which he first registered while at varsity. This unfortunately did not last long, which, in turn, led to the birth of Varsity TV.
“Through an assignment, we had to establish a digital platform that would help keep students informed. I created an online media platform that students would be able to access and stay informed about what was going on in and around them.”
Varsity TV was in operation for two years at both the University of Johannesburg as well as the University of Witwatersrand.
Mahlangu emphasised that through all of these ventures, he made use of the tools that he had at his disposal – a skill that young budding entrepreneurs must learn.
“You have to start where you are with what you have and the amazing thing is that once you do start, you will begin to think that I should have actually started this earlier.”
Details: www.lerato.agency; www.patonbrands.com
Related articles:
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/319175/celebrating-youth-owned-brands/
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/296797/bridging-the-digital-gap-among-youth/
