Globally renowned brand Zuluish, growing strong in the appliances and automation industry.

On image: Yandisa Zulu, owner of Zuluish appliances and automation.

Born in Gauteng and bred in different towns of Mzansi such as Mount Frere in the Eastern Cape and Durban in KwaZulu Natal, and currently residing in Gauteng where he runs his business, Mr Yandisa Zulu is the man behind Zuluish; the renowned appliance brand known for its range of incredibly stylish kettles. Yandisa Zulu’s academic background is a combination of different fields of study ranging from theology to construction which paved the way to this globally renowned brand that has disrupted the kitchen appliances industry and created an easy to identify product amongst many in the market. Growing up, Yandisa enjoyed staying indoors. His curious nature was fed by TV which was his main source of , to access the world and it's knowledge. Yandisa believes that watching TV that taught him a lot about the world and how it works.

When did you start with Zuluish and what inspired you to even start with this brand? "I started with Zuluish in 2014. By the I had a love for technology and following a lot of great names like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Bill Gates and others. After the great influence from these gentlemen, I sat down, studied and researched a lot of the tech-driven solutions created by these great individuals and companies from different corners of the world. I realized that there is a direction that the world is taking, which is to better the economy of each country through social and tech solutions. With that said, I realized for myself that whether one participates or not in following these trend solutions, the world won't stop but will keep moving, so I make a decision to also partake in building my countries economy through something that will not only be about revenues, but a product that is unique, identical and can leave a great legacy for my family, that's when this globally renowned Zuluish brand was born".

What have been your challenges so far, and how have you tackled them? "Before I even began with the brand one of the challenges was realizing that one is on his own when it comes to what I wanted to pursue, I mean when I asked one of the closest people in my life to assist on guiding me on who can I go to for proper information about getting into this business, I was shuttered off and sent to google instead, meaning our own can be a stumble block though they have access to the information we need to start our journey. Secondly, after the business had got off the ground our people had an issue with the name of the brand, an issue that was never there for most European brands that people use daily. People failed to realize that the brand is putting not only my surname, but the country and the whole continent on the map because anywhere in the world as the brand has been bought out of the country they can easily identify it as South African by just a simple clan name, which can only be found in Africa, specifically in the South of Africa. But the positive thing about that challenge is that it created conversations around the brand, now we are able to tell our story, because Zuluish is not just a kettle appliance brand, but a nation-building solution as the goal is to educate our people to be comfortable incorporating our brands to our cultures, to surnames or clan names, I mean we should stop accepting our brands only after they have been accepted by the European or American market, for example brands like Maxhosa were never taken seriously until the biggest markets recognized them and their prices, now South Africans are proud of Maxhosa, so that's the narrative we should change, and teach each other to recognize and support our own”.

So, tell us what are you trying to achieve with your brand? “What I'm trying to achieve is that, as an African child, you don't have to use an English name for your brand to be accepted in the market. Remember our surnames are the only things that transfer generationally, so using them creates a legacy. I wanted a brand that reflects not only myself but Africa, and I have achieved that as whenever people think Zuluish they think Africa, they think South Africa, they think KZN, so the brand represents who I am. I am an African. We also want to collaborate with other brands to empower the youth and create job opportunities, and that is what we are proud of as a brand".

When not working, what do you normally do, and what kind of topics interest you as an individual? "I spend most of my time indoors, so if I could be given an opportunity to go to the club or library, I would go to the library because I love reading, especially reading about my business industry. I'm also passionate about social issues like GBV and human trafficking.. If there's one conversation I would like to speak about more in our community it's "adoption", as black families we should normalize adopting, because millions of orphans are black. I believe we need to start adopting, but before we do that we need to sort out our families first so we can adopt kids into healthy and positive environments".

What advice would you give an entrepreneur out there? “I would say as an entrepreneur one has to learn to keep things to themselves, try not to speak about your next move to avoid negativity. People don't know what they say can make or break you, so by not speaking about your moves to them you are also helping them not to indirectly advise you negatively. For example, the first time my mother saw me on TV, was the first time she learned about my kettle appliance brand. I know she loves me so much as we have a healthy relationship, but entrepreneurs should learn to keep their business to themselves".

Cover image by: Bongumusa Dhlamini

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Website: www.zuluishappliances.co.za

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