Start where you are, with what you have and do what you can.

On image: Lerato Matheba-Tshabalala of Mrs Lee Detergents and Lerato M Chilli sauce.

Meet Lerato Matheba Tshabalala, a hardworking and a goal oriented woman who was born and bred in Ga-Sekhukhune and currently residing in Polokwane. Lerato is the first born in her family and have four more siblings, she is a wife and blessed with 3 children. Lerato learnt how to be independent in her early teenage years as she was away from her parents and home due to school, and that is where she got to learn and discover her own skills and talents.

Please share when did you commence with entrepreneurship and what inspired you to go for it? “Entrepreneurship has always been one of my biggest dream. During my school holidays I was able to do décor and catering services to my family and friends, I saved most of the money they pay to buy basic catering equipment and I can confidently confirm that it was the start of greater things. I saved my profit to upgrade my equipment and bought more to upgrade my decorations standard. My biggest inspiration in the entrepreneurship world has to be my mother. She was a tailor and she sold hand-made tailored clothes. Her spirit of hard work motivated me to always follow my dreams”.

Challenges you faced when trying to get your first business off the ground? “After my first official business which was décor and catering, the challenges I incurred were transportation, equipment and labor, and also running a business with a limited capital. I was sometimes booked in places that were far from where I was residing so I needed a bakkie/car with a trailer for my equipment, so transportation was a major setback. I also needed few hands to assist me with my decoration work and that meant I had to pay the people that worked with me. I had to take a loan from financial institutions in order to buy more equipment and that honestly drained me but despite all the odds I pushed through the obstacles and looked for solutions”.

Please share what are other businesses you running and how are you managing with running more than one business? “I am currently running a courier services, I do catering services for small and big events, I am manufacturing my own sauces Lerato M Hot Sauce that I make from the scratch and I have my own house holds detergents called Mrs Lee Detergents that I am also manufacturing from the scratch. I am managing with running multiple businesses, and running a business doesn't mean that you should not have fun. I always tell people that I'm the girl that goes to the groove, come back at 3am, chop chillies for my sauces and still make 100L’s of dishwashing liquid”.

Lastly, how can people from out of your town buy your products? “People in North West can get Lerato M Hot Sauce in Klerksdorp at Virgin Meat, and in Limpopo they can order from me via Whatsapp, we also do courier outside the province. The house holds detergents products are now available at City-Med Pharmacy in Polokwane Jorrison Street”.

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