Vaya - a South African sneaker brand that celebrates excellence.
- Apr 1, 2021
- 2 min read
VAYA Footwear is the brainchild of Themba Makamo, an entrepreneur from Katlehong Township in the East Rand. Themba is a journalist by profession and worked for over 8 years as a journalist until he took a decision to venture into entrepreneurship in the early 2010’s.
Thabang Ledwaba is a co-founder and brand manager. He joined VAYA when it was still an idea and played an integral part in bringing that idea to life. He is a shareholder and the first official employee of the business. He has a Marketing and a communications degree and has worked as a sales rep, a college facilitator, and a business development facilitator.
Please share why the name VAYA and what inspired you to go for it? "VAYA is a township slang for “Go” or ‘Going’ which forms an integral part of our core business. We exists to remind ambitious South Africans to keep going for their goals and dreams, hence our tagline ‘Go for it’".
Challenges when you started? "Capital, capital, capital. A challenge faced by most start-up businesses, we had to sacrifice a lot of things to get the project moving including selling some personal assets. At some point during the foundation of the business, we lost so much that the only valuable assets left in the business were our smartphones and data".
And your highlights since inception? “We had a target to sell just 20 orders on pre-order by the end of February 2021. We exceeded that target by over 400% and we were left with more orders than the stock we had on hand. When we started making deliveries, we had so many repeat customers who praised our product’s comfortability, and other attention to detail features. That is when we confirmed that this is indeed a good product”.
Lastly, where do you see VAYA in 5 years-time? “In 5 years-time, the business will be competing in the international space with big international corporates that have been dominating the markets for decades. We are indeed a shoe for the ambitious”.
Connect with us here:
Website: vaya4it.co.za
Twitter: Vaya_Footwear
Facebook: Vaya Footwear
Instagram: Vaya Rsa
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