Founder: Tokelo Mkhize
Entrepreneur

BUSINESS ACTIVITY

We manufacture beautiful handmade accessories that are made from beads, some of the products are painted and we also reuse and recycle some of the material we get, our products are both for fashion accessories as well as home decoration.

BUSINESS PRIOR TO PARTICIPATING ON CED

It all began when I participated in the student entrepreneur week at TUT and then enrolled into the CED. Before joining the programme I was running a business of just making wall clocks and the business was not registered and as I was attending some sessions, I then saw a need to expand my product range. So, I started making traditional accessories for homes and people that are custom-made that allow people and their homes to have an African look and be stylish.

BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS SINCE ENROLLING ON CED

Since I joined the centre I have gained a lot of skills, such operating the business, managing the finances and pricing and selling the accessories and I got the assistance with registering my business and learning more about the importance of the employees safety and how a business should be run.

POSITIVE BUSINESS OUTCOMES ATTRIBUTED TO CED PARTICIPATION

I’ve upgraded and understand my finances better and managing my marketing. My participation on the CED with the mentoring and Coaching caused me to question my original product idea to decide whether it was viable or not. This caused me to expand and develop my product range to meet market requirements.

ASPIRATIONS FOR THE BUSINESS

My objective is to make elegant traditional accessories for humans and homes and to make our products to always remind people of who they really are. Through our creativity Buative will become a sought after brand.

NEXT LEVEL FUNDING REQUIREMENT AND WHAT IS THE ANTICIPATED GROWTH OF THE BUSINESS AT THIS NEXT LEVEL

At the current moment I feel self-funding can work best for me since I don’t really need the expensive equipment, but I wouldn’t resist to be assisted. The anticipated growth for the business is to see more people knowing more about our products and purchasing them.