Business Skills for South Africa

Training, perseverance, determination, a hunger for knowledge and a passion for business are the crucial qualities any entrepreneur should possess before attempting to start a new business.

This is the advice of Tshidi Sethoga, project manager of the Ujima-Bakwena Shoe Cooperative in Roodepoort. She and 18 others teamed up in 2006 to start their venture, and since then their cooperative has gone from strength to strength.

Tshidi and three of her colleagues, deputy project manager Fikile Zikhali, treasurer Grace Mashabela and secretary Joyce Sephiri attended BSSA courses on practical marketing, pricing and costing, and effective financial management in 2010. The courses formed part of the business skills training BSSA is offering to women as part of the Faranani Rural Women Training Initiative launched in 2006 by PwC to develop entrepreneurship among women.

“We started out as two separate cooperatives, Ujima and Bakwena, after we were retrenched in the leather and shoe industry. An Italian shoe designer taught us how to make school shoes, but we struggled since we had no machinery,” says Tshidi.

They approached the Gauteng Department of Social Development for a grant, and after further skills training at a development centre called Hluvuko, they were awarded the grant and were able to buy the necessary machinery. In December 2007, the cooperative was granted an order for 40 000 school shoes by the Department as part of the Gauteng Provincial Government’s Bana Pele programme.

“By end of February 2008, 25 000 pairs were finished and delivered within the Gauteng region, made in accordance with SABS standards,” says Tshidi.

After the successful completion of this order, the two teams joined forces and established the UjimaBakwena Cooperative in March 2008. The cooperative now has 17 members (14 women and three men) and 83 part-time employees.

The cooperative has also received support from Chemcity, the National Industrial Chamber (NIC), Seda, the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP) and the National Development Agency (NDA). In 2009, they won the Best National Cooperative Award at the International Cooperatives Day held in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal.

To date, they have produced 120 000 pairs of shoes for the Department. Another recent project entailed making 300 pairs for the SA Navy. They have launched their own brand of high-quality school shoes, African Action, and aim to soon have a full range of leather products including fashion wear, work wear and belts.

“The BSSA courses definitely gave us a huge boost. Before, we had to hire someone to do our costing, but we are now able to do this ourselves. Our stocktaking has also improved,” says Tshidi.

“It was also wonderful to meet other entrepreneurs and role-models, and the courses presented great networking opportunities. Our training and all the support we have received have made our cooperative strong. We are now confident to face any challenge.”