Samuel Mofokeng is an extraordinary entrepreneur and his story is equally extraordinary.
He started out working at his brother’s shoe table. However, that business was destroyed in 2005 when criminals raided the storage of all of the Kliptown vendors – stealing practically all of their stock. Another example of the destructive force which is crime: this was the death knell to many small businesses on Walter Sisulu Square.
One of the businesses that ceased to exist was that of Samuel Mofokeng’s brother – he merely didn’t have the money nor the appetite to completely restock his business and start over. Now without a job, Mr Sam had to think on his feet. With a R1,000 loan from a lady at his church, he bought a box with twelve pairs of shoes to start his own business. This was December-time with a busy square and the merchants in disarray.
By that same afternoon he had sold all of the stock and started growing his business buying additional stock from the profit. That Christmas, Mr Sam had a shop spanning an entire table full of shoes and the loan had been repaid.
In 2012, Mr Sam changed from shoes to Cosmetics. Seeing an under-served area in the market, he knew that cosmetics needed to be replaced much more regularly and had a bigger market opportunity.
After starting to sell cosmetics, he realised that the young ladies buying his products often didn’t understand how to apply products such as nails and eye-lashes. Learning about the products himself, he started applying these products at his shop.
“It really helps to market my shop. When people look beautiful, they like to boast. And when people ask where they had it done, they tell the people about my shop.”
And how do you stay abreast of the trends and know what to stock? “Your customers tell you what they want. You must just really listen when they speak to you.”
It was shortly after changing to cosmetics that Mr Sam joined Xhantela. “Look at my shop now. It is with the help of Xhantela that I’ve grown from one to four ‘departments’.”
“I can talk all day about what Xhantela has done for me” he says. “I have bought my own car; my own house; and I could pay for a beautiful white wedding last year. All of this from the profits of my business made possible by Xhantela.”
What about the future? Where does he see his business going?
“My shop is where I want it to be… Now I want to create more branches and expand that way. My customers know me; they know the service they get from me – it is a challenge to grow the business to be bigger than me. But I have plans, and I’m working on it.
“Xhantela helps me to maintain my stock levels throughout the cycles of the market” he says, “and the most important thing: Xhantela doesn’t take advantage of us – it is here to help people.”
With profits from his business Mr Sam looks after his mother and his grandmother. He also helps his brothers and cousins when they struggle financially. Newly married with a baby on the way, he shows no worries about the financial impact of starting a family.
Mr Sam Mofokeng is a true entrepreneur and a corner stone of his family. It is an honour to have people such as Mr Sam as our members.
Photos by Shornespear Photography