The electricity in the township is out again. The residents cannot cook food for themselves or for their families and the nearest store is a decent walk away. Besides, walking in the dark of the night is never the safest option for anybody.
Nokuthula Ngcopo was tired of seeing this incident happen over and over again. This was a community she was born into and had grown up to love and so she came up with a business idea that serves Lamontville.
This is how “Fuza’s Fast Foods” came to be.
But starting and running a business is never an easy task especially when there is little to no capital, and you have no business experience. Although Nokuthula quickly gained customers, she would never know if she was making much of a profit or covering her expenses because she hadn’t learnt how to record her finances properly. It was also difficult to be efficient when she couldn’t afford the necessary equipment such as a frying machine and a chopping machine.
But, as the breadwinner of her house – with four kids and a mother to look after – she had to continue working.
Eventually she heard about the Paradigm Shift Business Course that’s run by CAST and started attending the weekly forums.
“Through Paradigm Shift I was able to get a loan to buy a frying machine. The course also taught me how to save, how to record my finances and how to handle customers. The spiritual aspect of the course helped me a lot too. Now I have started to pray every night and every morning which I never used to do before.”
Since being involved in the Paradigm Shift Course, Nokuthula has noticed a dramatic improvement in her business. She is selling more on a daily basis and her customer database has increased. She estimates that she is earning a monthly profit of between R1200-R1500. She is now able to employ another lady to assist her which helps her business to run more efficiently and effectively.
“My dream would be to open different fast food branches in other communities and in town.”
And now that she has acquired business knowledge and experience, that dream has more potential to become a reality.
