Black excellence is what best describes it when a business from the township is set to be an inspiration to others; it gets even better when two businesses merge to create something out of the ordinary.
By: Lerato Moteane
A young business-man from Vosloorus, Thapelo Ndala, is breaking boundaries with his partnership establishment of selling fruits and vegetables at a corner in Vosloorus. An accounting graduate from the University of Johannesburg, Thapelo started his business called 'Bundle of Freshness' on the 1st of April 2020, which was his son's birthday; and his business has been an inspiration to many. The inspiration behind him starting a business like this was because he had an idea of selling vegetables. Thapelo says that "I spoke about having a business of selling vegetables to one of my friends, Gift Halale which was around December 2019 but at that time I didn't have funding to start the business. When we found out that we are going to be under lockdown, he called and reminded me about the business I once pitched to him and advised me to start the business because it was hard for people to get food and groceries during this lockdown period and that's when Bundle of Freshness was established." A joint venture came about when there was a decision upon selling both fruits and vegetables to cater for customers' needs. "Bundle of Freshness started with delivering vegetable hampers to clients and as time went by it went into a partnership with 'Taste of Freshness,' a company that only sells fruit hampers; and that's when we decided to open a corner called 'Corner of Freshness' where people can be able to obtain both fresh fruits and vegetables," Thapelo said. There are a lot of other businesses like his, but creating the uniqueness is what makes a business stand out. Thapelo mentions what makes them different from other businesses like his and says that "the difference that we bring is having one unique and more modern corner in the township. Having a look that's different compared to what we are used to seeing in the townships, bringing a fresh new look, and having reasonable and affordable prices for our customers is what sets us apart." For people who aspire to be business owners in the future, he shares his words of encouragement and says that "never be ashamed to start whatever business you feel like you want to start; make sure you put in the effort and hardwork at all times and never compromise with what you offer to your clients in order to make more profit. Also, make sure you offer the best customer service at all times because that's the most vital part of your business." Thapelo shares his future plans and says that "the plans that we have for the business as a whole, is that we are aiming at becoming one of the biggest fruit and vegetable suppliers. As we have achieved a different and unique style and format for our corner, we are also planning on branching out to different areas as time goes by and keep on maintaining the same standard that we have, and also building our own brand as Corner of Freshness." The business is currently doing well and it is progressing, whilst customers continue to support them due to the exposure they get on social media.
