After going door to door selling perfumes for extra cash during his varsity days, Theo Baloyi is now planning to release his own health and beauty products, under the brand Avenue Xchange.
The multiple award-winning businessman was inspired by the hustle when he partnered with his friend Andrew Lale, selling perfumes door to door in their spare time.
Hailing from the small village of Phake near Hammanskraal, Baloyi started school at Shalom Primary School and completed it at Mabothe Senior Secondary School – at the time, he only dreamt of working for an accounting firm.
He moved to Alexandra to stay with his uncle while he studied BCom in accounting sciences at Unisa in 2009.
“I think this is when my love for entrepreneurship was ignited because this is when I, together with Andrew, realised that people of Alexandra love socialising and looking beautiful. So, we went to a store in Randburg where we bought perfumes to resell in our township.
“Today, I realised that high-end premium colognes are too expensive for many people, and everyone wants to smell good, so I am bringing that to the people.
“The products will be affordable, and I am bringing things that are new in the country,” said Baloyi.
The 33-year-old said this was in an effort to create more jobs in South Africa, saying he realised that some unemployed people were not lazy, they were just not exposed to employment opportunities.
He says job creation is a priority for him.
“I am a product of opportunity because I got a 100% bursary to further my studies and I had an opportunity to work in the UAE [United Arab Emirates] for an asset management firm.
“The UAE changed me and helped me grow, and this is one of the things that helped me start the first business.
“I would come home and see no change. Every time I came back I would know what to expect,” he said.
“People from my township are wandering around and sitting on the street corners because there is nothing for them to do and some of them are even losing hope of finding a job.
“I had to do what I could, and I am grateful for their support and inspiration.”
Baloyi said he always bought sneakers while working in Dubai and the thought occurred to him that “when you buy too much of something, why not own it”.
This is when he was inspired to start working on Bathu, a proudly South African sneaker brand.
He has also expanded the range by designing affordable school shoes that have been donated to several schools through the Bathu Care Project.
He says Bathu employs more than 300 people, and he hopes the shoe company will continue to create more employment in the country and save more people from drowning in the sorrow of being unable to put food on the table.
Baloyi sits with 18 honours, including the All Africa Young Business Leader of the Year 2022, Africa Entrepreneur of the Year 2021, CEO of the Year 2021, Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 2019 and Most Influential Young South African in Business 2019.
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