A young business owner from Ntuzuma, KwaZulu-Natal, has transformed a personal frustration into a successful laundry and cleaning service.
Since 2021, Qhubo Ngema has expanded from washing sneakers to offering comprehensive laundry services, including cleaning clothes, carpets, car seats and sofas.
After dropping out of university during the Covid-19 pandemic, the business owner saw an opportunity in the market for convenient laundry services.
“I owned a pair of white All Star sneakers, and they were dirty, and I wanted someone to wash them for me. I knew there was a sneaker cleaning business out there, I didn’t want to go to town and spend taxi fare,” she recalled.
That was when it occurred to her that if she was facing this predicament, there were
likely more people in her area who needed the service.
“I literally took my pen and paper, and I told my sister, ‘This is what I’m going to do’.”
Her next step was to go on social media and advertise on her Facebook community page.
“I took everyone’s takkies at home and washed them and posted those pictures, and within two days, I had customers.”
What started with just a few clients has now grown to 15 to 20 clients for laundry and up to 60 pairs of sneakers per day, employing three permanent and two part-time staff members.
Ngema has since turned the two back rooms at her home into office space, with her
mother supporting her.
The 26-year-old stressed the importance of consistency and patience in business growth, noting that success does not happen overnight.
“In the beginning, I used to pray for five clients a month. For the first year, I’d receive two clients a month and business wasn’t doing great. But with God by my side and my consistency and my family’s support, things have changed.”
“When I started, I had no funds, no money. I literally had my hands. A year later, I bought a dryer for my laundry service.”
She is pushing ahead with expanding the business while encouraging other aspiring entrepreneurs to stay focused and persist.
- This article first appeared in Vuk’uzenzele
