Quality Growth International

I would like to thank my mother for teaching me the way around a kitchen. I am not a chef, but hey, at least I can put together a decent meal.

Any person in the construction industry can attest to the fact that a construction site can  have well over 100 black workers at time. I saw an opportunity to make some money while spending my time on-site. I stocked up on Chicken Avfal (Dikilana; Malana; Maotwana; Melalana) at Marabastad. 

I started selling food on site with my then helper (may God bless her soul). Hubstar gifted me with a 4 plate gas stove at the time. We would start cooking around 08:00 at home in Pretoria East; load the food on my VW Amarok and by 13:00, we would be on site selling. Even other races started buying food from us.

We sold pap, seshebo and salsa in a foam packet for R15 each. I would make 100 makaku (in Sepedi, after cooking pap, we have a way of making it into balls using a saucer. The pap is called lekaku=singlur and makaku = plural). We sold  each and every day without fail. We  sold 100 plates a day; you do the maths… This money assisted my helper to buy a roof for her house back in her rural home. When I walked into Sandton City – the richest square mile in Africa- to buy items, no one knew that I got this money from selling food because Money is Money.

I remember my helper used to say: “Wa tseba, Mama maemo a o leng ho ona, motho a kekebe a dumela hore o khona le ho rekisa dijo.” Loosely translated: “Mother, no one would believe you sell food based on your social standard/social class” 

Lessons:
1. Money is money and every rand counts.
2. Pride of doing certain work/business does not generate any Income.
3. Look for Opportunities and take advantage of them.
4. Be open to creating multiple streams of Income.

May your cup overflow such that you cannot contain it.

Yours Sincerely,

Tebogo. F Raphakgadi

Feature Blogger

Tebogo.F Raphakgadi is an innovative entrepreneur currently involved, actively and as an investor, in businesses in the following industries:
Property Development & Investment, Coal Mining, Transport & Logistics, and the innovative Motsetserepe Hardbody Chicken. She is a featured blogger at Quality Growth International.