WeeklySA_AdminINNOVATIONS: Entrepreneur ploughs back by training township youths
Baking and designing novelty cakes for various occasions is entrepreneurial innovator Tshepiso Nyakane’s unique selling point, and these are such a high demand that, on a good week she fields up to twenty orders.
Nyakane’s is best known for her delectable and exquisitely-designed birthday and wedding cakes which are made according to her clients’ chosen themes or photo profiles. And, almost the same way as the famous American reality television star, Buddy Velasco’s Cake Boss show, Nyakane’s custom-made cakes can be made to chime the customer’s favourite melodies. Among Nyakane’s myriad novelty cakes is one that can be seen spewing out hundred rand notes while pealing hip hop music star Big Zulu’s ditty, Imali Eningi.
But, it took a pregnancy-related craving for a delicious cake and a WhatsApp status showing Nyakane’s first few pretty cakes for Nyakane to leave her nine-to-five job and becoming self-employed. “When I was pregnant with my last born child, I had uncontrollable cravings for baked cream cakes; so, one day, I decided to bake one, and later posted its photograph on WhatsApp. Then one of my friends requested a similar cake for a baby shower. After that, the orders had started flowing in,” she said.
Nyakane, who holds a degree in financial planning, and was brave enough to resign from a financial services company, where he was working as a financial broker, so that she could happily pursue his new-found passion.
And, for someone who had no formal training in the craft of cake-making, Nyakane has done very well, so far. “Initially, I did not know the pricings and had to “Google” them, so that my newly-established business would not run at a loss,” said Nyakane, whose Protea Glen, Soweto-based company, Thee Gifted Hands, was registered in 2019.
She now intends to sort out her books for purposes of tax compliance. “I was encouraged to start a cake-making business when I had started making more money than I did from my regular job,” said Nyakane, who receives 20 orders on a good week. The prices for her cakes range from R800 to R1 200. Nyakane may be based in a township, but she attracts patrons from the well-heeled types residing in the suburbs, and uses e-hailing taxi services for deliveries.
To plough back to her community, Nyakane trains about 15 people, mostly youngsters, each month, for a small fee, but wishes she had a sponsor. “I also run kiddies’ classes, and my dream is to partner with local schools, to offer baking lessons,” Nyakane said. To circumvent the Covid-19 related restrictions, Nyakane transplanted her cake-making lessons to social media, and has registered more than 100 new learners on her virtual cake-making academy on Instagram. Nyakane also helps her clients with marketing tips. She has also created a spreadsheet to help her students monitor their profits and losses.
“People are eager to start businesses, especially when they are making money doing what they love the most,” Nyakane said. “So, I would like to encourage anyone who has a dream and passion, to just start with the little they may be having, and they can then grow from there.”
Nyakane, works with four staffers, told Weekly SA Mirror that was not aware that she could receive funding for her business, and accreditation for her training, as well as qualifications for her apprentices from the Food and Beverages Sector Education and Training Authority (FoodBev Seta). Weekly SA Mirror has arranged with the FoodBev Seta to assist Nyakane with registration and the process she has to follow to qualify for discretionary funding, and a representative from the Seta is expected to visit Thee Gifted Hands, soon, to start the ball rolling.
