Johannesburg - In all aspects of society, there are phenomenal women who are making a difference in the lives of those around them while also striving for new heights. This Women’s Month, the Saturday Star will be profiling some of the nation’s leading ladies.
Entrepreneur Tracey Mbuli has defied the odds stacked up against her when it came to starting her own business.
The 28-year-old, who now is determined to build a burger and loaded fries empire and leave a legacy for her young son, had to overcome several challenges.
This includes pursuing her studies, falling pregnant at age 21, and using her last allowance to buy second-hand clothes to sell at school to find some financial freedom.
But now Mbuli is the first member of her family in three generations to obtain a university degree and become a woman business owner. As the proud founder of DiChips, a successful fast-food business specialising in loaded chips and burgers, her services are available at pop-ups stalls and bookings at events around Johannesburg.
Mbuli is also a solutions analyst at a leading media company and a proud business owner and she holds a certificate in Business Analysis, BCom Business Management degree and BCom (Honours) in Business Management.
She explained that she had leadership skills and natural business acumen from an early age. “As early as primary school, I was everyone’s go-to person because of my networking skills, I knew almost everyone in the school. I was in Northern Academy in Polokwane back then and it was here that people started saying I was destined to be a businesswoman.”
As she always dreamt of owning her own business, Mbuli was met with many obstacles.
It started when she didn’t achieve the results she needed to register at the university of her choice, so she moved to another province to take an extended program that allowed her to enrol with the marks she had obtained so she could study the course she had planned on.
“I was told to study something that I could qualify for, but my fighting spirit wouldn’t settle for just anything. My eye was focused on my goal, so I decided to travel to the University of Limpopo,” she said.
“With grace, luck, and a few disheartening challenges, I was accepted into the BCom degree I wanted and furthermore, also awarded top student in my degree.”
But then at the age of 21 and three years into her studies, Mbuli fell pregnant. “My parents decided to revoke my monthly allowance which meant I had to act like a mom and not a girl anymore.”
“I decided to use the last allowance I had to buy second-hand clothes in Johannesburg CBD and sell them at school. This gave me some financial freedom, and I quickly learned to be independent and take care of myself.”
As a young mother in varsity, Mbuli started a small informal food market called House of Eden, an event she recalls becoming popular among her fellow students where she and other vendors would sell street foods on campus. She continued juggling these income streams until she completed her Honours degree, finally landing a job at Prime Meridian Direct in Johannesburg.
The Covid-19 pandemic came with many challenges for Mbuli and her family. She lost her grandmother in 2020 and was retrenched from work a few months later. This sent her into a spiralling depression, but she refused to remain a victim of her situation.
“I decided to pick myself up and use the little money I had to start my business again, but this time in Joburg.”
“This meant working with what I had, and I made it work for me.”
Mbuli’s family stepped in to assist her during this period, helping her buy equipment and other essentials to get the ball rolling.
With a simple formula - burgers and chips loaded with cheese and other generous toppings - Mbuli soon grew DiChips into a formidable business. While she was in the process of finding a property to house her business permanently, an aunt sent her an advert calling for applications for a work-readiness program at youth development centre Afrika Tikkun Services.
Mbuli applied to the program and while she was waiting for a response, she enrolled in the Global Skills Initiative program offered at Afrika Tikkun Services. Through the course with Afrika Tikkun Services, she attained qualifications in Project Management, Data analysis, Customer service, IT administration and Software development. Mbuli has also recently completed the work readiness program.
Mbuli credits her recent success to Afrika Tikkun Services for affording her an opportunity to work under the organisation’s small business incubation program and encourages other young entrepreneurs to reach out to skills and youth development organisations such as Afrika Tikkun Services who help disadvantaged youths acquire skills and resources to become entrepreneurs or find employment opportunities.