Business is not for the faint-hearted, it needs resilience and patience, that is the warning from Lakhe Nteli-Ntuma, a young businesswoman who owns Meating Spot restaurant in Greenpoint in Khayelitsha.
Nteli-Ntuma (38) started her business from a shack in 2014 after quitting her job at a restaurant, where she worked for four years. It never crossed her mind that one day she would be the owner of a business.
“I was working at a restaurant in the Waterfront as a chef for four years. So, when I was at home I’d cook nice food,” boasted Nteli-Ntuma.
The delicious meals proved to be the master stroke as her husband Luvo, then boyfriend, would post the food on social media.
She said one day her husband, who is also a businessman, asked her if she did not want to open her own business.
As the pair was still dating, she was reluctant to resign.
“I was scared to just leave my job and start a new business with him even though we had been dating for years. At the time we already had two children and I was pregnant with the third child. It was in September 2013 where he forced me to resign and wrote a resignation letter for me. He then accompanied me to submit it at work,” explained Nteli-Ntuma.
She started her business selling braai meat, sausage, liver and wings among others in a shack next to their house.
The mother of four said having a business is no child’s play.
“Honestly, when I started it I wasn’t into a business. I was doing it for the sake of my husband because he kept on pushing me.
“In 2017, we got married and the same year we bought a plot just next to our house. I moved out from the shack and started selling in the new house after we renovated it,” she said.
Nteli-Ntuma said because they had a bit of a space they converted the house to a restaurant. At the time, they had three customer tables.
Her love for business only then began to flourish.
“Things started to happen, I also began enjoying it. The business was booming. We started selling plates with pap or samp and meat, steamed bread, mleqwa, ribs (pork), tripe, beef, seafood and so forth,” she said.
Nteli-Ntuma said, early last year, they bought another plot next to their establishment. At the same time they started constructing a bigger structure where they currently operate from.
“We completed its construction early this year,” she said, adding that in June they formally opened the building.
She said whenever she looks at where it all started she simply does not believe how things have changed.
To date, the business has 18 employees and operates between 08:00 and 22:00 from Monday to Thursday, and between 09:00 and 22:00 from Friday to Sunday. “I have security guards who are here every day,” she said.
The ever smiling Nteli-Ntuma said business success requires a lot of patience, love as well as a hands-on approach.
“One of the weaknesses for other young businesses is to delegate too much. If you want to see your business grow you must be involved. Talk to your customers and ask them what they like or dislike. That little chat with the customers is very important because that is how you get to know them better,” she said.
Nteli-Ntuma stated that it is difficult to balance her business and family.
“Being a business woman and a mother is difficult because I’m always busy. But even though both I and my husband are busy we try to make time for the family where maybe we take a day off and take out the children for dinner. Sometimes if I’m busy my husband goes alone with the children.
“I’m happy that my husband is supportive even though he has to manage his own business on the other side,” she explained.
Nteli-Ntuma said in 10 years to come she wishes to open another restaurant in Cape Town where she is going to sell African food.
