Thokozani Khoza: A Taking Care of Business Success Story
Repair Programme -
Restoring a family’s dignity and dreams through TCB Repair
Image supplied by the publicist
Taking Care of Business (TCB) is a unique social enterprise development non-profit that works to help South Africans become self-employed.
TCB empowers unemployed South Africans and their families to escape the cycle of poverty through small business opportunities, mostly within the circular economy.
TCB has three enterprise development programmes, Resell, Remake and Repair, that take on more than 1000 new participants each year.
All three are 12-24-month intensive training programmes that provide participants with business and personal skills and mentorship so that they can be successful.
Thokozani Khoza, from Umlazi, Durban joined TCB’s Repair programme in April 2022. He and his wife have five children and he was struggling to provide for them.
He says,
“Before I joined TCB, things were not going well since no one in the family was employed. I do have a matric certificate, and I was working as a casual employee in one of the hotels here in Durban, but after COVID some of us got retrenched. Things went very bad. Then I was stocking clothes at a Chinese wholesaler and selling clothes from this business. In February 2022, the whole building burnt down with everything inside and I didn’t know where to get my stock.”
Thokozani applied and was accepted into the Repair Programme because he wanted to get stock and try to get his business up and running again.
He says,
“The journey with TCB has not been easy. I am the only provider in my family and with no other source of income sometimes I thought I could rather use that time to work. The thing is, I soon realised that I needed to be at TCB for the technical, business, and life skills training, which was helping me take my business to a new level. It’s a commitment, but it’s worth it.”
TCB Repair uses appliances donated by large retailers such as Clicks, Shoprite, Checkers and @Home. These items are customer returns, damaged goods or deadstock that would otherwise have been sent to landfill. Participants are taught to repair appliances and sell them on the informal market, building their own small businesses. Over the two years, and while running their businesses, participants receive more than 1000 hours of mentorship and training. This training is crucial to ensuring they are able to run financially viable, sustainable businesses even after they leave the TCB programme.
“TCB is a chance for those who could not get a higher education to learn business skills so they can grow their businesses and change the lives of their families,”
says Thokozani.
“TCB provides us with stock at very low prices to sell within our own small businesses. I have learned a lot about business skills like keeping my business records, marketing my business, conducting market research, and the business funding options available. It’s a very good idea to repair these appliances because they are being sold again to the public at a lower price instead of being dumped into landfills, which can be dangerous to our environment,”
he explains.
“I have now changed the way I look at my business. I know who my customers are, where they are, and what they need. And my personal money matters have changed because now I don’t buy what I want, but I buy what I need. I learned about money management, debt and savings in the Me and My Money training,”
says Thokozani.
“My life has also changed a lot. I have regained my dignity in my community because now they can see my family is happy, and I am able to provide for them, and my business is growing. I’ve even been able to buy a car to transport my stock,”
he says.
“My family is so happy, and my wife started to believe that we can live from this business.”
Thokozani says,
“Being a business owner means the amount of effort you put into your business determines how much success you will get out of it. You are driving your own ship. My dream is to have a business that will sell new and repaired appliances and fashion clothes all in one store."
“My advice to others is to take a chance and go to TCB or any other institution that could help you get the skills and motivation. Then nothing can stop you.”
Image supplied by the publicist
Donate to TCB: Your contribution, no matter the size, fuels our mission to empower individuals to become self-sufficient and successful business owners to build a better future for themselves and their families. Donate now.
