Lutendo Steven Tshisevhe heeded the call to countless jobless South Africans to create their own employment through entrepreneurship long ago. In 2011, the 34-year-old resident of Lwamondo Khumbe village, outside Thohoyandou, started his own nursery specialising in crafted and non-crafted fruit trees, flowers, vegetable seedlings, and shade trees. Today, business is booming.
"Other farmers started coming to me to discuss their interests and preferences regarding vegetable seedlings. We would engage in discussions about this business. Customers also started coming in numbers and motivated me to work harder to satisfy them. Meanwhile, my business was growing quickly," he said.
But like many other entrepreneurs who start their businesses from scratch, he too faced difficulties. "I did not have enough capital to run the nursery as I had imagined. I had too many customers, and the demand was very high. I remember one of my clients telling me, 'You are innovative in the business of white people, so you need to be strong because what you are doing is not easy.' In 2018, I entered the local municipality's Youth Aspirations Farmer competition and secured the second position in the Backyard Farmers category. They gave me a certificate and the money I needed, and from there, I started expanding my business ideas."
Tshisevhe mentioned that some of his challenges involve the rainy season as his crops often get damaged, leading to conflicts with his customers. "During heavy rains, my seedlings used to get damaged, and customers who had placed their orders started complaining about delays. They threatened to cancel their orders and requested refunds, as they needed to make alternative plans for seedlings. When the rains damaged the seedlings, I had to replant everything. However, we have now improved our business by constructing a new greenhouse tunnel, and things are going very well," he said.