Durban — Khayelihle Khuzwayo, an ambitious and hard-working man who hails from Newcastle, believes that the youth need to be courageous to get everything they want.
Khuzwayo, 28, owns four businesses: two bakeries, a drafting business and a business that installs aluminium windows and doors.
He started his baking business in his mother’s garage in 2017. The business grew and he had to find another spot which took him two years.
Khuzwayo said baking is what “fed him” his whole life as his mother was a baker and as an only child he had to learning how to bake. He said he gained a lot of experience in Durban, from being a visual merchandiser to drawing house plans for people.
He saved money to study architecture. When he earned distinctions he was taken on by a big company where he drew plans for malls and housing estates. He said the money he made there elevated him as he was able to build his mother a house and buy cars.
Khuzwayo said he opted for bakeries, which he now turned into restaurants ,because he wanted something that was peaceful and unique.
“I bought 10 dustbins, filled them with ice and cold drinks and employed young people from my neighbourhood to sell the drinks around the taxi rank, I also started a construction business which eventually failed,” he said.
He mentions that most of his businesses failed because he was sabotaged by the people he employed when they would stole from him.
“In the construction business it was a daily fight, running after people asking them to pay you and that was the worst thing ever. I just wanted to open something that was not going to give me headaches,” Khuzwayo said.
He said the reason he was so hard-working was that he feared poverty and he wanted to create more opportunities for the youth in his area.
Khuzwayo said he often faced a lot of challenges during the opening of his first bakery, which he first ran with his girlfriend for seven months, and later employed more people as the clientele grew.
“I was fought, someone from the neighbourhood even called the police on me, but that has never stopped me.
“I wish everyone around my age can believe in the power of pushing and not listening to anyone.
“They also need to know that taking a leap of faith and keeping your head high gets you far.”
Khuzwayo said one must be able to take risks, explore and be adventurous as it was better to fail than to give up.
“I’m venturing into agriculture next year but I’m not qualified.
“I will be using my grandparents’ fields in Bergville and here, in Newcastle, I bought the land. I don’t need to be qualified to know everything about this… but I will be employing more than 20 people.”
Khuzwayo said he gets a lot of strength from his mother, son and the mother of his child it is them who keep him going.
Daily News