Despite the odds stacked against her, small business owner Sylvia Ndwayana remains optimistic about growing her enterprise.
Despite the odds stacked against her, small business owner Sylvia Ndwayana remains optimistic about growing her enterprise.
It's been no fairytale journey so far, with the location difficulties she faces and the seasonal nature of her business, but she is determined to persevere. Ndwayana moved to Grahamstown from Kimberly when her husband got transferred in 1990, but she wasn’t able to find a job and remained unemployed until 1996.
Her break came when she approached women working at a Centre in Joza location who made beaded items for sale. They taught her the skill of beading and now she has a small business selling earrings, necklaces and bangles near the Rhodes University entrance, ‘Under the Arch’.
She depends on students and the occasional tourist, and says that because her main target market is students she has to sell her items at “reasonable prices because [they]don’t have money and depend on their parents.” Her prices range from R5 to R150.
Ndwayana is part of a group of six women, known as Masithandane Women’s Group, who are all unemployed. Each of them makes and sells in their own capacity but charge the same prices, but if one of them is approached for a big order, they share the work to complete it on time and divide the profits.
She sources material from a supplier in Grahamstown who gives her good prices that allow her to keep her own prices down. Ndwayana also runs a separate business from her home in the location where she makes and sells traditional isiXhosa clothing to order, but her beading business makes more money due to the materials being cheaper.
Location is a problem for Ndwayana, and her biggest wish is to secure premises so that she can also sell and display her traditional clothing. Whilst selling from under the Arch is ideal for her target market, being outdoors means her trade is weather dependent and the lack of security also attracts thieves.
“There always has to be someone guarding my items,” she says. It is difficult for Ndwayana to determine her monthly income due to the seasonal nature of her business and demand. She does no formal book-keeping, and sometimes is lucky to make R5 for the day or just enough for her to take a taxi home.
The National Arts Festival is the busiest time of the year for her and the other bead sellers who start preparing in May for June/July when the festival starts. Her business suffers the most, she says, when Rhodes University closes for holidays.
Ndwayana has received some support over the years to help her become a better businesswoman, including occasional business workshops held by Makana Municipality. “At the workshops, we are taught how to greet customers and to be friendly, how to save money and how to make prices more affordable,” she says.
The only financial assistance they’ve received is from Rhodes which they used to buy start-up materials when they started with the business in 1996. Despite the small breakthroughs she’s had, Ndwayana admits that her business prospects are not looking great.
Her biggest hurdle at the moment is securing premises and she thinks this is the only way her business can grow. The municipality have made promises to get her sponsors but they have not amounted to anything definite yet. Nevertheless Ndwayana remains optimistic, saying, “People love us.
When they are going to have events and need beads they come to us.”
