Bulls n Bears Entrepreneurship Zone :: Entrepreneur Mogau Seshoene wants to grow traditional South African food empire

[Bulls n Bears]

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


Take us back to the beginning


Worried about making a good impression on her in-laws, Mogau Seshoene’s
friend – a city girl with limited cooking skills who was about to marry into
a very traditional Zulu family – needed to learn how to prepare traditional
South African dishes. And quickly.

After Seshoene gave her some cooking lessons, she realised there was a gap
in the market. In 2014, Seshoene left her corporate finance job to start The
Lazy Makoti, offering cooking lessons to makotis (meaning ‘young brides’).

“That is actually where the name comes from, a fun witty take on the
expectations that still exist for African girls to merge Western and African
ideals that involve being custodians of our unique cultures, particularly
the heritage that is our cuisine,” Seshoene explains.

The Lazy Makoti has since evolved into a food solutions company that
provides cooking lessons, recipe development and bespoke catering. It also
sells a range of contemporary handcrafted kitchen accessories like aprons
and chopping boards.


How did the entrepreneur grow the company into the business it is today?


Through The Hookup Dinner, an entrepreneurial support network, Seshoene
received R150,000 (about US$12,700) in capital after winning their Lean Jump
startup competition in 2015. The money was used to set up her business and
pay for culinary school.

“I didn’t want to wing it just because I love cooking. I wanted to equip
myself with the necessary qualifications and skills,” says Seshoene, who
also has a degree in consumer science and retail management from the
University of Pretoria.

Social media played a pivotal role in the growth of The Lazy Makoti.
“Plenty of our clients have come through social media, be it through
interacting with our pages or ‘word of mouth’ through other people’s pages
on social media,” she explains. “We went from a Facebook page that shares
recipes to providing comprehensive cooking classes and a cookbook that comes
out later this June.”

For now, Seshoene remains committed to promoting South African culture and
heritage through education about its traditional local cuisine. She hopes to
build a food empire and do everything from offering cooking lessons, to
publishing a cookbook and producing a TV show.

A few years ago, she discovered the United Nations’s Representative List of
the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a directory of endangered
social practices, culture and knowledge around the world in need of
immediate safeguarding, because of their significance to the human race.

“On this essential list is everything from Japanese, French and Italian
food but no African food. This greatly disturbed and disappointed me. Now I
am celebrating and promoting our unique cuisine, and hopefully, one day get
our food on that list as well,” Seshoene says.

“While I value the global outlook I believe it’s time for Africans to take
pride in our own heritage and work to preserve and maybe improve it instead
of assimilating into everyone else’s.”


Anything we can learn from her experiences?


>From meeting Oprah Winfrey and former US President Barack Obama through the
Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders programme to making
some of the most celebrated lists, such as the Mail & Guardian top 200 young
South Africans and the Forbes Africa 30 under 30, Seshoene has enjoyed great
support.

However, she admits there have been many mistakes. “If I had the chance to
start this business again, I would probably be more confident to ask for
help,” she says.

“I once missed out on a client due to not being prepared. We were
introduced at an event and I wasn’t prepared to give them a short pitch,”
Seshoene recalls. That experience taught her to always be ready to promote
her offering –whenever, wherever.

“There isn’t always time to set up a meeting, but the 10 minutes they can
spare can be all you need to sell them on your idea,” Seshoene advises
budding entrepreneurs.

“Have a five-minute elevator pitch, which is a short summary overview of
who you are, what you do and how and what ‘problem’ you are providing the
solution to. This will help you be sure that you actually know your story,
the how and why of your business and will also give confidence to whoever
you are speaking to.”—Howwemadeitinafrica 


<https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/entrepreneur-mogau-seshoene-wants-to-gr
ow-traditional-south-african-food-empire/61181/mogau-seshoene-the-lazy-makot
i/> 

Mogau Seshoene

Mogau Seshoene sees untapped opportunity in traditional South African food.

 

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

Telephone:    <tel:%2B263%204%202927658> +263 4 2927658

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674

Alt. Email:    <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw  

Website:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AF
QjCNH8LYgdY55h-XKseuM8Kpr-JKdfhQ> www.bulls.co.zw 

Blog:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw%2Fblog&sa=D&sntz=1
&usg=AFQjCNFoIy6F9IXAiYnSoPSgWDYsr8Sqtw> www.bulls.co.zw/blog

Twitter:                  @bullsbears2010

LinkedIn:               Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe

Facebook:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBullsBearsZimba
bwe&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGhb_A5rp4biV1dGHbgiAhUxQqBXA>
www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe

Skype:         Bulls.Bears 



 

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: winmail.dat
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 189836 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180404/b53c70ae/attachment-0001.bin>