Chronicle Editor
Flora Fadzai Sibanda, Chronicle Reporter
Beitbridge-based couple, Maxwell and Nokuthula Ngwenya started from humble beginnings and are now running a successful business empire.
The bold choices that they made more than 15 years ago helped them rise to become owners of a retail outlets chain.
The Ngwenyas are now running fast-food outlets, butcheries and supermarkets in the border town and have created employment for more than 80 people.
The couple started operating a mobile restaurant which was a caravan in 2005 and sold meals during lunch hour.
Mr Ngwenya who holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, working together with his wife, Nokuthula managed to build a vibrant business brand “Croc Foods”.
They have also acquired a farm where they are keeping about 300 cattle and over 4 000 chickens to supply their restaurants and butcheries. The couple is also operating a service station in the town.
For displaying business acumen, the couple was recently honoured with an award during the Beitbridge Business Expo when they were voted Community Champions for their service to the local community.
“We have come a long way since we started business in 2005. When things started shaping up, we decided to give back to the community and that is why we have been involved in a lot of community work,” said Mrs Ngwenya.
She said they were paying fees for poor pupils and two of them are already at university while the others are still in high school.
Mrs Ngwenya said they have also partnered with Beitbridge Town Council in a number of projects such as the resuscitation of a local recreational park by planting trees and lawn.
She said they have also helped some local youths start up their businesses.
“A good example is a young man whom we mentored for years and he now operates a butchery and keeps several cattle. There is also a youth who is into goat breeding,” said Mrs Ngwenya.
She said when they started their mobile restaurant, there was tremendous support from the local community, which subsequently led to them opening a fully-fledged fast food outlet.
“As demand grew, we were forced to hire more people to assist and ultimately started looking for a bigger place to expand and establish a proper eatery. Luckily there was an old building nearby, which had been abandoned for years after it was gutted by fire,” said Mrs Ngwenya.
“We approached the owner and he agreed to lease it to us and that is how our entrepreneurial journey started. We established our first restaurant, Croc Foods, which became our business brand and today we have several retail outlets, supermarkets and butcheries,’ she said.–@flora_sibanda
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