Leaving South Africa for Zimbabwe start-up pays Bulawayo couple

WITH 50 plastic chairs, a few tables and a dream to start a catering company, a couple from Bulawayo’s Pelandaba suburb left their South Africa base to start a catering and mobile toilets business from their home, which today competes with well-established entities

Mr Joyful Hlabangana and his wife, Melody, could not wait to resign from their jobs in the neighbouring country as they were determined to start a new life back at home from scratch.

After years of working and living in Johannesburg, the couple took a deep plunge into a world of the unknown, a business they had no idea would take off or even put food on the table for their young family. They relocated to Bulawayo in 2011.

Despite facing start-up challenges, the aspiring business owners learnt to live from hand to mouth in the first few years of establishing their catering company, Function Master.

However, through sheer determination and hard work, they are now not just business people but employers as well.
Today, the couple runs a company that employs 12 permanent employees, 20 contract workers when they land a huge gig and can cater for an event from weddings, funerals and school events that can accommodate up to 6 000 guests.

“Some of our biggest clients are primary and secondary schools whom we have worked with for years, when they host various events in the southern region of the country,” said Mrs Hlabangana

“We started with just 50 chairs, a couple of tables, a PA (public announcement) system but didn’t have a mobile toilet. We started off offering our services to small events such as funerals, birthday parties and gradually we grew to cater for bigger events.

“The hardest part about starting our own business was living from hand to mouth, we would buy food from the little money that we made leaving nothing to buy more equipment to grow the company.”

As the business started growing, the couple started adding more chairs, tents, tables and mobile toilets to bolster their equipment and attract bigger clients. They now own 60 mobile toilets and a truck for ease of transporting for workers and equipment.

Experience gained from working in the hotel industry in South Africa gives the couple an edge when dealing with clients as they have the expertise of customer satisfaction and the ability to bend backwards when meeting the demands and expectations of customers.

By her admission, Mrs Hlabangana says she is a school drop-out who only managed to get to Grade Seven but that has not stopped her from dreaming big and making it in life.

“Our company has employees of all ages from older women, middle aged men and youths because we want to give people from different backgrounds the chance to make a life for themselves,” she said.

“I’m not educated but that hasn’t stopped me from dreaming big. With hard work and perseverance, everything in life is possible.”

Competition in the catering business is stiff as a combination of startups and established companies jostle for a piece of the cake that the industry has to offer. The secret to Function Master’s success against established companies is giving their clients personal touch when offering services.

“It’s important to leave clients pleasantly surprised after doing a good job such that they can tell the next person only good reviews. Word of mouth is a great way of marketing a business, so a happy client will say good things about a company that treated them well,” said Mr Hlabangana.

Being their own bosses comes with the comfort that allows the couple to determine their working hours and spend more time with family. It is a luxury that they did not enjoy in South Africa as they worked long hours, leaving them with little family time.

Their word of advice to Zimbabweans dreaming of starting businesses back at home is to venture into something they love.

“Zimbabwe is not as bad as some people living overseas are made to believe. There are so many opportunities for anyone who wants to start a business, the secret is to venture into something that is close to your heart,” he added.