Buntu Hlotywa comes from a family background of entrepreneurship. After completing his matric at Ebenezer Majombozi High School, Hlotywa went to on pursue higher educational studies at Buffalo City College in the field of Mechatronics, where he became one of the top achievers.
However, his desire to create opportunities and the urge to grow and evolve a business into a self-sustaining entity that was instilled from a young age, led him to dedicate himself full-time to his business, Printables.
Hlotywa tells us more:
Q. Tell us a bit about the business, and your entrepreneurial journey?
During my last few years of high school I would assist my mother, Gloria Hlotywa, who was sewing and selling cushion covers on the side in addition to her 9-5 job.
This was when I saw the gap and opportunity to reinvent the business to appeal to a younger generation and wider audience by incorporating custom imagery on the pillow covers. We then later added another product line which was to be printing on cellphone covers.
This side hustle evolved to become a full time business and Printables has now been in operation for over three years, with two employees including myself. It has grown such that the areas we supply are now beyond the borders of East London, as we also cater for Gqeberha and King Williams Town.
For me personally, I view the business as a celebration and a way of spreading love as most of our customers are couples, newlyweds and families.
Q. Tell us about your early days? What were the toughest challenges, and what did you learn?
Like most businesses in the early start-up phase, our main challenge revolved around capital, and also in-house resources. We were able to secure an early stage investor mainly to outsource our own machinery in addition to our own personal funds.
Consistency, financial discipline and time management were key factors in overcoming these challenges. However, these challenges taught us resilience, persistence and gave us the ability to make sound decisions in order to see our goals coming to fruition.
Q. How did you land your first client? And how do you market your business?
Our very first client was my former college lecturer and that was through word-of- mouth. Now we focus on social media and also traditional marketing by handing out flyers and posters in high traffic locations.
Q. What are your growth plans, and how do you plan to achieve them?
Our plans for the upcoming three years include increasing our footprint. We are aiming to increasingly operate beyond the borders of the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, and eventually nationally.
We are also working on implementing fresh, new and dynamic product lines that will increase our market share. We would like to also increase our brand visibility and establish ourselves as a trusted, reliable and quality name brand. We also aim to create job opportunities and skills development programs.
Q. What keeps you motivated?
Spreading love and memories is the driving force and purpose behind the company. I view it as a celebration.
Q. What is your favourite aspect of being a business owner, and what is the hardest?
What I like the most is to be able to create opportunities out of thin air and turn passion into profit. That alone is a blessing I do not take for granted.
The hardest or most challenging part is keeping up with the market that is constantly changing and evolving. Another challenging aspect is unforeseen external factors, such as the pandemic and the electricity crisis.
Q. What are your top 3 pieces of advice for fellow entrepreneurs?
- The first would be to align your purpose with making profits.
- To be resilient, persistent and to keep pushing. As the saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in one day”.
- Finally, maintain the long-term vision by building practical steps and strategies to reach the end goal. And remember to celebrate your small wins.
