Bochum Entrepreneur paving
Image: Facebook/Paving Unlimited.

Home » Bochum entrepreneur paves the way to success

Bochum entrepreneur paves the way to success

In the heart of Bochum, Limpopo, the road to success is being skillfully paved by a 31-year-old entrepreneur, Tumelo Ratala.

Bochum Entrepreneur paving
Image: Facebook/Paving Unlimited.

The road to success is becoming smooth for a young paver from Bochum, in Limpopo, after he decided to formalise an unregistered business he had inherited from a mentor.

Tumelo Ratala, 31, following the demise of the owner of the unregistered business, decided to formalise the start-up in 2017. And with that, Senwabarwana Pavements, a small pavement installation company, was born. 

ALSO READ: Mo’s Crib breaks into the US décor market: AGOA

BOCHUM ENTREPRENEUR

Speaking to Vukuzenzele, he said: “We used to work for this man in our area on a part-time basis. He was old and he passed on around April 2017. At the time we were studying at UNISA in Polokwane. We worked with him during the school holidays and whenever we were not busy.”

ALSO READ: MacG named Entertainer of the Year at GQ Men of the Year Awards

Shortly after his mentor passed on, the need for the service was still there.

“Because we already had the skills that he taught us we decided to continue with the business. I decided to register it so we could take it to the next level,” he said.

Since then, Ratala has been working with his business partner, Modiba Tloka.

ALSO READ: Over 40,000 youth in Gauteng to receive free learner’s licences

Luckily, that year, the business won R50 000 after a business pitching competition run by PwC and Nedbank in Gauteng.

“Our pitch was good enough to win us R50 000. We used that money to purchase general equipment and even hire one person,” he said.

The following year, Senwabarwana Pavements began having a formidable footprint, receiving projects from various schools and other private clients in the area.

RATALA

“We perservered and in June 2018 we managed to add another employee. We were now starting to get clients from as far as Polokwane,” said Ratala.

ALSO READ: Talented youngster finds success in low-sugar candy enterprise

Encouraged by the sustainable growth, the business secured office space in the town of Bochum in 2019. This development saw Senwabarwana include the internet café component to its business offering.

“We expanded from just doing pavement installations to now offering small printing and internet services, mainly for students around the area,” he said.

This element of the business mainly caters to learners and students from the nearby primary school and the Capricorn TVET College in the area.

Apart from the pitching competitions, the business has benefitted from various entrepreneur development programmes.

These included a Start-up School programme, an initiative of the private bank Investec, which strives to unlock entrepreneurial potential in South Africa and beyond through entrepreneurship courses.  At the end of the courses, the students pitched for funding to the value of R100 000. Again, Senwabarwana came up tops.

ALSO READ: Themba Mkhangeli: The artist behind SA’s new R2 coin design

The business currently employs five people on a full-time basis and another three on a part-time basis.