Xolelwa Vika: A Taking Care of Business Success Story
Paarl, 42 years old, mother of 2
Desperate, depressed and dependent
I was suffering. I was desperate. I was depressed, crying every morning because I didn’t have any income. I was dependent on the SASSA grant only.
I bought beef liver and started selling it for R25, but still, this was not enough for me to care for my children and myself.
For half a year I was looking for a job EVERYWHERE! Nothing.
Unlocking potential I didn’t even know I had
I saw TCB on Facebook, and knew I should try it out. I started out with 49 other women. Before we got into the TCB Resell programme they test us to see if we will be a good fit with some practical activities. They challenged us immediately. Everyone got 1 bag of clothes and had to sell it on that day! “Let’s see if you can turn these clothes into money,” they said. I was willing to try it. I went into town and started selling, and I made it!!
I was able to sell my clothes, and I was surprised – I can sell! Maybe, all this time, I had a skill I didn’t know about.
Breaking generational trauma through mentoring and coaching
I prayed that God would help me succeed in my 2-year journey with TCB. My business was growing slowly. I was marketing my clothes on the Facebook Marketplace, I drove to my customers wherever they were, and I started to build my business and customer-base. I could see the difference!! Now I could provide for my children where before I had felt like a bad mother. I was struggling just like my own mother used to struggle.
The mentoring taught me so much: how to use your money, how to plan, how to budget your money in and out, and how to save. No one told me this before! Now, I am wiser.
The coaching helps us deal with the pains we have inside. We are able to talk about our past, our trauma and our grudges. We are all on a journey, transforming ourselves to be loving, to share, to forgive and to live the sister values.
The future looks good – but only if you prepare for it
I also appreciate that TCB is opening our minds and helping us think far ahead. TCB helps us plan for the future and have a dream.
I have Stokvel and Gooi-Gooi. When I get my Stokvel money I invest in livestock and then sell it in Gauteng. I also saved up for December to renovate my mother’s house in the Eastern Cape.
In the future I plan to buy my own car. And it will happen. The way I am pushing myself, I know I can do it. I don’t see myself ever working for anyone else. I see myself having my own shop at my house and being my own boss.
During the day, I have a stand where I sell clothing. At night I have a meat stand and I sell meat and chips. I am giving myself fully to this project – I don’t rest much, because I must reach my goals.
My advice to others
I encourage people to join TCB. Don’t work in a shop. I worked in a shop before and didn’t have any goals. TCB is a big opportunity to make your dreams come true.
Now I know how to make money and turn a little into a lot.
My advice to people is “Be strong, search for a programme like TCB that helps you think about how to become independent. Don’t stay home, doing nothing. Find a way to use your talents and skills to start buying and selling.”
Taking Care of Business (TCB) is a nonprofit social enterprise. We are empowering unemployed South Africans and their families to escape the cycle of poverty through small business opportunities, mostly within the circular economy.