By Nkhensani Mthombeni
- Akani Mnisi’s shoe cleaning business started after he cleaned a very muddy, sewage smelling shoe for a friend in Phalaborwa.
- Mnisi says starting a business needs no money, just your parents’ soap, a brush, and the courage to start small.
Akani Mnisi’s shoe cleaning business started with one disgusting shoe. His friend’s shoe got stuck in mud and began smelling like sewage. Mnisi cleaned it until it looked new, and his friends were impressed.
Word got out, and he named the business Akani Shoe Cleaning. It cleans all kinds of shoes, delivers around Phalaborwa, and prices start from R40.
Mnisi, 28, had been studying traffic management, but financial problems forced him to stop.
“At the time I was forced to man-up as a male child in order to help my parents who were both unemployed,” he said.
He marketed the business on social media, and people started bringing him their shoes.
“The money which came in put food on the table,” he said.
He used to DJ for extra money, but has since quit and now sells perfumes instead.
Mnisi is a father of twin girls, aged 8 months, and says he will do whatever it takes to provide for them. He believes young people must find ways to make an income.
He has taught some friends how to clean shoes. One now has a job, after washing shoes to survive while studying in Pretoria. But Mnisi says most of the people he has taught do not take it seriously.
“Starting a business does not always need money, with this kind of a business you can use your parents’ soap, brush and cleaning items available in the family cupboard. Don’t be afraid to start small and if you will care much of what people say, you will struggle to make it in business,” he said.
His business is busiest from Thursday to Sunday, when people want clean shoes for the weekend.
Mnisi wants a proper workshop one day, to employ others. He would rather be an employer than an employee.
Pictured above: Shoes cleaned by Akani Shoe Cleaning.
Image source: Supplied
