By Mzukona Mantshontsho
DELISH NYAMA is an online meat value pack vendor selling meat products of the highest quality at affordable prices with the added convenience of having all their customers’ orders delivered straight to their doorstep. Delish Nyama supplies homes, caterers, local food vendors and event organisers.
Charmaine Ntuli, born in Benoni in the East Rand, grew up in Daveyton from a modest upbringing. “We didn’t always have the things that we wanted, and we didn’t want much, but education was a very big thing in my family and the idea of self-employment was introduced to us from a very young age as the most ideal path to take”. She studied a Business Administration degree and has improved her skills to include Project Management and Business Analysis.
Looking for a simple, scalable business to start and picking up from her earlier training as a child helping her father in his small business, she chose an online store for its practicality and launched the online presence in July. “We are living in a digital age and those who can are moving away from brick and mortar businesses to the online platform or have hybrid business running both models, because the world has moved to the internet and that’s where the customers are,” she says.
“As an offering, I chose meat because it’s a simple product, meat consumption is increasing every year irrespective of price increases or conditions affecting the animal farming industry and because I found a wholesaler whose meat products are of superb quality at reasonable prices. My business offers poultry, pork, lamb and beef products sold as value packs”.
With a 9 -5 job, she admits she doesn’t spend enough time in the business as she would like and will need to look into growing a team. “I admit that selling is not my favourite activity. I am more of a behind the scenes type and enjoy setting up business processes, product design, administration and problem-solving”.
“My business is based on a very simple concept with an easy to follow process. When challenges arise, it’s easy for me to see if it is an operational issue or a general customer service issue. Either way, I think any problem I could ever encounter can be addressed through the processes I have set-up and if there are gaps then it simply shows where there is room for improvement”.
“I love to gather with family or friends over good food, so my brand promise is to enable people to keep creating delicious moments with my meat products and to keep the prices reasonable without compromising on the quality”. The journey has been exciting, fun and frustrating as well”. Her advice for surviving the start-up journey is to have a clear understanding of your limitations or short-comings and then find help for the tasks that you’re not good at so you can direct your efforts to those aspects of your business that you do well and enjoy.
Charmaine’s leadership philosophy is that being a leader is about making choices and decisions, taking responsibility & accountability for them with the knowing that if things don’t pan out you can always make new choices and decisions.
Charmaine’s very short wish list for the Business:
• I would like to build up my sales to at least 300 orders a month within the next year and then double that after 18 months.
• I love food and I would love to have a show in which I profile some of the hottest upcoming local chefs or caterers who are doing their own thing.
• I would like to own three branded refrigerated vans for deliveries.
To somebody that is considering going into business: “Straddle. Find a way to start your business project while in your 9-5 and when you get to the point where you’ve built sufficient critical mass, and are in a comfortable place financially, then you can start planning your resignation”.
Business Insights from Charmaine Ntuli:
“Don’t be afraid to take risks. You’re taking the biggest risk already by just having a job”,
“Starting your own business gives you creative control”, and
“Entrepreneurship is a path for those who desire and believe in uncapped growth and earning potential”.
All orders must be placed by the customer and paid for before Thursday each week. All paid and confirmed orders are delivered on Saturday morning each week unless special arrangements have been made and agreed upon.
When making payment for orders, customers need to reference the pack that they are interested in. The customer then emails their proof of payment to Delishnyama@gmail.com with their delivery address and contact details. All meat packs are delivered in a meat box with dry ice to keep the meat cold and fresh.
To place an order, visit the online Facebook page..https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=delish-nyama – Quote this promotional code: “DeliciousMoments” with your order and get a discount of 10% plus free delivery. Offer ends on Saturday 30th of September 2017.
