After seeing the struggle women go through with their hair, Yolanda Mbolompo saw a gap in the market and introduced chemical-free products for natural hair that are suitable for all ages, and men too.
The 29-year-old Afro bae business owner took a leap of faith and left her permanent job to focus on building her hair product brand, and it has proven to be an exciting journey ever since.
Please share some background on yourself and how the business was started?
I am originally from a small town called Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape.
After passing matric, I relocated to Johannesburg to look for greener pastures, and in 2012 I started working as an underground worker.
I had different dreams back then and I took on short courses and I even registered with Unisa to do a diploma in public relations.
During all that, I became more interested in products for natural hair and began researching and experimenting.
I continued with this for more than a year, receiving very good reviews from friends and family.
A year later, I decided to start my own brand.
Initially I wanted to just sell to people in my area but the interest grew around my product and that’s how Afro bae was born.
I then relocated to Gqeberha, where I didn’t know anyone.
It was one of the biggest decisions in my life — some days I would be scared but something in me just wanted to keep pushing.
What is your core service?
Afro bae manufactures natural hair products.
The products contain no chemicals — we only use 100% African oils.
Our range consists of hair fertiliser, hair spritzer, natural hair oil and leave-in conditioner.
In April we introduced products for men (a beard kit).
What makes your business unique?
I am very confident in my products.
Just because it looks like Afro bae, it doesn’t mean it is Afro bae.
What are some of the biggest inhibitors your business faced before getting off the ground?
The biggest challenge I had was capital when I started my business.
With no funding, I had to use one of the smaller rooms where I stayed to make my product.
What have some of your highlights been in running your business?
In October 2020, Afro bae opened its first hair salon employing six permanent employees.
We also introduced a mobile hair salon in 2020, which we have not used yet due to lockdown restrictions.
Do you have any tips for budding entrepreneurs or new business owners?
Allow yourself to start small because each step you take leads to something big.
Treat every cent as if it’s your last, and from time to time always go back to your vision board to see if you are still in line with your goals.
Most importantly, if you feel confident about it, then go for it, because what if it works out?
Well you will never know until you try.
Fear, doubt and feeling overwhelmed are emotions we all go through but you always have to remember why you started in the first place.
What are some of your biggest challenges in day-to-day business operations and your particular industry?
Working with people is not easy, some people are very difficult but we try our best to satisfy our customers.
Another issue is security, we live in a country that has a high crime rate. We had to stop doing deliveries in some areas due to hijackings.
How do you measure or define success in your business?
I measure my business success by the number of distributors joining the business and them actually staying.
Even with the pandemic, we are still welcoming new distributors and that is something I do not take for granted.
How many people do you employ?
Currently we have more than 300 distributors in SA .
We have distributors outside SA in countries like Swaziland and Lesotho.
We also have five permanent employees working at the warehouse and six permanent employees working at our hair salon.
Do you have any plans for expanding the business, and how would you go about this?
I plan on expanding Afro bae by moving into a bigger industrial working space, investing in more manufacturing machines and employing more people.
This will help make the products easily available in different cities in Africa and will create more job opportunities in my community.
I plan on opening more Afro bae salons in different cities that will also serve as distribution points for our products.
How did you acquire funding for the business?
My business is self-funded.
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt from your business journey so far?
The biggest lesson I have learnt so far is that nothing comes easy, people do not owe you anything — not your friends, family or the government.
Fall, get up again and dust yourself up, like Johnny Walker says: “Keep walking, crawl if you have to, as long as you are moving.”
What have been the greatest challenges and advantages of running your business in a city like Gqeberha ?
I offered something that was not available, and as a result the support I have received from the community is amazing.
I received great support from the municipality as well through their import and export programme.
I have also received great support from the Ranyaka community project.
The support in Gqeberha has been amazing and it’s greatly appreciated.
What do you believe are the three key traits of a successful entrepreneur?
- Discipline
- Hard work
- Consistency
What do you feel are the key traits of a successful employer?
- Respect (the respect you expect from your employees is the respect you must give them)
- Communication skills
- Integrity
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