University of Johannesburg Graduate Opens Bakery in Soweto 3 Years After Selling Treats From Home

• A hard-working lady in Gauteng who has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Johannesburg is amped about opening her bakery
• The 24-year-old has been baking for three years, marketing the items from her mother’s home
• Talking to Briefly News, Sheila Onnetse Balerileng shares what her future aspirations are

A passionate entrepreneur in Gauteng is excited about opening her bakery, which doubles as a café, in Soweto.

Sheila Onnetse Balerileng opened up to Briefly News, sharing that she’s been baking since 2020 and is thrilled about turning her hobby into a business venture.

The Gauteng woman has been baking since 2020

The 24-year-old, who holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Johannesburg, notes that in 2020, she saw an opportunity to learn a new skill. At the time, she was a student, and at home during the Covid-19 pandemic:

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“I was doing my final year in varsity and during that time, when we were in lockdown and not going anywhere, I got bored and used some of my school data to do my classes online to check fun things to do on YouTube. I then became intrigued by baking videos. I would screen record the videos and try out baking recipes.

“In time, I started posting my baked goods on my WhatsApp statuses and my contacts would ask if I was selling, and I would always say that I was just baking for fun until I realised how many people asked me to make my goods for them. That’s when I started my baking business.”

The University of Johannesburg graduate enjoys baking

In addition to making a business out of baking, Sheila also finds the craft to be incredibly therapeutic:

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“It has made me realise that I can be creative.”

The entrepreneur posted about opening her baking business, called Onnetse Cake Corner, after using her mother’s kitchen to sell delicious baked goods for three years.

Sheila opened her bakery on 8 September 2023 and expressed how proud she feels about the accomplishment. She currently runs the establishment solo:

“For now, I work alone, but I am hoping for business growth to be able to employ people.”

The woman with a bakery in Soweto shares business challenges

Despite only opening her enterprise on a premises of her own recently, Sheila has already experienced difficulties:

“My business’s biggest challenge right now is loadshedding. My business solely relies on electricity to operate, and with these hectic levels of loadshedding, it’s quite difficult to make a lot of sales because if there’s no electricity, I can’t bake. That means no sales."

The perseverant woman dreams of continuing to grow her bakery to greater heights:

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“I want to be one of the preferred bakeries/cafés in South Africa.”

Mpumalanga mom of 2 goes from being sales representative to running a successful catering business

In a related story by Briefly News, a determined mother of two kiddies is working hard with her catering business, using a portion of her profits to assist others.

The young lady previously worked as a sales representative before taking the leap to start her enterprise.

Source: Briefly News