“I Was 18 and Refused To Be Another Statistic”: Woman Starts Successful Candle Business

“I Was 18 and Refused To Be Another Statistic”: Woman Starts Successful Candle Business

  • A young South African woman chose entrepreneurship over unemployment, starting a candle-making business from scratch to create opportunities
  • Her initiative comes as recent statistics show youth unemployment at 45.5% in the third quarter of 2024, highlighting the creative ways young people are fighting joblessness
  • The business owner's story touched many South Africans, with social media users praising her determination and asking about business classes
A woman's post went viral.
One young woman's post on how she refused to be part of the unemployment statistics went viral. She shared how she earns money with a candle-making business. images: @boipelo
Source: TikTok

Content creator @boipelo________ shared an inspiring video about her journey into entrepreneurship, showing how she turned candle-making into a profitable business venture despite being only 18 years old.

Watch the TikTok video below.

Youth taking charge

The video reveals her thought process:

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"POV: You're 18, and instead of falling into the unemployment statistic, you decided to take a risk and start making candles from scratch to sell."

This initiative comes at a crucial time when Statistics SA reports that youth unemployment remains a significant challenge.

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Her candle-making venture represents a growing trend of young South Africans creating their own opportunities in the informal sector, which saw an increase of 165,000 jobs in the third quarter of 2024.

A woman's post went viral
One woman shared how she started a candle-making business to avoid unemployment. Images: @boipelo
Source: TikTok

Mzansi supports young entrepreneur

@iam_fixing_the_country blessed the initiative:

"God bless the movement my sister, we are right behind you 👑🙏"

@Anastacia_1223 showed interest:

"Wow♥️ Do you offer classes?"

@Dee inquired about expansion:

"How much can you charge for teaching classes?"

@siTshia expressed support:

"Wow nice, God may bless your work."

@Hlogi_jhio praised her mindset:

"Way of thinking in an innovative manner❤️"

@PBG_Beauty_Nails encouraged:

"And don't stop ❤️… Even when you feel like it's slowing down."

@marcia_mthimunye added:

"Umsebenzi wakho muhle. Keep up the good work and God bless your hustle 🙏"

More inspiring business stories

  • Briefly News recently reported on a former taxi driver's clever idea that has caught Mzansi's attention, showing how innovation can transform traditional businesses into modern success stories.
  • A determined 19-year-old's online business success helped renovate his blind mother's home, proving that age is no barrier to making a difference.
  • One creative entrepreneur transformed an old bus into the perfect business, complete with WiFi, showing how thinking outside the box can lead to business success.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Nerissa Naidoo avatar

Nerissa Naidoo (Human Interest Editor) Nerissa Naidoo is a versatile writer and editor with expertise across platforms. Currently a human interest writer at Briefly News, she began her career contributing to Morning Lazziness and later specialized in professional documents at Featherpen.org. As a TUW ghostwriter, she focused on non-fiction, while her editorial roles at National Today and Entail.ai honed her skills in content accuracy and expert-driven editing. You can reach her at nerissa.naidoo@briefly.co.za