By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
The new kid on the block, Ntsakani Bed Manufacturers, set tongues wagging when it ran with an advert featuring a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta delivering beds to clients!
This company, birthed only a few months ago, by two lads, Akani Mathebula (36), born and raised in Soweto and Ntsako Makhubele (39) from ka-Mtititi, Malamulele, has already become the household favorite!
Akani says their beds are aimed at the working class and middle class who were previously forced to either buy low quality beds that needed replacing after a short period or to buy very expensive beds that strained an already stretched budget.
” Our beds come with a 2year guarantee and 15 year warranty. Our ethos is that high quality does not always equal high prices.”
Akani says the dream to establish a high quality beds that are affordable also to men on the streets, started many years ago “when I was asked to transport a few beds from a factory to a colleague’s house.
“I was shocked at the huge price gap between factory prices and retail prices. Whenever someone told me they needed a bed, I would buy it for them. I ran a buying and reselling business for some time”.
He said as his interest grew in the industry. He partnered with a friend in a leap of faith to take over a manufacturing business and start making the beds themselves.
The name of the company originates from the names of the two founders.
Their factory and showroom is in Centurion, Pretoria, but they have a retail outlet at the Mintirho complex in Malamulele, Limpopo.
“We are in the process of expanding our store network into other provinces. We deliver regularly to clients in Mpumalanga and also have orders as far as KZN on the books. Wherever people need good beds, we go,” said the young game changer!
Akani doesn’t have beef with education. He holds an honors degree in Geology along with a business school qualification, while his business partner has studied law and project management. “Quite an interesting mix,” he says.
He wrote a book on his journey from being expelled from varsity, 2years of unemployment and eventually finding work.
He ended up working as an Investment Banker for 6 years. The book, called ‘Lessons From the Desert’, costs R200 including courier fees.
Akani says if “we are to move forward as a people and a nation, we must be willing to build the society, economy and country we want. We can’t be scared of doing new things”.
He has four tips for dreamers:
(1) There is never a perfect time to start, just do it;
(2) Start with what you have, money will find you on the way;
(3) Stay the course! There are no shortcuts to a place worth going to; and
(4) Even if you fail, start again. And again.
Contact them on a landline: 012 054 5419 or
Cell: 0792651422
Website: www.ntsakanibedmanufacturers.co.za
Facebook Page: Ntsakani Bed Manufacturers
