Elizabeth Lubalo runs projects aimed at helping young people find their path. Through her company, Lubalo-Kuehnel, established in 2015, she supports, trains and employs the youth to give them a hand up in advancing their livelihood.
Her business offers services like cosmetology, catering and pastry making, and event organisation and planning. Elizabeth shares the tips and values she imparts to the young people she trains.
1. Make the right investments
The youth have potential and fresh ideas that if properly harnessed can lead to success. When I was growing up, I felt like I didn’t have someone to guide me on my business ideas. That’s what led to the birth of Lubalo-Kuehnel. We offer training facilities and job opportunities to young people. We show them what it means to build a business. You have to value your company if you want others to do the same; we don’t want our trainees setting up lacklustre start-ups.
2. Understand your clientelle
At Lubalo-Kuehnel, we’ve invested a lot on researching the spending patterns of the clients we serve, so we do all we can to keep our pricing friendly, including sourcing for products locally.
3. Adapt, consult and aim to offer unique services
We realised a lot of our clients were looking for a place where they can get plenty under one roof, so that’s what we give them. When in business, you want to ensure everyone who walks in comes back, so we adapt to meet as many customer needs as we reasonably can.
4. Get ideas through mentorship
It’s a great feeling to see many of the young people who start out at Lubalo-Kuehnel moving on to implementing their own business ideas. When they come here, they gravitate towards what they have a natural aptitude for, and we help them grow in that area. In turn, we get ideas on improving the business.
5. Isolate your challenges to conquer them
Entrepreneurship can be overwhelming. To stay rooted to your passions, you need to look at your challenges individually, rather than as a block. For instance, getting capital can be hard, but I raised mine by finding people who believed in my ideas. Start small when finding solutions. And surround yourself with people in business and let their wins motivate and inspire you.
