By Lesley Mofokeng
Sewela Langeni is an independent books merchant who has operated the Book Circle Capital bookstore at 27 Boxes in Melville, Johannesburg for the past seven years. She focuses on African literature and her venue has become a popular book launch and discussions spot on Wednesday nights or weekends.
She is also a children’s books author of the award-winning Making Friends with Feelings and Luba Goes to the Zoo, both translated into several languages. She is a regular fixture at book festivals across Johannesburg, Cape Town and other cities. She served as a Sunday Times Literary Awards judge in 2024.
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In this interview, Langeni, a marketing and communications professional, shares with Vutivi News the importance of cashflow and understanding your target market.
How do you summarise your entrepreneurship journey so far?
It has been an unending school of learning about myself and the world of business.
What’s the toughest business lesson you learnt?
Sometimes in this journey doors will close, projects or initiatives that you really thought were going to work will sometimes fall through and it hurts. But it’s never the end of the story.
What business principles do you live by?
If you commit to something, you have to do it and do it right – excellence is in how you show up.
No is a complete answer. It’s something I struggled with at the beginning, but now thank God, I am growing in it. I cannot be everywhere all the time.
How has the business of selling books evolved since you started and how has what you offer changed?
Over time I have seen the impact of the growth of digital channels in the selling of books. There has been a growth in the number of book bloggers reviewing books, the number of channels that are available to profile authors and books. This is good because it contributes towards building a culture of reading in the country. There has also been a growth in the need to gather around books. Book launches have become a form of entertainment and this has impacted how we run the business; making sure that we host events regularly and we partner with authors and publishers who have the same passion of telling our stories and improving the reading culture.
What are the three things every entrepreneur needs to survive business?
Cash flow – so daily I focus on how I can ensure that the business is always getting the sales from multiple models in order to survive.
A clear knowledge of who my customers are – the people who have the means and the desire to consume the books we sell.
Lastly resilience. The economy has slowed down; people are careful with how they spend their money, so there will be slow days in business, but we keep going.
How has your faith influenced your decision making?
My faith has been everything in my entrepreneurial journey. Without it I may have given up a few times. I am a Christian and one of the scriptures I live by is Phillipians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” So daily I surrender my plans and ideas to God for guidance and wisdom. And when it all gets too much, I run back to him from strength. My faith in Christ is the anchor for all of it.
What have been the challenges and opportunities of running Book Circle Capital in Melville?
The community of Melville like others near the Johannesburg CBD has been facing a number of challenges like crime and general derelict of the neighbourhood. This has led to a drop in the number of people frequenting the place for leisure. We are seeing more people moving to more leafy places like Parktown. But there are a few people in the community who are fighting to keep the neighbourhood safe and alive and I appreciate this. I would still love for Book Circle Capital to stay in the area for years to come. It’s a diverse community filled with people who are very supportive of the arts. The neighbourhood also attracts expats from all over the world who are affiliated to either Wits University or the University of Johannesburg who are the target market for the kind of books we sell.
What has been your lowest point in business and your highest?
The lowest point in the business was during Covid-19 when we could not host events. Because the location is very quiet, events are the life blood of our business. So, this temporary closure was a scary time in the business with no sales. We survived on the goodness of people who would buy books on our online store and donate vouchers through our payment merchant, Yoco.
The highest point is at every event we host where people get to meet authors and engage them on their work. The networks that people create after our events and seeing people feeling celebrated and seen through literature is gratifying.
What’s the most precious award you have received?
I am also a children’s book author and one of my books Making Friends with Feelings illustrated by Subi Bosa, received a silver Pendoring Award in 2023.
What’s your projections for the future? What are you working towards for Book Circle brand and yourself?
I do not know what the future holds, only God knows. But what I hope for myself is growing towards even better self-mastery by going even deeper in my faith and my relationship with God. This means learning how to harness my mind and thoughts, while also learning more skills in my journey as an entrepreneur. For Book Circle Capital I am working towards expanding our sales models beyond the physical shop. Finding multiple spaces and partnerships where we can sell books and exposing the type of books we sell to more South Africans. All this while growing the brand digitally to drive awareness and consideration in the mind of consumers.
