Snakhokonke Mahlinza did not know that his passion and love for construction would land him with multiple businesses. Mahlinza told Vutivi News that his journey as an entrepreneur started in high school, where he studied graphic design. “Graphic design fuelled my love for construction and for civil engineering, so I studied civil engineering after high school,” he said.
“When I became an intern for a construction company, I saw that I was capable of doing so much alone, and that is when I decided to start my own company.” Snakhomza Construction was registered in 2015. Years later, the success Mahlinza experienced prompted him to move into pest control in 2018. “I wasn’t even expecting to branch out into pest control,” he told Vutivi News.
“I was doing a job for a friend of mine and my friend asked if I could provide pest control services. “I decided to try pest control and found that I was more than capable of doing it,” he said. He has two employees in largely uncontested in eMpangeni, KwaZulu-Natal. But this had not made it easy for him.
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“Getting equipment was a challenge because pest control equipment is expensive and the gear is not reusable,” the businessman said. “We work with municipalities, private companies and private households. Right now, there isn’t much competition in the area as there are two other pest control companies and we work very well together, sometimes even sharing jobs among us.”
Mahlinza told Vutivi News that having two businesses had its benefits. “Pest control requires consistency, but financially I am more likely to get paid quicker through pest control,” he said. “With construction, it can take about three months to complete a project and get paid, but when the money comes in, it is in huge numbers,” Mahlinza said he had learned a lot over the years.
“I learned how to adapt with the journey, to attain patience and to grow consistently in the right direction,” he said. “I also want to do more for people who are also starting out in entrepreneurship like me and help them improve their lives in order for them to achieve their goals.”
