By: Sizakele Nduli
Lilian Tshehla established her company in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga, with a mission to supply high-quality toilet rolls after discovering that residents in her community suffered from skin rashes and sinusitis due to the grade of tissue paper they were using. “My customers were individuals reliant on government grants who were unable to afford costly toilet paper, yet [they were] dissatisfied with the quality of the toilet paper sold at nearby local shops,” the owner of Lilly’s Soft Tissues told Vutivi News.
Tshehla, 37, said she initially sold high-quality toilet paper door-to-door that was sourced from Johannesburg in 2021. However, as the demand for her products increased and she struggled with transport to keep up, she decided to purchase a manufacturing machine. Tshehla said that she had planned to start working from her garage, which had enough space to accommodate two cars, right away. However, after going to Durban to purchase the manufacturing machine she initially wanted, she was told that it was currently unavailable. So, instead, she had to buy a bigger machine.
Despite Tshehla’s initial concerns about not having the money to rent a space for her business, she now owns a factory with a store. The store is dedicated to walk-ins, where individuals can purchase her products. “People can come and buy singles, 48’s, and 24’s per pack, so we are open to everyone. “It’s now that I need clients because my machine can do approximately 80 to 90 packs of 48 single plies in a day, so that means that now my product is a lot and the demand is less,” she said.
Today, Tshehla has expanded her business operations. She employs two men who oversee the technical operations and a woman who manages the administrative tasks. “Besides the people that I’ve employed, people who come and stock from us are starting their own businesses out there and making their own money. That means their lives are changing,” she said. “I need to get the other machine for manufacturing cores because I outsource my cores. Once I get this machine, [it] will mean that people will have more job opportunities because they are operating that machine.”
In addition to supplying her quality toilet paper to individuals and businesses that resell her products, Tshehla also donates toilet rolls to daycare centres for needy children on a monthly basis. And despite financial obstacles, Tshehla’s vision for her business is to create more employment opportunities, for it to become the largest manufacturer of toilet rolls in Mpumalanga, and for it to expand to the rest of the country.
