By: Tebogo Mokwena
Business owner Phumza Boboyi has never wanted to be limited to one trade. So, when she registered her company, Oh Ni Nonie, her aim was to offer a multitude of services to small businesses. The company’s services range from building mobile food carts and freezers to offering admin services to SMMEs. Boboyi, who has no formal education, told Vutivi News she has worked as a personal assistant, a receptionist and an administrator for different companies.
She taught herself how to design websites and market materials, as well as make hair products and manufacture food carts and trailers. Oh Ni Nonie was formally registered in March, but it has been trading for a few years. Boboyi was raised in Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape, and her business is based in Riverside in Johannesburg. The trailer workshop is in Midrand and she has two employees who work with her to make the trailers.
The business manufactures mobile food carts, kitchen trailers, mobile VIP toilets and mobile freezers. It performs administrative tasks for SMMEs in Johannesburg such as capturing receipts, filing, and managing calls and emails. It also designs websites, flyers, business cards, banners and other marketing materials. Boboyi described herself to Vutivi News as a flexible person, who was stimulated by working on a variety of projects at the same time.
This, she said, was reflected in the name of her business The name Oh Ni Nonie is pronounced “oninoni” and according to Boboyi, it is a Xhosa word that means “everything one can imagine”. “I offer different products and services and I did not want to register each and every business individually, so that is why I chose the name,” Boboyi said. “What I enjoy the most about my business is flexibility. “I get bored easily by doing the same thing every day, so I get to do whatever interests me.”
She believes that her craftsmanship and professionalism have resulted in growing her client base, which has paid off as she has been able to deliver her products to other countries on the continent. “I feel like I am making a positive impact in the world,” Boboyi said. And her plans for the future do not only include manufacturing trailers, providing design services and providing admin services. “We are going to add more products and services like fashion design, interior design, and manufacturing industrial furniture in a few years’ time.”
