After her mother in law told her the marula oil can remove after birth stretch marks, Portia Mngomezulu got inspired to start her own Portia M products in 2011.
As you’d expect, the experience was daunting to say the least but deep down, she instinctively knew she made the right decision.
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She was laughed at by people in her community and her former colleagues for quitting her job to pursue entrepreneurship but that only fuelled her passion to succeed even more
The journey certainly wasn’t easy, she took her Portia M products from being a small time fish in the pond to being one of the sharks that are currently dominating the ocean of skin care products.
As of now, Portia M is a multimillion rand business and so established, that its easier to find it in most of the leading retailers in the country including the likes of Shoprite, Pick N Pay, Game etc.
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5 Mind Blowing Lessons From Portia Mngomezulu
01. Believe In Yourself
Imagine being told by your loved ones and close colleagues that whatever you’re doing, won’t cut it in the end.
Well that’s what Portia went through, as painful as the experience was, she listened to her own inner voice and persevered until she became a success.
02. Identify Opportunities
Unlike most people, after Portia saw positive results of her mother in law’s formula that the marula oil removes stretch marks, she immediately saw a business opportunity and acted upon it.
03. Take A Risk
If you wanna play in the big leagues in the business world, you gotta give it your all or don’t do it at all.
Portia saw this from the get-go, which explains why she ended up quitting her high paying IT job in 2013, to fully focus on establishing her business.
04. Leverage Social Media
There was a period when large retailers rejected Portia’s products for placement on their shelves, but that didn’t deter her, instead she looked elsewhere to sell her products.
Social media was the answer to her dilemma, she exploited it to its maximum potential which made her reach thousands of paying customers.
It wasn’t anything personal or racial, big retailers just need proof that you can actually shift some products on your own before you get to their shelves.
05. Just Do It
When Portia started out to sell her oil, not only did people think it wouldn’t work out but they also said, she was going crazy for thinking she can be a success by selling marula oil.
Let’s face it, people are gonna talk whether you do bad or good, its in their nature. So the best thing you can do for yourself, is to avoid them and do your own thing.
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In Conclusion
Every entrepreneurial success story is unique to its own but that doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate some of the lessons in your own journey to help propel your business to success too.
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