ActionSA leader, Herman Mashaba, came from the humble streets of Hammanskraal to become one of South Africa’s wealthiest and best-known entrepreneurs.
After being forced to drop out of university in his early 20s, Mashaba fought very hard to establish the first black-owned haircare company in the country, Black Like Me.
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Alongside the late Richard Maponya, Mashaba has always been the face of black entrepreneurship in South Africa especially during the apartheid years.
He’s a hero to many aspiring entrepreneurs – If he can do it during the harsh apartheid days, surely we can do it in the fresh dew of democracy. His rise to the top is of a person who demonstrated the true spirit of entrepreneurship.
A month ago, Herman was guest on SA’s fastest growing podcast, The Hustlers Corner, where he was interviewed by DJ Sbu and Penuel The Black Pen.
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During the interview, they discussed a range of topics including Mashaba’s upbringing, business, politics, and more.
On the business side, Mashaba revealed that during the time he was selling Black Like Me products, he became so good to the point where leading retailers such ShopRite, Clicks and others approached him to place his products on their shelves, see the video clip below:
What can we learn from this?? Well make your product or service so good that it can’t be ignored, and also the fact that you have more leveraging power when someone comes to you to strike a deal.
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