Startup Story
Lovable Shiro Dladla is the founder of Luvast emp in South Africa, the umbrella company for her two companies, Luvast Bakery and Luvast Baby Pureer. Luvast emp started in 2020 and has been growing ever since. Luvast bakery deals with baked goods and also teaches baking lessons and caters specifically for children’s events. Luvast baby food for now just deals with baby food puree, an organic baby food puree with no preservatives or sweeteners. The business makes its baby food in its most natural form, and is currently in the process of being approved.
LoA spoke to the enterprising Lovable Dladla about her passion for baking and her vision for the growth of her businesses in the future.
What does your company do?
Luvast bakery deals with baked goods and also teaches baking lessons and caters specifically for children’s events. Luvast baby food for now just deals with baby food puree, an organic baby food puree with no preservatives or sweeteners. The business makes its baby food in its most natural form, and is currently in the process of being approved.
“Being in control of my time as a young black woman gives me the most satisfaction as an entrepreneur. Fighting for financial freedom is hard, but gives much pleasure.”
What inspired you to start your company?
Before Luvast Bakery started I had just stopped working because the company I was working for took a break because of COVID-19. During the break I started making buns because there was a shortage of bread in my area and people actually bought them from me. When I was finally called to come back to work I respectfully declined the offer because I saw that I had great potential to make this business work. I never wanted to go through the experience of being laid off from work for whatever reason, but it was the inspiration for starting my business and creating generational wealth for my daughter. It is an inheritance that will keep on generating income for as long as my children’s children breathe.
The inspiration for Luvast baby food came from after having my daughter in 2018 when I was not satisfied with the baby food products my daughter consumed. So I decided to learn to make my own but didn’t start my business at that time. Instead, i kept on procrastinating until about 3 years later in Nov 2021. I then realised that it was a long process, but continued while I perfected my products and I’m looking forward to being approved this year.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Firstly, Luvast Bakery uses the best products out there to produce best results, we collaborate with other small businesses such as Helki's Eggnest which supplies us with eggs to bake our goods. We also use online bakers to train our staff every time we hire someone new or just to improve our skills. We also use Imodel cosmetics as our local supplier for skin care because working with our hands makes our skin dry. Everything we do is to not only improve the country’s economy but also our town’s economy.
At Luvast Baby Food we use organic fruits and vegetables, and environmentally friendly containers, and collaborate with small farmers around our area to provide us with fruits and vegetables.
“I do not come from an entrepreneurial background, in fact my family is an academic family who believes in being employed more than being an employer. But they are 100% supportive of this journey.”
Tell us a little about your team:
We have a small team of 3 employees, who are highly skilled and work harder than I do most of the time because of their dedication. Our team consists of black female workers only.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I do not come from an entrepreneurial background, in fact my family is an academic family who believes in being employed more than being an employer. But they are 100% supportive of this journey and they have learned to also create employment over the years.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
Our future plans for our company are to finally get working space and more equipment so that we can hire more people and collaborate more, we think its time that we reach our R1m mark.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
Being in control of my time as a young black woman gives me the most satisfaction as an entrepreneur. Fighting for financial freedom is hard, but definitely gives pleasure.
“Our future plans for our company are to finally get working space and more equipment so that we can hire more people and collaborate more.”
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
START, stop procrastinating you'll learn more about your business on your way up anyway. Take full advantage of business and character-building programs, trust me those ‘useless' workshops and online programs won't be so useless one day. Business is a process, a long one that requires patience, but provides the growth ability, so equip yourself with knowledge, hard work, perseverance, financial education, and prayer. These are the most important things for you, from the moment you decide to start to the rest of your life. So make the most of every moment of every day as a business, even if it is a bad business day. Most importantly, remember that the sacrifices you are making now might not show success tomorrow, but tomorrow is not the only day on earth, just wait.
Contact or follow Luvast emp:
Email: luvast@outlook.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063928820214
Why LoA loves it…
Being in business takes a combination of hard work, tenacity, and a strong vision for the future, and Lovable Dladla demonstrates all of these traits on her entrepreneurial journey. She saw a market need in her community and used her practical skills to create a business delivering products to meet that customer need. Today, she continues to develop her entrepreneurial acumen through experience and is growing her business by seeing new market gaps and developing new product offerings that customers want to buy. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa