Hard times spark success

[caption id="attachment_39838" align="alignright" width="405"] OVERCOMING ADVERSITY TO SUCCEED: Sylvia Thisani from Rainbow Guesthouse and Tours said her potential as a businesswoman was only realised once her family hit hard times. Picture: FREDLIN ADRIAAN[/caption]

SLEEPING in her garage with her family motivated Sylvia Thisani to ensure her guesthouse succeeded. When her husband, Zithulele, was retrenched from his job at a Nelson Mandela Bay tyre manufacturer in 2005, the family went through a devastating time. They had to survive just on Thisani's salary as a business studies teacher at Phaphani High School in Kwanobuhle.

Thisani said she was now grateful for this difficult time in her life, because it made her realise her full potential as a businesswoman. In 2006, she started Rainbow Guesthouse and Tours, from her family home in Strelitzia Park in Uitenhage.

"We started with what we had: our three-bedroomed home. Initially when guests stayed in the house, we would sleep in the garage.

"Our Toyota Condor, which we still own, knows the story of our family. We would take out the back seats and make a bed for the children to sleep in, while we slept in a single bed next to the car in the garage," Thisani said.

Their hardships have paid off.

The three-star Rainbow Guesthouse and Tours has won several accolades and was a finalist in the 2013 Eskom Business Investment awards in the trade and services category. Thisani has added six additional rooms to the guesthouse and has two vehicles that are used for running the tours.

She serves meals to guests and also offers outside catering services.

"I have catered for many government functions and also mayoral and executive council functions. When people see us, they get hungry.

It was a bit harder to penetrate the private sector, but I receive guests from private companies as well as government institutions and ordinary tourists visiting in the December holidays.

Some potential clients were a bit sceptical in the beginning.

"I always say, I may come from a historically disadvantaged background, but I do not give historically disadvantaged service," the bubbly Thisani said.

Depending on the demand for the catering and tour business, Thisani employs casual labour, but created jobs for four permanent employees, among them her husband.

She describes Zithulele as a hands-on all-rounder in the business, as he helps with running the tours and does the general maintenance of the guesthouse and vehicles.

Their children, Sandisiwe, 22, and Unathi, 18, also help out with the business – particularly the information technology part of the business.

Sandisiwe has graduated as a junior engineer and Unathi will be studying B.Com accounting next year.

The family still live on the guesthouse premises in order to help when guest arrive late.

Thisani, who has completed extensive training in guesthouse management, said her future plans were to train young entrepreneurs.

"As a former teacher, I would love to help entrepreneurs and teach them how to make a success of their business," she said. - Cindy Preller