North West teen puts best foot forward with own shoe brand

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North West teen puts best foot forward with own shoe brand
North West teen puts best foot forward with own shoe brand

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Three years ago, North West teenager Utlwanang Mmeti started his sneaker business in his parent’s garage in Luka, Rustenburg.

Today, the 17-year-old has a fully-fledged store in Midrand and hopes his shoe business will grow so he can create jobs for young people.

The young up-and-coming entrepreneur is determined to make a change and inspire and bring change to the lives of young South Africans.

Mmeti was born and raised in Luka, Rustenburg, and matriculated at Thethe High school in 2022 with a Bachelor’s pass.

However, as he had already started his shoe business, he chose to take a gap year.

“I decided to take a gap year to focus on growing the brand,” Mmeti said.

He has always had a love for fashion and shoes and recalled moments when he would visit the mall with his brother and see all the cool shoes with different designs on display.

“My brother and I would see many people at the shoe stores in the mall.

“Many people would always try different shoes and styles, discussing what’s in and trending. Seeing that inspired me to start my shoe company,” said Mmeti.

Dapper Shooz came about at the beginning of 2020 as his idea of exploring his passion.

“Starting a business is a lot of work, and it requires hard work and dedication,” said Mmeti.

He noted some things were often out of reach growing up in a small village, and by starting this business, he hopes to inspire those with dreams to pursue them.

Mmeti said:

“Seeing my seriousness, my whole family was also on board and offered to help me with the capital. I started the company with my little savings and the money my family, friends, and relatives helped me with.”

Mmeti said his family became more supportive when they saw he had saved up to start the business.

As a result, they were even more interested in helping because they saw he was serious about turning this dream into a reality.

The name of the brand – Dapper Shooz- according to Mmeti, “is catchy and easy to remember”.

He said the name arose from a brainstorming session with his family where he initially sought a Setswana or African name.

“After brainstorming, the word ‘dapper’ stuck with me.

“It was easy to remember and could easily be understood.”

Dapper means being smart and neatly dressed.

“From there, I started designing the logo and showed it to my family, who loved it,” Mmeti added.

He then began looking for manufacturers to help bring the shoe to life, saying he outsourced the shoes internationally and the packaging locally.

The young entrepreneur sold his first pair of Dapper Shooz in his mother’s garage in August 2020.

Mmeti has moved from Luka and now lives in Centurion, Gauteng, with his brother.

He said he opened the shop in Midrand because it was closer to his brother’s place.

While Mmeti considers his parents his first role models, businessman and entrepreneur Theo Baloyi, the founder of the Bathu shoe brand, also falls in that category.

“My parents are my immediate role models.

“They inspire me to be a better version of myself every day,” he said.

“The owner of [the] Bathu shoe company is also my role model. I may not personally know him [Baloyi], but social media has enabled me to understand his work.

Mmeti said:

When he is not busy with his business, he likes playing video games and reading novels, especially fiction.

“I’m not a very sporty person.

“Clothing and textiles are something I like. And I like computers.”

Mmeti said his short-term goal was to generate enough revenue to hire a store assistant and include more designs and colours in his existing range of shoes.

He added he was focusing on his business for the year and will hopefully register to study next year.

While he is not sure what he wants to study, he knows it would be along the lines of textiles, clothing, and design.

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