Florence Letoaba built her media and legal background into her own company twice, first stopping to return to full-time employment after becoming a mother, then going back to entrepreneurship for good. Her honest account of that transition is a useful corrective for anyone who thinks the leap from employee to owner happens once, cleanly.
Why she made the leap
Letoaba’s background spans media and law, two fields she wanted to merge but couldn’t find combined in an existing job. After two retrenchments and a dismissal, the deciding factor wasn’t ambition alone, it was refusing to leave her future in someone else’s hands. “I no longer wanted my future to be in someone else’s hands but my own,” she says.
The early pricing mistake most new business owners make
To win early clients, Letoaba’s company initially competed purely on price, deliberately under-quoting to get in the door. It worked to attract clients, but she now recognises the strategy came at a cost: undervaluing the business’s own worth from the outset, a habit that took real deliberate effort to unlearn later.
Building a team you can actually trust
Aware of her own limitations early on, Letoaba made a point of hiring people she trusted into roles she knew she personally needed help with, while doing everything else herself in the business’s early, resource-constrained days. Surrounding herself with people smarter than her in their specific areas was, in her words, one of the smartest decisions she made from the start.
Learning to charge what the work is worth
Letoaba admits to once being afraid to charge standard industry rates, feeling the business hadn’t yet earned the right to. Confidence in the quality of the work, built over time, is what eventually let the business charge appropriately rather than apologetically.
What she wishes she’d known starting out
Most businesses struggle in their first few years, a fact Letoaba wishes she’d internalised earlier instead of pressuring her team to perform at an unrealistic pace from year one. In hindsight, she’s glad she didn’t fully grasp how difficult the road would be. “I probably would not have done it myself had I known just how many sacrifices I would have to make… sometimes ignorance is bliss.”
Frequently asked questions
Is it common for entrepreneurs to leave and return to employment before starting a business for good?
Yes, and it’s not a sign of failure. Letoaba’s own path involved stepping back into full-time employment before returning to entrepreneurship permanently.
Should a new business compete on price to win its first clients?
It can work as a short-term strategy to build a track record, but it risks undervaluing the business long-term. Plan deliberately for when and how to move to standard pricing.
How long should a new business expect to struggle before becoming profitable?
Longer than most founders expect. Most businesses genuinely struggle in their first few years, and setting expectations around that upfront reduces unnecessary pressure on the team.
Owning the transition, mistakes included
Letoaba’s account is candid rather than polished: real retrenchments, a pricing mistake, and years of underpricing her own work before building genuine confidence. That honesty is what makes her account of the employee-to-owner transition worth reading.
Further reading: Entrepreneurs: Know When to Ask for Help | Companies and Intellectual Property Commission for official business registration requirements
Originally published in September 2019. Updated September 2026 to confirm Refilwe Matla Media is still operating and tighten this founder profile. The underlying lessons on pricing and hiring remain durable.
