Starting a business is rarely easy. It takes more than just a good idea; it demands courage, sacrifice, and the ability to keep going when things get tough. For many entrepreneurs, the path is filled with trial and error, especially in the early stages. But for Busisiwe Mavunga, the challenges of entrepreneurship came with innovation, growth, and impact.
Busisiwe didn’t set out to become a serial entrepreneur. In fact, each of her three businesses, AWEddingday, LoveTEAtime, and Inclusion Fusion, was born out of real-life experiences and the need to solve a problem. This Founder Focus is to show entrepreneurship is not about having all the answers but about starting with what you have and learning along the way.
Starting a Business and Solving a Wedding Dilemma
Her entrepreneurial journey officially began in 2016 while planning her wedding. Like many brides, she wanted a celebration that reflected who she was. But when she started sourcing decor, she couldn’t find anything that truly celebrated African culture. Most of what was available felt generic and disconnected from her heritage.
So, she made her own. She designed wedding decorations using fabrics she gathered from her travels, which added genuine warmth and authenticity to her special day. The response from her guests was positive, which led her to establish AWEddingday, which became her new business venture.
Busisiwe turned a personal challenge into a wedding decor hire business that offers African-themed items for couples who want to celebrate their culture. To strengthen her offering, she took a short course in flower arrangement and table setting. What began as a frustration became a business with purpose.
Turning a Cup of Tea into a Brand
The following year, while visiting Kenya, she discovered a box of Kericho Gold Tea. One sip of the apple and cinnamon flavour, and she was sold. She knew instantly that this was a product South African tea lovers would appreciate. That moment sparked the beginning of her second business, LoveTEAtime.
But launching a product in a competitive space wasn’t easy. She reached out to the manufacturer and began importing the tea. Getting it in front of customers required hustle; she started pop-up markets, listed it on Takealot, and worked to get it onto SPAR store shelves.
Every sales channel had its own learning curve. Takealot had strict product image requirements, while getting into SPAR meant pitching to individual franchise owners. Pop-up markets offered direct customer engagement, but finding the right ones wasn’t always simple. It was a test of resilience, but she managed to adapt.
Helping Others Do the Same
By 2018, she had learned so much from her entrepreneurship journey that she wanted to help others avoid the same struggles. That’s when she launched her third business, Inclusion Fusion. Through this enterprise, she teaches other business owners how to use e-commerce platforms, card payment tools and market their products both online and in person.
Combining digital tools with physical market presence gave her tea business visibility, and now she passes on that practical knowledge to other entrepreneurs.
Bootstrapping and Growing Slowly
All three businesses were self-funded. She used her salary to buy stock, reinvested profits, and grew slowly. There were no loans, no investors; it was just careful money management and patience.
She learned to focus on what brings the most value. “Access to markets doesn’t mean people will buy,” Busisiwe explains. It’s a lesson many new entrepreneurs miss. Visibility alone isn’t enough; there’s still work to be done to win over customers.
Testing different strategies, trying different markets, and learning through experience helped her build a sustainable business that continues to grow.
The Bigger Vision of Starting a Business
She is currently studying for her MBA, and she is laying the foundation for bigger things. Her goal is to expand into the food and beverage industry, drawing on what she learned from selling tea and working with other entrepreneurs. She sees every experience, every challenge, as a stepping stone to something greater.
If she could give one piece of advice to others dreaming of starting a business, it would be this: “Just start. There will be mistakes, there will be slow days, and there will be doubt, but if you stay open to learning and commit to the process, growth will follow,” she mentions.
Her journey proves that entrepreneurship is not about perfection; it’s about persistence. The essential advice she would share with business dreamers is to begin their venture immediately. “Mistakes will happen alongside days when progress seems slow and moments when doubt enters your mind. Your commitment to the learning process and an open mind will bring about growth.”
Entrepreneurship demands continuous effort rather than flawless execution, according to her story. She demonstrates the potential of starting a business from your current situation by using your existing resources to create something new.
You can watch the webinar on Making E-commerce a Successful Business, where Busisiwe Mavunga provided actionable insights on how to successfully list products on e-commerce platforms and marketplaces.
