“The challenge that came to mind when we started our business was rather an internalised challenge, which was self-belief. We never thought we were capable of pulling it off. We are still students and we do not have everything figured out,” Kalani said.
He said as young entrepreneurs who had little knowledge of business, gaining the trust of clients was another challenge.
“We had no work to show as proof that we were capable. However the networks we built with the people who were in the same space as us really helped us a lot.
“Whenever we felt stuck and needed assistance, they always rescued us. Their mentorship has been a great help to us,” Kalani said.
Despite the odds, the PR agency has formed many business partnerships. It has also taken in eight students who are doing their in-service training, five of them journalism students and three PR students.
Breakfast said: “When you are doing something that is close to your heart, you always find a way to overcome any obstacles. We cannot run away from the fact that business needs capital and us being students did us no justice at all.
“The passion and the love we have for what we do [means] having no capital does not discourage us.”
Gutsy student entrepreneurs head own PR firm
Image: SUPPLIED
Start where you are and with what you have. That is the advice Walter Sisulu University student Kamvelihle Kalani has for aspiring entrepreneurs.
It is this same advice Kalani followed when he established public relations agency 3Ps Media with partner Sisipho Breakfast in 2020.
With the unemployment rate on the rise every year, leaving many people without jobs, the two graduates decided to take a leap of faith and start their own business.
“The challenge that came to mind when we started our business was rather an internalised challenge, which was self-belief. We never thought we were capable of pulling it off. We are still students and we do not have everything figured out,” Kalani said.
He said as young entrepreneurs who had little knowledge of business, gaining the trust of clients was another challenge.
“We had no work to show as proof that we were capable. However the networks we built with the people who were in the same space as us really helped us a lot.
“Whenever we felt stuck and needed assistance, they always rescued us. Their mentorship has been a great help to us,” Kalani said.
Despite the odds, the PR agency has formed many business partnerships. It has also taken in eight students who are doing their in-service training, five of them journalism students and three PR students.
Breakfast said: “When you are doing something that is close to your heart, you always find a way to overcome any obstacles. We cannot run away from the fact that business needs capital and us being students did us no justice at all.
“The passion and the love we have for what we do [means] having no capital does not discourage us.”
Side hustles commonplace as people do what they can for a pay day
Breakfast and Kalani have been using social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to market their company, as they do not have the budget to advertise services in different media.
Breakfast said: “We are grateful for the support that we have been receiving from our parents, though it is not financial. But having their support encourages us to reach our full potential.
“We are using our own residences to get our work done, but that has never stopped us from getting new clients.”
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