SMME assistance acknowledges the sector as an important engine of economic growth and helps South African entrepreneurs expand their businesses. As responsible corporate citizens, Nissan South Africa, and the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) partnered to empower South African entrepreneurs by donating utility vehicles to help them with their everyday operations.
Bake it until you make it!
This Entrepreneurial Month, Nissan caught up with Royal Mozart Confectioners (RMC), a bakery that specialises in bread, confectionary and pie production in an effort to find out how the donation of the legendary Nissan NP300 is enabling their business growth.
Q: What was it like running your business before Nissan South Africa and the NEF intervened with the donation of a Nissan NP300 vehicle to assist your day-to-day operations?
A: The Nissan NP300 became our company's lifeblood because we were a brand-new start-up at the time. Given that the global COVID-19 pandemic had just struck, without this intervention, our organisation would not have survived.
Q: What are some of the most pressing business challenges that you faced prior to owning the Nissan NP300?
A: We did not exist as a running business prior to the donation, as we were still doing our best to ensure that we had solid mechanisms in place to carry out our vision. However, Nissan and the NEF have given RMC a rock-solid foundation for success as a result of the donation, both in the short term and the long term.
Q: What are some of the most significant achievements you've made since the contribution from Nissan?
A: As a start-up, securing the necessary resources and achieving equitable market access is by far the most difficult challenge to overcome. As such, our first year of business coincided with a series of problems that made it extremely tough to compete and operate locally, even more so as a small black-owned start-up. We were able to get a client that demands 2000 small loaves every day since we went mobile right at the start of the business, and this has made our Nissan NP300 a vital driver in our reliability and business stability.