Entrepreneurship
Self taught
With Val Lunga Gumede is a self-taught cook and entrepreneur in her early twenties who has always been a ‘foodie’ since high school. When Lunga has the remote in her hand she watches cooking channels on television during her spare time. After long months of preparation the business took off successfully on the 24th of December 2020, and Miss Gumede explained that she has never been happier, although learning about the industry still occurs on a daily basis.Lunga’s mission was to create a gourmet menu for people in Tembisa to enjoy, instead of her customers travelling to restaurants which focus on fine dining with food which can be considered a bit pricey. To ensure that customers fall in love with the food before it reaches their palate, Lunga prepares one meal for thirty-five to forty-five minutes depending on the volume of orders for the day for her to achieve customer satisfactory. For those who have not ordered meals at Gourmet Ekasi it has been proven statistically during the interview that the Blue Cheese Burger and the Sticky Sweet Chilli wings top up the sales on a weekly basis in case they do not know what to order.Embarking on a journey to learn more about business in terms of food Lunga had to create an affordable menu for gourmet food according to the budget of her local customers. To keep the business alive strategic financial plans were put into place, because some plans were postponed due to the pandemic. Working alone to finish meals to be delivered on time has been a bit uneasy and that is why Lunga would like to improve in terms of being time efficient. It has been mentioned before that the name of the business is Gourmet Ekasi. When asked what makes her food unique in Tembisa Miss Gumede said, ‘‘the name says it all’’ in a proud tone, because she is one of the few in the township who serve restaurant inspired food. The inspiration apparently hails from YouTube videos incorporated with Lunga’s creativity of plating skills.All in all Lunga wanted to share some advice with aspiring business owners who would like to sell food one day. Miss Gumede’s direct words were ‘‘You should start with the resources and capital you have, regardless of the time frame of achieving your end goal. People should not give up by being mentally prepared for any business hurdles coming their way, and they should have discipline in terms of managing the profit of the business before using some of the accumulated amount for personal use’’. Patience is a virtue at the end of the day, because not all that glitters is gold which simply implies that hard work and determination can steer you in the right direction.For orders and more information about the meals:- Facebook: Gourmet Ekasi Instagram: gourmet_ekasi Whatsapp: 0747734093
