From side hustle to successful business, the inspired story of Dipuo Phakathi
Dipuo Phakathi is the founder and CEO of Denic Cabinets, a 51% black woman-owned business that has recently become a member of the Kitchen Specialists Association (KSA). Focused on manufacturing and installing customised kitchen units and built-in-cupboards, the inspiration behind the business was sparked while Dipuo was busy renovating her own home in 2017.
A qualified engineer with expertise in the mining and banking sectors, and a wife and mother of two, Dipuo was not pleased with the service she received from the cabinet supplier she had engaged to quote on her job.
“Their consultation seemed very boxed and impersonal. It frustrated me as I was looking for something personal to me and my family and not getting the results I wanted,” says Dipuo. “After doing some research, I found a carpenter who I could work with, and I started to conceptualise and design my own ideas, that worked best for me. From here the carpenter and I found a synergy and decided to start the business. He would lead the technical side and I would lead the design and business management part.”
Dipuo admits that managing the business was a challenge in the beginning. She was yet to build sufficient knowledge regarding manufacturing materials, marketing, branding, finance, and human resource basic needs.
The business that was to become Denic Cabinets started as a side hustle while Dipuo was still working at Standard Bank. Working in the Enterprise Development department, she was inspired by the SMEs she dealt with on a daily basis.
Dipuo’s big break-through came when she won the “My fearless next” competition run by Standard Bank for employees with side hustles. She received a monetary prize, plus one year of paid leave to focus on her business.
She began working with two part-time employees, and the business steadily grew. A major milestone was moving from a small factory in Germiston to a bigger one in Wynberg, Sandton. “My business grew in that period, as I was in the process of acquiring a manufacturing factory. After my leave, I resigned and focused full-time on my business in 2019,” says Dipuo.
After a year of transitioning from her corporate job to a full-time business, the next challenge she faced was the first six months of 2020 being exceptionally difficult due to COVID and the resultant lockdown.
“The business performed substantially better in the second half of the year because people were working from home and were investing in their homes,” she says, adding that there was high demand for bookshelves, workstations, as well as the usual upgrading of kitchens, BICs and bar units. This resulted in record sales in 2020 and 2021.
Her Sandton-based company reached its next milestone with its first corporate client, Eskom. BICs and office furniture were manufactured using PG Bison products. At the same time, she was also servicing her first cross-border project in Lusaka, Zambia.
“I met the PG Bison Enterprise Development (ED) team at a Proudly South African event in 2020, having used PG Bison products since starting my business,” recalls Dipuo. This, and further interactions with the PG Bison ED team, she says, allowed her to understand more about PG Bison’s products and processes. She describes the boards as high-quality, durable, and machine-friendly when cutting and edging.
After four years in business, Denic Cabinets has 11 employees, and is a Proudly South African, B-BBEE level 1 contributor in the carpentry industry. The company has featured on Top Billing and Dipuo has been nominated for the Standard Bank Top Women Young Achiever Award in 2020.
Take a look at the Denic Cabinets website to see a gallery of some of the company’s latest projects, or connect with the business on Instagram or Facebook.
