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- Mpumalanga entrepreneur Lebogang Mashigo owns and runs a successful poultry business that thrived at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Mashigo founded "Eggsellent by Lebo" after several business ventures.
- She told News24 the business happened by chance after she moved back to her hometown when she fell pregnant.
Young entrepreneur Lebogang Mashigo is known in her community as a successful farmer who has found success in the poultry farming business years after exploring different ventures.
Mashigo owns "Eggsellent by Lebo", which she operates from a farm in Kwaggafontein in Mpumalanga.
The 32-year-old entrepreneur from Thembisile Hani Municipality told News24 that success did not come easy.
Before her business producing farm fresh eggs, Mashigo started a non-profit organisation called NuBreed Music Institute, which collaborated with professional musicians to teach children how to read and write music. This organisation was so successful that she was featured on the prestigious Mail & Guardian Top 200 list in the arts category.
In 2016, she relocated to Johannesburg, hoping to grow the organisation and collaborate with other companies in the arts.
She said:
Mashigo told News24 that she was pleasantly surprised by how well her business grew as she started it as a hobby.
"By 2020, I was already well-known in my community. When the pandemic hit, my customers grew because there were long queues at malls and shopping centres due to the lockdown restrictions. The demand was so high that I outsourced [eggs] from other farmers," she said.
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Mashigo's business has allowed her to create job opportunities, and she has received assistance from the National Youth Development Agency and the provincial government.
"My business has received assistance from the government of Mpumalanga. It was not in cash. The Department of Agriculture administers the funding," she said.
Mashigo says her daughter was the reason she started her business.
"I started this business because of her. I wanted to give my child a better life. I call her 'Future CEO' because I want her to study and apply that knowledge in the business," she said.
