A woman who loves spending most of her time in the kitchen, Camilla 'Milla' Makgaba from Polokwane, started The Kota Kitchen to make a means of living to support her two-year-old son.
The Kota Kitchen specialises in tantalising kotas (half a bread cut into half and filled with ingredients such as polony, cheese, achaar, viennas and russians), dagwoods and all sorts of fast foods, and started operating in 2020.
"Even though the pandemic ended, it has indeed taught some of us how to be business-minded and be able to survive. I was one of the people who had to find a way to make money and grow my love for making food," Makgaba said.
Her target market is anyone who loves a good meal, especially the youth.
"The younger generation enjoys appetising food and posting good-looking meals on social media, and that is where I proudly come in."
She says business is all about patience, sacrifice and passion.
"In almost all industries, there are challenges but I believe if you are not challenged, you won't have good enough ideas to grow your business or learn from your mistakes to grow your business.
"My kitchen closed down in July 2020 and I sat down alone and thought to myself, 'what can I do differently this time around'. I love anything that has to do with preparing food. I wanted to do something different that would catch the buyers' eyes," she said.
She soon introduced dagwood sandwiches, followed by mojitos.
"Business was still not picking up, so I worked on my businesses model and offering, introducing specials. Last April I also started making chicken wings, and business has picked up since."
No matter how good your business is doing, she says you always have to be inventive.
"Though I am getting orders and sustaining myself, I'm still not where I want to be yet. I would also like someone or an organisation to invest in me or help me grow my business, as I have a bigger vision," she said.
With the profits she makes, Makgaba put food on the table.
"I know that one day, all this hard work and sweat will pay off. Believe in yourself, your goals, either short or long term and your dreams. You won't know if you'll win or not, without trying.
"Give it a try and do your best, you will succeed one way or another because we all have to start somewhere at some point in life. All big things started small."
