Mmule Seheri is slowly creating opportunities and building her empire through ice cubes #GirlTalkZA

Name: Mmule Seheri

Company: D*ICE CUBES

Business Line: Manufacturing and distributing ice cubes 

Contact: d_icecube@yahoo.com

The entrepreneurship silver train is huffing and puffing through the dusty township streets as the economy changes gear. 

It is believed that township entrepreneurs contribute significantly to the country's GDP. 

One of these entrepreneurs who has subsequently become a force to be reckoned with is 34 year old Mmule Seheri.

The Mabopane born but Daveyton based rising female business lady is taking the ice cubes industry by storm, one cube at a time. 

Trends Mzansi caught up with her to find out what her driving force is. 

"My company is called D*ICE CUBE (Trading as Phafana Trading Enterprise Pty Ltd .) . D*ICE CUBE manufactures and distributes ice cubes to various businesses in the township. We distribute to places such bottle stores, pubs, taverns, shisanyama's and golf courses," she said.

D*ICE CUBE has become a house hold name and it is synonymous with outdoor activities. Mmule professed that the company was born after she sought ways of supplementing her income. 

"What inspired me to start this business was that i needed some extra income from my day job when i was still employed. I started this as i saw a gap in the township. We always struggled with ice cubes during summer days and i had some money saved up so i took that risk or rather a leap of faith," she enthused. 

Mmule used her savings to buy her first ice making machine and a single freezer to chill the ice. And as the business layman's book says - the rest is history. 

Mmule products have generally been well received in the public domain. Her clientele base is continuously growing and she supplies ice to some of her clients on a weekly basis. 

"Consumers should use our products because we sell at a reasonable price and we are locally based and just a phone call away," she stated about why new clients should try out her products. 

Mmule doesn't have a big team, she works mainly with her partner in all spheres of the business. 

"My future plans for my company is to see it growing to a point where i can hire more people and create an income for someone in the township. The township struggle is so real and so many people do not have income. I want to see this business growing where i can turn the house we live in into a business factory and hopefully buying another house," she attested. 

"The satisfying part is that what ever hard work i am putting in and the long and tiring hours that we work would be for my company and not making money for someone . Its never an easy job to work for yourself but i know that one day i will get where i want to be," she stated. 

What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?

"My advise is simple. If you really want something put in your time and energy in your goals and dreams and stop procrastinating. You need to focus, yes negativity will be there, destructions and people will judge your decisions but focusing on what you want will eventually get you where you want to be," she smiled. 

Twitter Handle: @d_icecub3 

Email: d_icecube@yahoo.com

Protea Hotel Fire & Ice Menlyn Is Just The Place To Be

After a three-year design and construction project, the designer Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Menlyn Park has opened its doors with reports of superior design and artistic elements. There’s a 17m Chesterfield couch in the lounge, an Olympic-length lap pool, stairwell graffiti, light features and other trendy indoor/outdoor spaces.

The hotel sets a new standard for stylish hospitality in Tshwane with its seamless indoor/outdoor social spaces and its on-trend interior tone. But the hotel’s real draw card will be the wide variety of event offerings, tailor-made for the Pretoria audience.

“With [each] Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! property the Protea Hotels group opens, we have pushed the envelope on style and have set trends. Pretoria is no different,” said Mark Satterfield, Marriott International business leader in South Africa.

The new hotel is situated next to the Menlyn Park shopping mall and close to the N1 highway. It is designed for the “millennial traveller” and visitor. The social areas are meant to flow easily from dining to indoor lounging and then to outdoor lounging in the outdoor living room, where social pods with their own individual fireplaces are spaced around the Olympic-length swimming pool. There is free unlimited wifi, across multiple devices.

The signature decadent milkshakes and gourmet burgers are on the menu, too, plus food-and-drink pairing events. But what should set the hotel apart is that it is said to have one of the largest and most flexible conferencing facilities in an on-trend design environment.

The ground floor can accommodate up to 350 delegates and the first floor up to 250 delegates. Each of the large spaces, filled with natural Highveld light from floor-to-ceiling windows, may also be divided in half to provide to discrete, soundproof conference rooms. On the first floor, the conference offering is further enhanced by two conference suites which consist of a boardroom each with an en-suite lounge. These may be used for breakaway groups or for smaller meetings, either together or as stand-alone venues.

“Pretoria is a young, exciting city that simply doesn’t get its dues. Protea Hotels recognised that there is a lively set of young-at-heart, ambitious movers and shakers in Pretoria whose choices for playing hard after working hard are pretty limited. Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Menlyn fills a gap we believe our guests have been waiting for for years,” concluded Satterfield.