Siyabonga Gocini found a great business opportunity during Covid when he established Sneaker Spa -- a cleaning service for trainers and more.
Gocini's business not only provides locals in Cape Town's Langa township with clean shoes but also offers them a fresh new look.
"The business has been thriving. Sneaker Spa has a capable and motivated team headed by myself to make sure that we deliver quality and the best service," he said.
Through their attentive and professional service, Sneaker Spa has received much applause from the community.
"Our mission is to examine the current business structure of Sneaker Spa, weigh up the pros and cons and develop some development strategies," he said.
"I noticed that people don't know how to wash their shoes, especially those with different colours that easily lose colour."
Sneaker Spa offers a range of services with prices starting from R50, depending on the customer's requirements.
"Our standard price is R80 and other prices depend on the services that our customers want. We also do colouring," he said.
The turnaround time for their services is typically two to three days depending on the condition of the shoes.
Gocini said he was grateful for the support he was getting.
"I started the business just after our working hours were reduced at work because of the pandemic, so I decided to start a side hustle," said Gocini.
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The demand for their services eventually led him to quit his job and focus solely on the business.
"It is important to always wear clean shoes because there are many diseases and some people have sensitive feet," said Gocini.
Sneaker Spa has opened job opportunities for three people who were unemployed before.
Thabiso Siboko said he was grateful to Gocini for giving him a chance to be part of the business.
"The job saved me from a lot of things. We all know how busy our townships are and it is easy to get involved in bad things. Being here is not only putting food on the table for me but it also saved me," said Siboko.
Customer Siyabonga Malandela praised the business for saving him from the hassles of washing shoes.
"I hate washing shoes. Sneaker Spa saved people like me from doing the work ourselves. We will continue supporting them. They also save us time because washing shoes takes forever," stated Malandela.
