When Tshidiso Motlhabane’s favourite pair of sneakers began to wear off, he needed to find creative ways to revamp and save them. Little did he know that this would soon turn into a business.
Today he is the founder and owner of The Shoe Mechanic, a company that he established in 2019 specialising in doing artistic work on shoes and clothing items.
Born and bred in Taung in the North West, and now based in Randburg in Gauteng, Motlhabane loves wearing unique sneakers that make him stand out.
“My uncle once bought me a pair of limited-edition sneakers online. I really loved them, but they started to wear off after few years. I needed to come up with a way of revamping them. I started splattering paint and applying base to the sneakers to give them a new look again, and that soon turned into a business,” he explained.
The self-taught shoe mechanic used YouTube tutorials to learn how to revamp sneakers. It took trial and error to master the skill, but he was patient enough to keep improving his craft.
A few months into the business, he started posting his work on social media and people began placing orders. He had no funding and used his own capital to establish the business.
“I received a lot of orders, and I was able to pay a large portion of tuition fees in my final year of studies for an LLB at the University of South Africa,” he said.
An LLB is Bachelor of Laws.
The success of the business came as a surprise to Motlhabane because all he ever wanted was to become a professional soccer player and lawyer.
He attributes the success of the business to the power of social media and modern technology, which he still uses to date to provide services and communicate with his clients.
“The majority of my clients place their orders using social media platforms including WhatsApp, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, and we use courier services to receive and deliver shoes in South Africa, Lesotho and the Kingdom of Eswatini,” he said.
He added that social media is currently the best marketing tool because it allows more people to know about the business faster and cheaper than traditional media.
Although the business has been operating for more than five years, Motlhabane has not yet applied for funding. He is planning to apply for funding so that he can grow his business and create employment for young people.
“To consider myself successful, I would love to see this business putting bread on other people’s tables. Success for me is not only about money. I want to empower the youth. I want to create a space that allows young artists to express themselves and come up with creative ways that we can use to revamp shoes and clothes,” he explained.
For more information, contact The Shoe Mechanic on
WhatsApp: 076 436 9606
Facebook: TheShoeMachenic
TikTok: TheShoeMachenic
Instagram: TheShoeMachenic
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