A social media-savvy entrepreneur is selling cookies like hot cakes, despite the Coronavirus lockdown. 

Kabelo Molepo (32) has managed to start a cookie-making business that has customers in three cities over two provinces asking for more.

Called Daddy Bae’s Kitchen, the Johannesburg-based business was started during the lockdown after Molepo found himself without a job.

In the beginning of the year, Molepo lost his job at a big retail company. He explains that he had been sending his CV everywhere and when President Cyril Ramaphosa made the lockdown announcement, it dawned on him that finding a job would be quite a challenge. He would have to come up with another way to earn an income, he realised.

Molepo’s cookies are couriered to customers in Pretoria and his hometown of Kimberley at least once a week. Inspiringly, the business has grown from making an initial batch of 48 cookies to more than 200 per day.

“Being social media-savvy was really helpful as I have been able to make use of tools such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram business to tap into the e-market side of things. On these platforms, I can take orders, process payments and engage with clients on what they want and how they want it,” says Molepo.

He advises that budding entrepreneurs should make use of social media to create awareness about their businesses. 

Molepo says that the secret to the success of Daddy Bae’s Kitchen is making sure that he is in constant communication with his customers.

This encourages customers not only to share the cookies on their own social media pages, but to also come back for more as they are supporting someone they know.

Molepo’s fiancée Poppy Louw runs the business with him. 

To buy Molepo’s cookies, contact him on Facebook at @DaddyBaesKitchen, or on Instagram using the handle @DaddyBaeCooks.

-This article was originally published in the GCIS Vuk'uzenzele.