Esther Fawole
Hudson Diphofa lost his job as a result of Covid 19 pandemic but he turned this unexpected event around to start a thriving recycling business.
At first he was desperate and frustrated as he couldn’t find a way out of his situation. He then decided to become his own boss instead of working for people and getting retrenched again in the face of another public health crisis.
He was inspired by the works of another entrepreneur who was into recycling plastics.
He went on to start a recycling manufacturing business called Structural Poly Plastic Furniture and Project in May 2020 by the help of his mentor who had supported him and been instrumental in helping his business grow.
Although he started the business with his personal savings and without any financial assistance from anyone but today, his company makes unique picnic tables, benches and jungle gyms from recycled items.
He subsequently partnered with Sani-touch and Shoprite and can now supply to other municipalities and provinces. In April this year, Shoprite announced an eco-friendly jungle gym made from recycled wipes which was manufactured by Diphofa.
He believes his company is making strides because it is a one-of-a-kind business in South Africa and he is the only businessman making outdoor furniture out of recycled material in his community, this makes his business unique.
Amidst Hudson challenges he was able to create a unique business for himself and employment for others who had also lost their jobs. He was able to build awareness about waste, whereby waste is a raw material which can be used to create variety of reuseable product.
To sum it up, he was determined and focus, he never allowed his challenges to weigh him down, he never waited for a financial assistance before he ventured into the business but he started with his little savings and now his business is successful.
