Esther Fawole
17-year-old entrepreneur, Utlwanang Mmeti who started a sneaker brand from his mother’s garage has unveiled it to the world.
He is from a small mining town in Rustenburg, South Africa.
Utlwanang Mmeti has dared to be different and stand on the shoulders of earlier entrepreneurs who went into local footwear manufacturing, he has come out with his own brand called Dapper Shooz.
Utlwanang Mmeti produces sneakers with beautiful designs and they come in different colors.
Mmeti launched his company and was quietly developing his sneaker designs to capture a decent share of the market.
At a point, he gathered confidence to release designs of his footwear to the public and he mentioned that everything was done in his mother’s garage.
Utlwanang Mmeti said the sneaker is for the average man and woman who are chasing their dream, those who unleash their potential. He even brands his sneakers as one for “the underdogs, the dreamers and the doers.”
Mmeti raised capital from close family and extended family to fund his business. Though it was not easy because who would loan a 17 years man start-up capital to start a sneaker business in these tough economic conditions?
Utlwanang Mmeti was able to attributes the successful launch of his business to his persistence, enthusiasm and belief in his ambition to kickstart ‘Dapper’, which simply means someone who is stylish, fashionable and neat in appearance.
He went for the name “Dapper” because it’s easy to remember, it rolls off the tongue nicely and will allow him to expand into other fashion items like apparel. At 17 years he is in his final year(Grade 12) of high school and he is now embarking on a new exciting journey of starting a successful multi-million rand sneaker business.
Utlwanang Mmeti wants his brand to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs to start young.
