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Youth in South Africa continue to be disadvantaged in the labor market with an unemployment rate higher than the national average. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey stipulates that for the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate was 63,9% for those aged 15-34 and 42,1% for those aged 25-34 years, while the current official national rate stands at 34,5%.
As a youth with a high unemployment rate as a primary challenge in our country, Anson decided to act and not wait for employment and stand up by selling “Cheesy Hotdogs” in his hometown.
Bizana-born Anson Chappen believes that the only formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur is to not give up although there are easy and difficult days in business one must be goal driven and face the challenges and weaknesses, look for opportunities and do everything in your power to strengthen your business.
He recalls growing up as someone who always watched his mother in the kitchen cooking and since then it has always been on his mind to start a business, and what drove him is realizing that unemployment is a primary challenge that our youth faces, and decided to act first and not wait. “I stood up and came up with something we don’t usually see in our hometown and having been motivated by those big food brands and came to a point where I wanted to start my own business because, for every big business, they had to start somewhere,” he adds.
Having acquired his cooking skills from an International Hotel School pushed him to introduce something new and different because of not seeing anyone selling them besides big food brands he has since introduced burgers and fries to his menu. “One major mistake I wish I could’ve avoided is doubting myself when I did not get customers in a day or two and wanting to quit several times when I saw that my business was not doing good,” he says.
Anson’s goal is to one day work in his own place and succeeds as an entrepreneur as he has been working from his mother’s kitchen. “As young entrepreneurs, one should hold onto what they do and not give up because of the challenges we face. Sometimes it’s hard because we are trying to put bread on the table but the little thing one gets is better than nothing,” he concludes.
