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Canditar Chapanduka, Chronicle Reporter

DRIVEN by the desire to create employment for themselves, three friends decided to start their entrepreneurial journey through the establishment of a branding company.

Khumbulani Ncube

The friends, who are holders of Commercial Design qualifications, registered their company, Design Addix in 2016.
Messers Khumbulani Ncube, Tumai Garapasi and Ngqabutho Ntutha have managed to carve a niche for themselves through branding and signage.

Over the years, they have worked with big companies like Delta Beverages, Zimtiles, Slice Pizzeria, and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission among many others.

Delta Beverages

The road has however, not always been easy as they did not have adequate machinery to do their work.

They had to invest their savings into the business inorder to buy the necessary equipment required to start working.
One of the designers, Mr Ntutha said it was a challenge to get clients at first but they were fortunate to get one major client which helped them grow in the business and gain confidence in the market.

“From then, we never turned back. We started building the company since the business turned out to be fruitful on our first attempt and it is still growing and promising to be a big company.

“We continued getting jobs that made us continue holding on and hoping for better days. We later managed to purchase big machinery from China with the profits that we were getting from the business and the machinery helped us work efficiently,” said Mr Ntutha.
He continued: “In 2016, I engaged ZEC when I went to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) and I did an exhibition stand for them. After that, the doors opened for us and we got a gig to brand an ambulance for Deputy Minister Raj Modi in 2018.

It further strengthened our company as we started getting associated with many people.”
Mr Ntutha said they have clients spread acrross the country.

 Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF)

“In Shurugwi, we are currently doing branding at City Mining company. We offer services to many people in different cities. We have managed to get clientele from individuals from the diaspora as we do logos for them. They reach out to us through referrals after seeing our work from their relatives, whom we have done logos for.

Tumai Garapasi

Also, our Facebook page creates employment for us as people see posts and reach out to us,” he said.
Through their business, the gentlemen are able to cater for their family needs.

“We plan to establish branches in all provinces and we want people to brand their products and advertise their culture. We also want to be able to manage social media platforms because that’s where people can best expose their products. Electricity challenges sometimes affect us so we are working on buying an inverter and installing a solar system so that we can work without disturbances,” said Mr Ntutha. — @NomqheleC