From bike thief to budding bik

From bike thief to budding bike entrepreneur [video]

Jeffrey Mulaudzi was arrested for stealing a bike when he was a teenager, but now he is using bikes to earn a living and change young people’s lives in the process.

From bike thief to budding bik

Once upon a time, 22-year old Jeffrey Mulaudzi was arrested for stealing a bike. Now, he is using bikes to run a business that employs six people in Alexandra.

The business, Alexandra Bicycle Tours, offers tours of the township on a bike. Mulaudzi encourages visitors to meet the people, taste the food and have a drink all while touring Alexandra on a bike.

His business started during the 2010 Fifa World Cup and came about when his French tutor asked him for a tour of the township. After a successful tour with his tutor, he realised that he had a real business opportunity at his hands.

He started by making tour brochures to hand out at hotels.

“One day I went to a hotel and dropped my brochures off, and the concierge thanked me and then dropped them in the bin as I went out.

“Luckily a guest waiting by the concierge saw him doing that and asked for one, which was rescued from the bin. He then called me for a tour for the next day.”

As the money started to roll in, slowly at first, he used his profits to pay for advertising at hotels and buy more bikes so that he can do more tours.

But it’s not all about the hustle for this entrepreneur. He also heads up a social venture. He supplies students in rural areas with bikes to get to and from school. The venture is supported by companies in the school’s locality, who underwrite to maintain the bicycles. He plans to make it sustainable by selling advertising space on the bikes to these companies as he spreads his model across the country.
“You can give them the bicycles to go with at home, but they will not maintain the bicycles. It’s much better to keep the bicycles in one point where you can fix them and help the student arrive in time at school,” Mulaudzi said.