Nondumiso Mzizana, founder and CEO of Sikelela Medical & Dental Suppliers, was a dental student doing practicals at Mthatha General Hospital in the late 1990s when she spotted a business opportunity. The hospital didn’t have dental chairs.
But it was only in 2002 that she decided to set up a business to supply medical and dental equipment to state hospitals mainly. At the time she was lecturing at the Medical University of Southern Africa, her alma mater, and running a dental practice. “I started with two employees who were relatives prepared to work even if they didn’t get a salary,” she recalls. “We broke even after five years.” (via Entrepreneur - Nondumiso Mzizana - FM)