When he started his business over a decade ago, Soweto-born entrepreneur Pitso Maleka says people found his business idea bizarre and no one thought it would become the success story it is today.
As strange and out of the ordinary as his concept might sound, to date Maleka’s PM Grave Closure business has helped to feed hundreds of families and generates hundreds of thousands of rands every week. The company also digs graves and exhumes bodies.
It was in 2003, while attending a funeral that he realised there was money to be made in grave closure as no one was doing it at the time.
“Instead of families spending time closing the grave and people having to get their clothes dirty, I thought it would be a good idea to start a business so that people did not have to spend time doing this,” Maleka says.
Since he did not have any money to even buy spades or overalls, he went to his father, Francis Maleka, to ask for funds to buy what he needed.
“My father was more than willing to help and he bought me six sets of overalls and six spades,” he says.
The next thing to do was to find people who needed his service and Maleka went around the township, speaking to undertakers about his idea. The business did not take off immediately, however, as he was only able to tell a small number of people and businesses about his services.
An SABC radio interview about his business changed his prospects, as many interested listeners phoned in, asking him to offer their services in their communities.
Maleka says this keen interest opened his mind to the opportunities out there and exposed his business to many people who didn’t know about it.
“When people started asking me about opening branches in Tembisa, Bloemfontein and Limpopo, I started looking into how I could offer my services to people in other parts of the country, beyond Johannesburg,” he says.
He also started exploring the idea of franchising his business, and today the company has three franchises: in Pretoria, Durban and Tembisa.
Business is booming and PM Grave Closure now works with about 197 undertakers in Johannesburg, as well as with the Mogale and Ekurhuleni municipalities.
Maleka believes his story is proof that there are many opportunities that entrepreneurs are not exploring, especially in the townships.
“If you look at Soweto alone, there are so many opportunities for young people, but they’re just not looking in the right places or exploring those unique business ideas,” he says.
His goal is to show young people in his community that you don’t have to look far for opportunities as they are everywhere.
“Young people must stop always looking at someone else to hold their hand and show them opportunities. They need to get up and do things themselves, as there are plenty of business opportunities out there.”