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Wed Nov 21 07:34:00 UTC 2018
![Phenyo Sebaeng, Shoprite Liquorshop supplier Sebaeng’s disposable ice buckets are made from recyclable material and sold in Shoprite Liquorshops.
“I still can’t believe what the Shoprite Group has done for us. They gave us an opportunity of a lifetime and on top of that they were very patient with us ... what the Shoprite Group is doing for us still feels like a dream.”](/articles/Newsroom/2018/From-waiter-to-entrepreneur-thanks-to-unique-product/_jcr_content/root/container/container/image_1063348879.coreimg.jpeg/1672256683095/phenyo-sebaeng-supplier.jpeg)
Phenyo Sebaeng (28) had to borrow money from two of his close friends in order to buy a bus ticket from Rustenburg to Cape Town, where he had secured a meeting with a buyer at the Shoprite Group's home office in January 2017.
- Phenyo Sebaeng, Shoprite Liquorshop supplier
Today Sebaeng is a national supplier of disposable ice buckets to Shoprite Liquorshop.
He had always harboured dreams of owning his own business, so when Sebaeng was unable to complete his marketing studies due to a lack of funds, he went in search of entrepreneurial opportunities.
![Phenyo Sebaeng, Shoprite Liquorshop supplier Sebaeng’s disposable ice buckets are made from recyclable material and sold in Shoprite Liquorshops.
“I still can’t believe what the Shoprite Group has done for us. They gave us an opportunity of a lifetime and on top of that they were very patient with us ... what the Shoprite Group is doing for us still feels like a dream.”](/articles/Newsroom/2018/From-waiter-to-entrepreneur-thanks-to-unique-product/_jcr_content/root/container/container/image_512243007.coreimg.jpeg/1672256669801/phenyo-sebaeng-supplier-1.jpeg)
“Conventional ice buckets and cooler boxes are heavy and expensive,” he explains. And so the idea for Sebaeng’s unique product was born. In 2015, while working as a waiter, he registered his company, Sebaeng Solution Manufacturing Company, and the trademark D-C.O.O.L.E.R.
Only two years later, after convincing his friends Refentse Letlhogonolo Mdangai and Thabang Makgamathe to invest in the business, Sebaeng stopped waitering in order to concentrate solely on his business.
- Phenyo Sebaeng
Sebaeng’s disposable ice buckets are made from recyclable material with the added benefit that any logo can be printed on it. His ultimate goal is to manufacture these ice buckets in South Africa, but for now his main objective is to grow his client base further.
![Phenyo Sebaeng, Shoprite Liquorshop supplier Sebaeng’s disposable ice buckets are made from recyclable material and sold in Shoprite Liquorshops.
“I still can’t believe what the Shoprite Group has done for us. They gave us an opportunity of a lifetime and on top of that they were very patient with us ... what the Shoprite Group is doing for us still feels like a dream.”](/articles/Newsroom/2018/From-waiter-to-entrepreneur-thanks-to-unique-product/_jcr_content/root/container/container/image.coreimg.jpeg/1672256655964/phenyo-sebaeng-supplier-2.jpeg)
His advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: