The Swazi Observer, Swaziland
By Hlengiwe Ndlovu
PATRICK Dlamini, the winner of the regional Entrepreneur of the Year Award (EYA) under the disabled category in the Manzini region is a sewing machine expert.
He started his business in 2014, but before then he was employed as a factory worker in Matsapha. Dlamini was forced to leave his job after the garment factory he was working for closed down.
Shattered by the news of losing his job and battling to secure another one, Dlamini soon realised that as far as job-hunting was concerned, he was fighting a losing battle. That was when he decided to start his own sewing machine mechanic and repair business. He currently does jobs for schools and individuals, and his business has remarkably grown in scope.
In an interview during the awards ceremony, Dlamini said he received training from a leading sewing machine brand known as Singer in the early 90s. However, with the prospects of starting his own business looking bleak then, he was forced to look for a job and easily secured one at the sewing machine centre in 1992.
He was employed at the sewing machine centre till 1999. After that he worked in the local garment industry. Dlamini said after losing his job and the realisation that he was also capable of making it on his own, he decided to start his own business, which he said was doing quite well.
On winning the award, Dlamini said he was very happy with the achievement, admitting that he never quite thought he would win. “Tonight has been a pleasant surprise for me and I will take one step at a time to reaching my ultimate goals,” he said. He took home E4 000 as his prize.
