How a Khayelitsha educator built two successful ECD centres from scratch
Mthwakazi Nancy Soqaka from Grow Buddies.
Image: Supplied.
When the COVID-19 pandemic led to Mthwakazi Nancy Soqaka losing her job in 2021, she faced a difficult but familiar choice for experienced Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners: search for a new position or venture out on her own.
Soqaka chose the latter, and just four years later, her bravery has paid off. She is the founder and owner of the now multi-site Grow Buddies Preschool and Aftercare in Khayelitsha. Soqaka's journey from a single room to two fully operational centres is an inspiring example of how dedicated small business support can help ECD centres transition "beyond survival mode into sustainable enterprises."
Starting with Passion and Experience
After 15 years as a preschool teacher in Pinelands, Soqaka was encouraged by her former employer to build something of her own in her community. Starting was a true leap of faith with "donated equipment, a rented house in poor condition, and just four children enrolled." She relied on her reputation and community trust to get started. "It was a little bit scary, but I was brave," Nancy recalls. "I told some of my neighbours that I'm going to open my preschool, and because they knew of my previous experience they trusted me. One parent even told me they would wait for me to open my school before enrolling their child anywhere else." Grow Buddies Preschool and Aftercare officially opened its doors in 2022.
Business Skills for Sustainable Growth
As enrolment increased, Soqaka realised her passion for children was not enough to sustain the business long-term. She needed business acumen. She joined Grow ECD’s Business Accelerator Programme, a six-week training focused on equipping ECD owners with the skills for long-term sustainability." That training changed my mindset," she says. "It gave me the courage to think bigger and plan properly. I knew this was the start of something big. "The training helped her simplify fee structures, improve financial tracking, and adopt a crucial new mindset. "You are not running a charity. You are running a business. You must have a brain for the business and a heart for the children," Soqaka explains.
Soqaka now uses the free Giraffe App, a digital tool that has reduced her administrative stress. "Before, it was very stressful for me to do the filing and bookkeeping," she says. "But now I use the free Giraffe App. I can register my finances there, do a staff register, take the children’s register, and record my expenditures. I can record everything that is happening in my centre."
Expanding to Meet Demand
As the quality of education improved, demand for places soon exceeded the capacity of the original site. With support from Grow ECD’s funding pathways, Soqaka secured the capital to refurbish a second property, enabling the opening of Grow Buddies 2. An additional classroom container was also provided at the original site by Breadline SA, a Grow ECD partner. Today, Grow Buddies supports 17 children in the original classroom, 20 children in the Breadline classroom container, and 16 children at the new second site. Parents are seeing incredible results. "My daughter started here only speaking Xhosa. After two years, she was fluent in English," says parent Tumelo Leballo.
"We never expected this level of development. We are incredibly proud of Grow Buddies." According to Tracey Chambers, Co-Founder of Grow ECD, Soqaka's success is a blueprint for wider impact. "Nancy’s journey shows what becomes possible when ECD entrepreneurs have access to the right business skills, systems, and partners. When centres are financially sustainable and professionally run, they don’t just survive, they grow, create jobs, and expand their impact year after year.”
For Soqaka, this is just the beginning. Her long-term vision is to develop a larger campus, and she is confident in her future plans: "I know my dream will come true."