Inside Kuhle Matiwane’s decision to do things differently.
Sometimes growth looks like going quiet. For Siphokuhle Matiwane, it meant trading the spotlight for the hard, unseen work of building a business that could carry her further.
There is a particular kind of courage in turning down opportunities when you are still trying to grow. The invitations are coming in, people are beginning to recognise your name, and your work is opening doors. Then you realise that being visible and building a sustainable business are two different things.
For Siphokuhle “Kuhle” Matiwane, that realisation became a turning point.
Towards the end of 2025 and into early 2026, the young Eastern Cape entrepreneur made a difficult decision. She stepped back from public engagements, including paid speaking and hosting opportunities, to concentrate on the structures behind Kwa Kuhle Group.
“I call it ‘downgrading to upgrade’,” she says.
It sounds like a contradiction, but Kuhle knows exactly what she means. Sometimes, the next level requires you to stop doing what is bringing immediate attention and start fixing what will support your long-term plans.
To understand that decision, we have to go back to a bachelor flat, a kitchen and a dream she once thought she would pursue when she was older.
A business that began before she felt ready
Kuhle had always wanted to own a catering business. Like many people with an entrepreneurial dream, she imagined there would be a future moment when she would finally be ready to begin.
Retrenchment changed that timeline.
After losing her income, she started cooking and selling meals from a bachelor flat. At first, the goal was straightforward: she needed to earn a living. She did not know that those early sales were laying the foundation for Kwa Kuhle.
What stands out is that she approached the small beginning with the seriousness of someone who already understood where she wanted to go. Before the business was formally registered, it had a name, a logo and clear advertising. She wanted it to look professional, even when the operation itself was still taking shape.
“I did not have everything figured out, but I wanted to be ready for opportunities,” she explains.
That decision to take her work seriously from the beginning would become one of the lessons she carried into the next stage of her journey.
Today, Kwa Kuhle Group operates across catering, décor styling and event planning throughout the Eastern Cape. Its purpose is captured in a simple phrase: “We sell convenience.”
Anyone who has planned a wedding, family gathering or funeral understands how much coordination sits behind an occasion. There are suppliers to manage, details to confirm and expectations to meet. For families living away from home who want to host an event in the rural Eastern Cape, the challenge can be even greater.
Kuhle and her team help bring those moving parts together, giving clients room to focus on the occasion and the people who matter to them.
The work requires more than putting food on a table or making a venue look beautiful. It requires trust, communication and the ability to deliver when an event carries deep emotional meaning.
When your age walks into the room before you do
Being young in business can be an advantage, but it can also mean having to prove yourself before some people are willing to trust you.
Kuhle has experienced this, particularly when working with older family members who are involved in decisions about weddings and funerals. A couple may book Kwa Kuhle after seeing its work or hearing a recommendation, only for their parents to question whether a young entrepreneur can handle such an important occasion.
It is an uncomfortable position to be in. The client has placed their trust in you, but someone else is still deciding whether you deserve it.
Kuhle's response has not been to argue her way into acceptance. She focuses on delivery.
“I feel a responsibility to honour the couple’s trust and make sure they feel proud of choosing us,” she says.
Often, the people who were initially sceptical end up thanking the team and giving them hugs once the event is over.
Those moments say something about how she has learned to handle doubt. She can understand why people may have concerns without allowing those concerns to determine her confidence.
“I let the work speak for itself,” she says.
In an industry where a single occasion can hold years of family memories, that approach matters. The job is not simply to convince people that you can do it. It is to give them a reason to trust you again.
The person behind the business
Kuhle is also a speaker and digital content creator, and she sees these platforms as connected to her work rather than separate from it.
“Kuhle Matiwane is a brand in her own right,” she says.
Her experience as an entrepreneur gives her something real to contribute when she speaks. Her digital presence, meanwhile, helps people understand the person behind the business and the standards she wants Kwa Kuhle to represent.
In 2024, she won the BKCOB Emerging Entrepreneur Award, a milestone that gave her reason to reflect on the work that often happens away from public view. Being invited to speak on different platforms has also meant a great deal to her, particularly when those opportunities come from people who have seen her work and believe her perspective is worth sharing.
But recognition is only one part of building credibility.
Kuhle believes trust begins long before someone makes a booking. A potential client might discover Kwa Kuhle today and only need its services months or even years later. Every interaction in between helps shape what that person remembers.
For her, a credible personal brand comes from consistency between what people see, what you say and what they experience when they finally work with you.
Inside Kuhle Matiwane’s decision to do things differently.
It is a lesson that applies beyond event planning. Attention may introduce people to your business, but the experience you provide gives them a reason to recommend it.
The work nobody sees
Stepping away from paid engagements came with a financial cost. Kuhle was investing in systems while turning down opportunities that could have brought in income and kept her visible.
From the outside, the quieter period might have looked like a loss of momentum. Internally, however, the work was about making the business more organised.
Communication became clearer. Systems and structure improved. Even the process of receiving quotation requests changed, with clients directed to a dedicated link instead of relying on WhatsApp.
These may not be the milestones that attract applause, but they help a business operate with greater consistency.
Kuhle's long-term vision is to establish Kwa Kuhle Group as a dependable name associated with convenience and elegance across the Eastern Cape. She wants to own more of the equipment required for its work and continue strengthening the systems that will support its growth.
She is also interested in creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to learn from one another. The Annual Business Growth Summit is part of that ambition, bringing her belief in practical learning and business relationships into a wider space.
Starting before you have the whole picture
For young women who are waiting for the right resources, the confidence or the perfect moment, Kuhle's own beginning offers a useful reminder. Her business did not start with a complete plan. It started with a need, a skill and a willingness to act.
Her advice is to take your ambition seriously, even while you are still working out how to reach it. Start with what you can do, learn what you need to learn and ask for help when necessary. Growth does not always have to happen in public, and a small beginning does not have to define the limits of what you can build.
“I began cooking in a bachelor flat after retrenchment,” she says. “I had a dream, but I did not have the complete picture of what it would become.”
There is something grounding about that honesty. It leaves room for the uncertainty that comes with starting, without making uncertainty a reason to stop.
Kuhle is still building, still learning and still shaping what Kwa Kuhle Group can become. Her journey is a reminder that entrepreneurship is not only about the moments when the world notices you. It is also about the decisions made when nobody is watching: the systems put in place, the opportunities declined and the standards maintained when trust is on the line.
And for the young woman who has a dream but is still gathering the courage and resources to begin, Kuhle leaves her with a message rooted in her own experience.
“Your beginnings do not have to look like your destination.”
She adds, “If God called you to do it, there is room for you.”
For more, visit: Kwa Kuhle
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