DURBAN - Pamela Naidoo, a South African woman is an entrepreneur that is the owner of four startups in London.
Naidoo moved from Chatsworth to London for an engineering job opportunity as an expat in 2006 and in 2010 she chose to move permanently to the UK.
Her four businesses include:
1. MyShopLondon – An online shopping platform that is South Africa's first (and only) solution to accessing international fashion purchases by providing a portal for South Africans to buy the biggest fashion brands in the UK.
2. Showbizbee - Showbizbee Films offers film and video production services with complete production management and consultancy capabilities.
3. Braai House - The Braai House is a mobile Braai street food stall that caters for the UK market with a specific focus on SA foods.
4. Nala Consulting – A consulting firm that offers engineering and project management services to the oil & gas industry.
She said that the switch from engineering to entrepreneurship was quite dramatic. According to Naidoo, she always yearned to start her own ventures.
She said that every venture began with an idea and then she would identify problems within a market, create solutions and take relevant action to provide a product or service that meets that gap.
Naidoo recently won the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award from London based South African Chamber of Commerce.
On winning the award Naidoo said, "I am grateful to have been presented with such a prestigious award and I know that it comes with great responsibility and therefore I am extremely honoured indeed."
When asked about her business influences, Naidoo mentions only one name, her fiancé, Edward Shaw. Shaw is also a businessman and in the words of Naidoo, "My partner who is my biggest inspiration".
On her future plans, Naidoo said that they are focusing on expanding globally with the aim of bringing long-term sustainable solutions to emerging markets like South Africa from global markets.