Preparing to enter a highly competitive market takes bravery. Spotting a gap in that market requires insight and acumen. Taking the plunge, even when potential funders are unconvinced, calls for passion, perseverance and sacrifice. Success in attracting a small but growing customer base – in not just one but two countries – is the well-earned reward.

All these attributes, and everything else she ever learned at the Unisa School of Business Leadership, came to the fore when MBL graduate Gladys Mawoneke, the brains behind the Breva brand, decided to move into the craft soda market.

“I saw a gap in the market. In fact, I used myself as that gap,” says Gladys. “I do not drink alcohol and I was looking for something people can drink when they are out and about, and maybe feel like an adult.”

Weary of consuming vast quantities of the only two choices that seemed to fit this profile (Appletiser and passion fruit and lemonade), she came up with Breva, a non-alcoholic, fine malt beverage.

I took the concept to the Industrial Development Corporation because I wanted them to fund a plant,” says Gladys, an MBL graduate from 2009, who also has journalism and LLB degrees to her name. “They said, ‘Let’s see if there’s a market,’ and gave me a grant to do a feasibility study.”

She appointed the best market experts available to do the study. “The results came back very positive and I showed the IDC the results. They said the results were very good but they were not going to fund my plant because the sector is very competitive, I had no product experience and my balance sheet was weak. I was devastated.”

The setback was severe but Gladys was determined. “I had to find a way. I took Breva to Woolworths, who listed the product and gave me a loan.” That, together with some funding from Anglo American, gave her the boost she needed.

“I bought machinery and put it into someone else’s plant. In November 2014, I launched Breva. Pick ‘n Pay corporate was my first customer and I haven’t looked back ever since,” she says. “Breva has gone from zero to where we are now, on the shelf and being bought and appreciated. The fact that IDC refused to fund a factory was actually a blessing in disguise. If I had gone into production, I would have moved away from my core business, which is coming up with innovation solutions for adult non-alcoholic consumers, marketing and selling the solutions.”

Knowing what your core business is, and sticking with it, is one of the most important pieces of advice that Gladys has for aspiring entrepreneurs. “Otherwise you try and do everything,” she says. Another cardinal rule for successful entrepreneurship is: “You must know why you want to start, and the reason must be higher than hating your current boss or hating waking up in the morning, or wanting to make money – because the money doesn’t come in from day one. That higher purpose will be the reason that will wake you up.”

Also enormously important is to avoid romanticising entrepreneurship. “It’s hard yards and takes a lot of tenacity, a lot of focus. You cannot remotely run a business in the early stages and expect success. I see a lot of people romanticising entrepreneurship. After six months, they realise it’s tough and want to get out.”

Gladys says her MBL has been an invaluable contributing factor. “It gave me the confidence to do what I wanted to do. I learnt a lot. In the beginning, when I was starting out with Breva, I used to refer to my textbooks when I had a problem, such as how costing is done. I no longer need my textbooks now; it comes naturally.”

As for Breva, whose mantra is “Dare Yourself”, the beverage is going from strength to strength. “We have just launched in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe (her country of birth) and the product was well received. We are growing and expanding, one town at a time.”

Cheers to Breva, and to Gladys Mawoneke, the brains behind it!